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Joined: Apr 2006
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That is hopefully. It has been several years since I duck hunted, but I would like to try it again. A few questions:

Do the mechanical Ducks like Mojo Duck really work to bring in the ducks>

After looking at all the duck calls on the market I see there are some from ~$30 to $200; sometimes from the same company. Does the price make a huge difference in the sound the calls or is there something else that make the price go way up?

What calls do you like and dislike and why if you don't mind telling?

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Like all hunting waterfowling can be done high-tech or low-tech both can/will provide decent results.

Yes, in my experience the Mojo style mechanical duck do work very well. For that reason some states have banned them. I have used them very successfully though I kill plenty of ducks without.

For calls if you are not recently practiced you might try a simple/cheap double reed call. These are great for beginners. I did great for the first ten years or so with a cheap double reed duck call and a goose flute. I have since transitioned into higher end single reed and short reed calls but only after becoming proficient at actually calling in birds and not just squawking at them.

I had lots of 200+ duck seasons with a bag of ecomomy flambeau decoys and a $20 Big River call with a pump Mossberg.

Now I have Mojos, SBEII, lots of high end dekes, and expensive calls and I don't kill many more birds. It's just more money to spend and gear to carry into the field.

FWIW I would start with a lower end beginner call and re-learn how to use it well. A $200 top of the line call is useless if you can't make it sing like it's supposed too. GHG decoys are good for the money these days. Buy a Mojo if it suites you but they are not required to kill birds.

Take the time to pattern you shotgun. This will be the single best investment you can make as a waterfowler. There are lots of brands and price points on the market. Find out what your gun likes and that will result in FAR more birds in the bag than expensive calls and motion decoys.


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You are about to open pandora's box!!
Great advice above tho.

Let the madness begin!!

Clothes, waders, blinds, a boat, a dog, decoys, spinners with remotes, lanyards, calls of many sounds, and all kinds of stupid little things, you just can't live without.
It's a deep hole your starting to dig.
Where you hunt, how you hunt, and how much you get obsessed with it, determines how deep the hole is gonna get!
I like lucky duck spinners, they work.
I use custom single reed calls. Cheaper doubles work great too, unless you need volume.
Decoys? I am switching all my other decoys to Asian X brand, they just look too real.

Last edited by splattermatic; 09/02/14.
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Thanks for you advice. I have really gotten the itch the last couple years. This looks like a year I can get at it. I remember just being on the marsh for the day or just a morning was so peaceful whether the ducks were flying well or not.

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Nothing beats a sunrise!
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Last edited by splattermatic; 09/02/14.
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Back to basics: duck call, a few decoys, waders, camo jacket, and a shotgun & some steel shotshells.
I started hunting with what I've listed above....I was in high school/college at the time, so I didn't have any extra money for boats, expensive calls, etc. Still blowin' on the $5 yentzen duck call I bought so long ago.....and the ducks still come to it.
I've come full circle....I had the spinners, a plethora of boats, flocks of decoys, etc. I'm slowly whittling down what I have.....one boat will be going on the block next spring, as well as a few decoys. I can only put out so many by myself, anyway.

The spinners: Worked great for a year or two....they everybody and his brother got one. The ducks associated them with gun fire (those that survived....and there were a LOT, as a lot of idiots think that duck hunting HAS to be a long range game, when it really doesn't), and started flaring the moment they saw them.
Calls? Never heard a $200 one that sounded any better than a $20 one, at least to the ducks.....can't say about those fancy callin' contests. I do like a call made out of wood, however.....wood FLOATS!!! Drop your acrylic call in the water some time and see how easy it is to find!!!!

Good luck this fall....keep us posted.


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Thanks again.

Is there a big difference between a single and double read call?

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Double reed calls are easier to learn on, and easier for beginners because they are a little more forgiving to mistakes made by the hunter. Double reeds are raspier than singles reeds as well.

Single reeds are a little more difficult...not much though. Single reeds aren't as raspy so you have to put a little more voice into them. They are generally louder than double reeds too. The thing that makes single reeds a little more difficult is the reed sticks more, and they are more sensitive to back pressure, so you can sound like a duck having a stroke really easy if you blow it wrong.

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Can I get an opinion on the duck commanger mallard call. This is the one that you humm into instead of blow. It's a dark green plastic. It does produce a whistle, like a drake teal, if blown into gently.


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I've got one, and never use it, personally I prefer a whistle, you can do more calls with one and it's not as big, so it doesn't get into your way as much.

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I have an old black Olt from the 80's....Hard to learn to blow, but nothing beats it on the highball.....I think it cost $4.95 new......

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Lots of great gear for a reasonalble price out there. For calls a DC200 duck commander is about as perfect a sounding duck call made, a haydel 85 and cajun squeal are good calls but the duck commander is a more simple to take apart and put back together call and it doesn't stick as much when cold.

Spinners can be ok for pulling ducks from a long ways but once they get close they sometimes flare ducks. I use a jerk string to add motion.

It can be as complex or as simple as you want, I like it simple. Instead of going to a large body of water and setting up 4 dozen decoys and calling like contest dumb azz I scout and find where they already want to be and set up there the next day.

The only time I use a single reed call is when I its windy or I'm forced to hunt big water. I use them then because I have one that is very loud. Any other time a double reed is fine.

For me, now some of these guys my disagree but I like big decoys. I had rather use 18 magnum decoys than 24 standard. And don't buy all the same brand. I buy half dozen at a time and different brands so a spread of 12 to 24 decoys have lots of different looking decoys not all the same.

Now on the gun spare no expense.


Eating fried chicken and watermelon since 1972.

You tell me how I ought to be, yet you don't even know your own sexuality,, the philosopher,,, you know so much about nothing at all. Chuck Schuldiner
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Originally Posted by seal_billy

For me, now some of these guys my disagree but I like big decoys. I had rather use 18 magnum decoys than 24 standard. And don't buy all the same brand. I buy half dozen at a time and different brands so a spread of 12 to 24 decoys have lots of different looking decoys not all the same.

Now on the gun spare no expense.


Can't argue with the "Big Decoy" theory, but I personally like more numbers. I also agree with getting different styles from different manufacturers, to "change it up" a bit, as it were.....I started making my own, and turning the heads to the left or right to give it a more "natural" look. I also like to have a few decoys with a lot of white on them (pintails, goldeneyes, etc).....I think it helps ones spread to "stand out", esp. at a distance.

As for a shotgun, I see no need to go beyond a Remington 870 Express.......but if you have the bucks, do what you wish to do.


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I agree with a lot of the last posts in regards to decoys. I don't solely use magnums but for a small spread with a long line of sight I think they do nice things. But when conditions call for it I will haul out bags upon bags of dekes and let the spread do the work. Sometimes those massive overkill spreads are just the ticket for large high flying flocks. But even after a limit it still sucks to collect up well over a hundred dekes.

For smaller/general setups a couple of duck butts, sleepers and a little variation in species has done me well. A handful of divers and/or a pair of geese off to the side also work very well for a mix bag hunt and puddler confidence.

Most recently I do prefer a jerk cord attached to a butt over a spinner. If only because I have been trending back to smaller and simpler spreads with less gear to haul and find myself hunting pressured ducks.


Semper Fi




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