Just curious as to what preferences are on duck and goose calls. need to expand my selection.
And on a side note why are duck/goose calls so dern expensive? A good turkey or predator call can be had for $30 or less. Waterfowl calls seem to range from $125 upward. Don't get it.
Its all in the material. Polycarbonate (less expensiven)and acrylic (more expensive). For my goose calls I use Bill Saunders Red Zone and a traffic. For Ducks a Saunders Coupe and a Buck Gardner spit tech tall timber.
I use an old wooden OLT, for 3 decades, that has seduced many a duck to their demise. Also, I use a Duckman cutdown call for long range attention calling. Both work well as long as I do my part.
My favorites are also my old wooden PS Olt duck calls, have the DR115 and the MKV Duck, been using them both for mallards, etc., in the swamps and on the rivers for at least 30 years. My goose calls are an assortment of whatever was in stock when I needed one; looking over my lanyards I see an Olt Honker A-50 (plastic), an HS Snow & Speck (white plastic of some sort), and a Haydel's H81 Honker, clear plastic - all have worked just fine when needed. I also have some more wooden calls (one is a wood duck call and one a Canada Goose call) that are unmarked and yet work fine, can't tell you who made them anymore. I prefer the wooden calls because they are easier on my lips, especially when they are chapped from the cold.
One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others. Archibald Rutledge
I generally take my Johnny Marsh call I got from Mr. Marsh back in the late 1960's. It seems to work just fine. I have about a dozen reeds that I can tune if the present reed gets bent. I am sure there are lots of good calls out there that can do the job if the caller knows what he is doing.
I've been using an old Olt Sonderman 66 duck call forever, I have three, one in each of my different hunting outfits. My next and a call I don't want to be with out is a Tim Grounds Finisher combo malard drake/widgeon wistle.
It's nice to see that there are some others that use the Olts yet. There is a fellow that is reproducing the Olt wooden calls yet.
everything i'm seeing right now is running $120-$130 bucks. a tyro just doesn't need a handcrafted call guaranteed to be made from the wood from Ark of the Covenant.
everything i'm seeing right now is running $120-$130 bucks. a tyro just doesn't need a handcrafted call guaranteed to be made from the wood from Ark of the Covenant.
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My son and I use RNT's , Winglocks and Hunter's Specialities calls. None of them cost more than $40, and all work. I do have a Winglock that was about $70, but it doesn't bring in any more geese than the cheap ones! I think your spread , how , and when you call makes a bigger difference in how well the birds respond. Cat
There are a lot of companies making some very good sounding polycarbonate duck and goose calls now a days. Most range from $20-$65. Take a look at some Buck Gardner, Bill Saunders, Echo, Mick Lacey, and the list goes on. Go out buy one and start to practice. I am not a great caller but have some friends who are and actually compete in contest and these boys can take a $10 call and make it sound really good. So I guess if you can master the language it really helps. Just remember waterfowl are like humans we all dont sound a like when we talk and neither do waterfowl.
I think my favorite one is a Haydel's call but cant remember which one. Also use a Primos Wench and an RNT acrylic. I like the higher raspy sound of the RNT but i have a hard time blowing it after i blow my other calls since it takes way less air. I always stick the reeds blowing to hard.
Proverbs 12:27 The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.