I live in southern Idaho and am getting into duck hunting and I know that this a very broad question but what. Mallard duck call would you recommend for a person getting into duck calling and would be easy to operate
Everyone blows calls differently. I have tried 3 different RNT's and don't like them. The microhen was as close as I could get to liking the sound. I now use a Lares and a Drake Brake.
I'd pick up some cheapos and you might end up really liking them. Haydels or buck gardner come to mind. My daughter has a buck gardner give-away call I got at a DU banquet 10 years ago and she'll tear 'em down with that thing.
Echos double reed timber diamondwood calls with poly inserts are hard to beat. They sound great, easy to call, and can be found for less than $55. I highly recommend.
At this point in the game in my opinion it really doesn't matter. Practicing is going to yield you more then a quality call is at this point. Once you have calling down a little take a trip to Cabela's, Sportsmen's, Basspro, or whatever and try them out. See what you like best once you have the basics down first.
I have an RNT microhen and short barrel on my lanyard now but have owned a few buck gardners, Zinks and Fowles in the past. Echo makes a great call as well. Practice is number 1, once you get the hang do what MCH mentioned. I prefer a single reed but have owned doubles and they have their place, it's preference to a large extent.
My buddy and I successfully hunted ducks for decades, and always found the wooden Lohman calls to be the best sounding in all types of weather and conditions.
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” --- Will Rogers
Go buy the cheapest half dozen calls you can find, if you are like everyone else you won't like your first purchases and you may as well pay under $20 each for them than over $60. Then again, you may find "The One" in that bunch too. 😀
Otherwise, the advice skill trumps the call is key. The only addition I can add is to record your practice sessions then play back. Place the recording device 20 yards away as that will give you a good idea of what you sound like in the field. Using your own ears is not representative as you are so close that there is some auditory distortion due to the loudness. That may lead you into the wrong direction in your calling. If one looks, judges of any musical or vocal contest position themselves away from the contestant for that reason.
I have a Duck Commander Triple Threat and even as a beginner it sounded alright. Now that I’ve got a few years of experience with it, and picked up a few more calls, I still think it has the best sound of the bunch.
I like the Haydel's RL-99 Redleg Mallard $35 MSRP call for its tone quality & ease of use. But you must practice and practice. Taping yourself could be a faster way to learn, too. Many good tips above. Good luck! -Mark
I have a different opinion on the RNT calls. I have a daisy cutter which has a lot of hype around it. Mine locks up constantly and I don't use because of that. Yeah, I'm sure it is me and my "air presentation" but it is what it is. I have a Lares Hybrid on the other hand that sounds great and has never locked up on me. Point being what works for someone else may not work for you. Just because you spend a buck fifty on a call doesn't mean that you can make it sound great and magically work to pull ducks from the heavens. Whatever you buy you will need to spend the time learning how to operate it. I'm sure you have heard this before but if you can be sure to try out what you are interested in before you buy, whether at the sportshop or from a friend's lanyard. After you pick out your call, practice with it until you learn how to use it. If you get frustrated put it down and come back when you are not. Overtime with a lot of practice you will figure it out. The worst thing to do is to keep buying new calls searching for the holy grail when it is actually the person behind the call that makes the difference.
Honestly I like the Buck Gardner Double Nasty. Ive also been very pleased with the free call that DU gives you which is also a BG. Practicing is the most important thing. You don't have to be a great caller to get ducks in. The most important thing is knowing when to shut up and sit still after you get their attention!
I seem to call the most ducks with a cheap Quakhead QuakStacker. Maybe I just know how to blow it right or something, but it makes life easier for me than others.
Oh I dunno, I'm not big on duck hunting. First year I went out during the summer and just listened, we have some very productive public areas. The ducks all sounded different, some like the DU contest guys, some like they were being strangled. So I tried duck calling with mixed results. Then a cousin that is a duck hunting fool came up and I watched how he got better results. My problem was not the quality of the calling but not knowing when to shut up. But then you never know. I was out with him one nice, sunny morning and nothing worked, for all his very good calling our spread would barely get a look. Finally he got down to his drake call. Like magic.
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
I'm new to duck hunting, so theres that... Couple years ago me and a buddy were on a local conservation area. Had got there an hour early to beat people to the hole, no trucks around. We set up the decoys, slipped back in the willows and drank coffee waiting on sun up. About 5 minutes before legal shooting time, adjacent to our little pond was an old strip pit with deep water, too deep to even think about wading into the water, all hell breaks loose. The worst calling you'd ever heard. Continous. Not shutting up. Had to be 3 or 4 guys over there throwing every call they had at the ducks they thought were going to come in. It was terrible.
5 minutes into shooting time, they still haven't shut up. I leave my hiding place to go see what these knuckleheads are doing. Go walking over there and low and behold its about 50 mallards having a party....
My first or second time duck hunting, when I was in grade school, we went to a big public slough. So in the dark we find ourselves good spots in the weedy end. Just after sunrise some guy walks up to the far side where the banks are bare and wades in a few yards. You can see this because of his big white cowboy hat. To top it off a little kid walks from the guy's pickup to the shore line and starts throwing rocks into the slough. All we could do was laugh, it was a bluebird day with nothing flying less than a mile high anyway.
