I can shootem' but I never learned how to call them.

Sorry, but there is no "easy" way to call ducks....you get to call ducks the same way that you get to Carnagie hall:

Practice, practice, practice.............

Seriously, the way I learned was to get some 45 RPM records and cassette tapes (that gives you some idea as to how old I am! :o) and listen to them and try to imitate what I heard. I used to practice in my car driving to and from work (make sure your windows are rolled up, or you might get some interesting looks from fellow motorists)....that gave me about an hour of practice time a day. Later I would go to the local vacant lots in the spring when they were flooded from the spring thaw and the mallards were coming back; I'd take a couple of duck decoys and camo up and try and call them into my position....not too difficult, because they weren't being hunted at that time, so you get to see how they react to your calling (and just your calling!....no other outside influences, like other hunters). Then I went hunting and tried to call in some ducks.
I would try one of the newer CDs or DVDs to give you an idea, and then proceed from there. I will say that I don't call as much as I used to....I think ducks have become wary of calling (I hunt a managed area that is heavily hunted). I just give them a quack or two to start; hopefully they will see my decoys and turn and come in. As long as they are coming in, I shut up.....if they look like they are going off course, I'll give them a couple of quacks again or a hail call and see their reaction. If they continue to come in, but won't commit, I'll use the feed chuckle......I keep an eye on the flocks reaction; if they start to flare at any time I'm calling, I shut up and hope that the decoys are enough.
Anyway, that's my suggestion..........

LOL, that's how I learned to call turkey - 45 record

I learned by going down to the local park and just sitting there listening and watching the ducks. Seeing what calls they use in different scenarios really helps put it all together.

My dad always told me to call only at wing tips and tail feathers. If they were right overhead or coming in there is no need to call them.

Too much calling can give away your position too, so be really careful about movement.

I used to practice in my truck on the way to work in the mornings too. You do get some really funny looks from other people going down the road.

I practice in the truck too. Start with a basic quack. Perfect it... Start to work on a feeder call. After you have learned those basics your mouth with have the muscle memory and practice with pressure and volume to work into greetings, hails, comebacks and pleads.

When you hunt, only do what you are good at. If all you can do is a good quack then don't attempt to hail or you spook them off. A good basic quack will let them know you are there and will get them working. Focus on what you can do well to start off with and the rest will eventually fall into place. It can/will take a few seasons to learn to sound like a duck and then apply that to bringing birds in.

Remember that less is more especially with late season birds.

Not an expert and not a duck hunter but I have played around with a call a lot and have listened to some good callers. Timing is everything. Listen to a lot of wild ducks and you will hear some that will make you wonder. I have listened to real ducks that you would think are a bad caller practicing, but the rhythm is there, so I think it is more important that the tone. miles

Less is more is exactly the opposite from my experience hunting late season birds.

I made a generalization from 20 years of hunting the Northwest mostly on public land and 8 years hunting the Mid-Atlantic all on public land. Your location and conditions may have different requirements for seeing cupped wings. I am used to hunting pressured birds that have been squawked at by lots of other people by the time I see them. A couple soft sequences are all that is typically required in my areas.

If you are proficient with a call you might be able to work them very successfully in the late season. But if one is STILL LEARNING then he need not blow his chances by haphazardly overcalling to educated birds. Hence the reason for the statement.

Location and conditions are very important. I've found this out from 30 years of hunting ducks also on crowded public land.

Early and midseason ducks are best by me with a couple of soft sequences.

Late season and migrators are the best to work and most enjoyable to see cupped wings but you still need to know what your doing. Your cadence tone ect are all important.

Over calling = bad - anytime of the year.

Lots of the cal
Makers make cds. Zink makes some that include lots of sounds of real birds..

For geese the best Cd i have found is Bad Grammar by Scott Threinan.


Get a couple CDs and wear them out listenening.

Find live wild birds and just pay attention to them

I know nothing about duck calling, but let me tell you what I know about turkey calling that I bet is the same:
-you are more likely to call too much than too little
- ducks (turkeys) are some of the worst callers out there, the noises you make need to have the right "tone", rhythm, and be right for the time and place - the pitch and prettiness of it are the least important because the real birds can sound horrible to the point where you will swear there is a tone deaf hare lip the next ridge (pond) over practicing their calling.

As far as practice/ examples, and again, I know nothing about duck calling, but I bet there are some good samples for free on you tube to check out. (But cd's from manufacturers are out there like the old ML Lynch turkey call practice record).

However, if anyone who knows more than me (which means anyone) wants to say I am wrong, do not doubt them.

I learned by listening to ducks off-season and conversing with them. Learn what they're saying and they'll answer back. And they do make the damnedest sounds compared to what's on the tapes.

Coming to waterfowl hunting comparatively late for this area at least, mostly I learned by hunting with a cousin that is super at calling ducks though he'll never win a fancy competition. Things like it's better to not call at all than call too much - everybody else I've hunted with calls way too much. And change if they're no responding well. One day they just would not come into our spread. Larry switched to a drake call using it very sparingly and we got ducks. He kept several calls on his lanyard all making different sounds, some cheap plastic and some fairly classy.

That's what decades of experience will do for you, I ain't got it though I do OK. Or I like to think I do OK anyway.