The key elements in human thinking are not numbers but labels of fuzzy sets. -- L. Zadeh
I got a Duck Commander mule call for free a few months ago when I bought a Mojo Rippler, and it might be my new favorite. Very very easy to blow, it’s the only call I own that I can make a decent sounding feeder call.
The secret to calling. Only call when there are no ducks in view. That way you are not scaring any off. Buy a good whistle call. That way when the dog is 700 yards away, chasing seagulls. He can hear you.
Last edited by baltz526; 12/17/19.
The anti American Constitutional party (Democrat). Wants to dismantle your rights, limiting every aspect of your constitutional rights. Death by 1000 cuts is the tactic. Each cut bleeds constitutional rights to control you. Control is the goal.
You are going to go through a ton of calls. Ask your buddies if you can run their calls just to see if you like it. I found a Wingloc to be my fav. Don’t over call. Practice at home. Don’t sky bust.
John = Waterfowler at hart along with my late Baydog 9/26/20 .. = = Striving to be turdlike.
Faulks WA-11 duck calls work really well and are cheap. Like most duck hunters I have a bunch of different calls. I find the Faulks the easiest to use,
The easiest call that sounds the most like a hen mallard to me is the Duck Commander Cut Down. Only about 30 bucks and worth every penny. Learn to call, it is the best part of duck hunting for me.
I’ve got good and not so good calls of all sorts. Boxes full. I’m not brand specific, but more sound and style specific...so, just generalities:
If you learn on a true cutdown style, its often hard to transition to J-frames, often locking them up, no matter who made them. It’s different air through different call types....just something to keep in mind. The reason it’s easier to learn on double reeds is that there’s less air and back pressure required. OTOH, running an old Olt AR style CD, w/ 1.4m reed all morning can have you seeing blue monkeys. Wood and acrylic and molded all sound different, but all call ducks. Talking duck when a duck expects to be talked to and not when they don’t, matters far more than getting the call right. Only place I’ve ever had them love anything and everything thrown at them was new birds in Saskatchewan.
I just went through this last year - how to call ducks...
The caller we had got through cancer and they removed his tongue - yes DAMN! .. he is a good friend, it was hard on him... still puts me back.
Anyway -
Out of all the advice I got, here is what worked.
You need a call that isn’t crap to learn on -
1). I bought a bunch (tried a bunch), Zink’s ATM green machine was by far the best deal, that had the range needed.
2). Second - you need a instruction CD that breaks things down the science of the sounds, and how to make them - Here you can’t beat Carlson’s Champion calls - duck calling A to Z.
These 2 are what got me to be proficient... after that it was hunting, and driving to the lake to hear the ducks sounds... the CD will tell you when to call & shut up - it has a DVD in it where they show the birds reacting to the call, and when not to call.
Only call on the corners, let your decoys work. Keep your face in the shadows or behind the blind so they don't see a big moonpie reflection as they commit.
Jerk cord works probably better than a call, all things being equal. And, make sure you have a hole for them to land in your decoys.
Drakes tend to follow the hens in flight. Mergansers fly horizontal - let them pass.
Only call on the corners, let your decoys work. Keep your face in the shadows or behind the blind so they don't see a big moonpie reflection as they commit.
Jerk cord works probably better than a call, all things being equal. And, make sure you have a hole for them to land in your decoys.
Drakes tend to follow the hens in flight. Mergansers fly horizontal - let them pass.
Good Luck.
^^^^Much of this is great advice. Calling can be somewhat overrated. Highballing ducks is a good start when your spread needs a look. Once they see, running jerk lines with swimmers and feeders creating motion and water movement is all you’ll really need after that. Nothing attracts ducks more than movement. At that point calling isn’t really needed. Regarding calls, I use a KM cut-down keyhole basic. To me it is the ultimate call providing both loud, soft and in between versatility. Easy to blow and makes the most authentic sounds out there in my opinion. Good luck.
Pick a cheap double reed to begin with. They have natural rasp and tone that takes practice to mimic in a single reed. The downside is they aren't as fast to run or have the range top to bottom of a single, but they do sound "ducky" which will kill birds.
Some cheap ones I have used are Winglock, Echo and my favorite, the Let Em Lite Mrs H my buddy gave to my son. That thing sounds great, acrylic and cheap.
I use a Duck Commander call and Zink calls. I have swapped to using a drake whistle/call more over the last few years and found that I get really good results. I figure here in TN that the duck have been "called at and screamed at" all the way down here and are "wise" to it by now. Don't think as many use the drake call so that is what I tried and it seemed to work.
I may not be smart but I can lift heavy objects
I have a shotgun so I have no need for a 30-06.....
Haydel's DR-85 It ain't glamours, but it sounds like a mallard and it's easy.
My vote goes here. Sounds ducky and is stupid easy. Get a dvd or watch Youtube for instructions. Welcome to the club. Learn about dogs, then get and train a retriever. Best wishes.