Becoming an accomplished duck caller requires hours of practice in order for one to replicate the sounds of ducks. With hard work and practice most of us can become fairly proficient duck callers.

Don't wait for opening day and expect to have ducks swarming around your decoys the first time you put your lips to a duck call. It's important to start practicing during the off-season.

There are several ways to learn the various calls ducks make. One of the easiest and most fun ways is to go to a marsh or lake and listen to the birds. Ducks are very vocal during the spring mating season, so that's one of the best times of the year for listening to the sounds waterfowl make. Another prime time for listening is early in the fall, just prior to the hunting season.

Instructional tapes are another good way to learn. An instructional tape will teach you how to make all types of duck calls and when to use each one.

Many schools offer education classes on duck calling. Hands-on instruction is perfect for the beginner. An experienced waterfowler will offer tips on how to hold the duck call and how to create the right sounds.

The first thing to do is buy a duck call or, if possible, two. There are several reasons for purchasing two calls. Duck calls generally have different tonal qualities. Some are better for producing great volume and perfect for making loud, long-range highball, hail or comeback calls to attract birds from a distance. Other calls have a more raspy or reedy tone than the long- range model and are ideally suited to close-in work, such as reproducing convincing hen quacks, feed chuckles, and greeting calls. Ideally, you want to buy one call that's loud and capable of producing great volume and a second call that's smaller and does a better job on the close-in calls.

Having two calls also insures that you have a backup call when you're in the field. Moisture or condensation will collect in the barrel of the call as you use it, and in cold weather it's not uncommon for a call to freeze up. Another reason for purchasing two calls is that all ducks don't sound the same. Just like humans, each individual duck has a different voice or call, you can sound like several ducks instead of just one.

Duck calls come in a wide range of prices and several different materials. Ducks won't care how much you spend on a call, as long as it sounds like another duck.

To test a call, let out a blast. If the call doesn't break or squeal, and clerks come running from the far corners of the store to investigate the noise----BUY IT! It'll probably be ideal for long-range work. If you can find a second call that requires little effort to make the little chirps, clucks and subtle quacks that contented ducks make, buy that one, too. It'll probably be perfect for the critical close-in work that brings the birds in those crucial, final yards.

You must begin by learning how to hold the call. Grasp the call between your index finger and your thumb, forming the shape of a C, with your palm cupped around the end of the call. Control the sound and volume of the call by alternately opening and closing your hand and using it like a megaphone to project or muffle your calls. Place your lips on the barrel of the call like you're drinking from a pop bottle. Make your lips seal off the barrel so you can control the amount of air entering the call when you want to add inflections or accentuate certain sounds.

One misconception is that you blow a duck call. You don't actually blow a duck call, but force air through it from deep within your stomach and chest to produce the desired sounds. To call actually becomes an extension of your voice. Learning to grunt or huff into the call is the most difficult thing for beginning callers to master.

The term gregarious is often used when referring to waterfowl. They're very social creatures and enjoy the company of their own kind. When together, you can hear them chirping, gabbling, chuckling and quacking, but their vocabulary is really pretty limited. There are five basic calls that waterfowl hunters should be aware of, and four that hunters should master to become successful duck hunters. Most calls are patterned after the calls of the hen mallard. They're the most common duck in North America and almost species of ducks will respond to a mallard call.

The alarm call is a series of loud, raucous, urgent quacks that in duck talk means, "Let's get out of here". It's a series of up to a dozen startled calls that on paper would look like "QUACK-QUACK-QUACK-QUACK". Ducks produce this call when they're startled, panicked or suddenly spy something out-of-order in your decoy spread. You don't need to learn how to reproduce the alarm call, just know that when you hear it, the jig is up.

The five basic calls you need to master are the highball, comeback, greeting(or hail), hen quack and feeding chuckle(or chatter).Although situations may dictate otherwise, this is also the basic order in which you would use the calls when working a flock of ducks into the decoys.

Highball Call
The highball is an attention-getter. The highball is fairly long,loud series of quacks that's used make the inital contact with a passing flock of ducks that's trading at a distance. The highball is designed to get the birds to look your way, spy your decoys or cause them to come looking for the birds that are calling.

To produce loud, convincing highball requires forcing a great volume of air through the call from deep in your stomach. If done properly, the call will cause you to emit a low, subdued grunting sound as you force the air into the call. Beginners have difficulty mastering this call because they tend to blow with their cheeks and can't create sufficient back-pressure to produce a loud, long highball that should last from four to six seconds.

When making the highball, think of a quarterback who's barking out signals, but gradually runs out of breath. It would look something like this "WHUT,WHUT,HUTT,HUTT",hutt,hutt,hutt..." up to a dozen times. The highball begins very loudly and sustains that volume halfway throught he call and gradually decreases. Make the call as loud as possible without causing the call to break or squeal and open your hand and point it in the direction of hte birds to get maximum volume and appeal.

Many hunters overwork the highball. Blasting away at birds exiting a refuge or at a distance is a waste of time and hot air. If the hear your call and want to come your way, they will. No amount of calling, no matter how good, is going to change their mind if they don't want to come in your direction.

If the birds show some interest and then begin to drift away, it's time for the comeback call.

Comeback Call
The comeback call is similar to the highball, except it's softer, shorter and more pleading. What you're trying to say is, "Won't you come back and stay a while?".

Greeting Call
The greeting call is like a hearty handshake or a cheerful hello. It's short in duration and to the point. In duck jargon, it means, "How the heck are you? Long time no see". The greeting or hail call goes from maximum volume to a hush in two or three seconds and on paper it would look like "wwhHUTT-wwHUTT-WHUT-HUTT-hutt-hutt". Use this call when the birds need a little convincing and are wearily eyeing your spread at moderate distances. Point your call at the water so the sound radiates outward from your position and makes the ducks think they're surrounded by friends.

Hen Quack
The hen quack is a short two-syllable "qu-ACK(pause), qu-ACK(pause), qu-ACK". that's produced by a happy hen mallard. The call is the perfect confidence call and is easily reproduced by saying the words, "KWACK, KWACK" into the call while opening the hand over the end of the call. The drake mallard makes a similar more reedy call, but the hen does most of the talking.

Feeding Chuckle
The feeding chuckle or chatter is the most difficult call to master. To produce a convincing chuckle, place your tongue against the roof of your mouth and your front teeth. While blowing through the call, say the words, "tooka-tooka-took-tooka" as fast as possible while opening and closing your hand over the end of the call. Getting the right inflection requires a good deal of tongue training, but with a little practice you should get the hang of it. The call imitates the chirping, clucking and chatter that ducks make when they're content and feeding. Using this call when birds are circling can cause a passing flock to put the flaps down.

Lonesome Hen
The lonesome hen is an often overlooked call that can be very effective, especially when ducks are call-shy. The call is nothing more than widely spaced, irregular, nasal, drawn-out Quaaaaink quacks. Some callers have used it to pull birds sitting on the water for long distances. "You can derive your lonesome hen call from your basic quack. Learn to quack correctly and the rest will come from that," says Jim Olt. "Your lonesome call should be spaced out, and quick, with several seconds between. If the quacks are too close together it scares the ducks. And keep in mind that the lonesome hen is somewhat low and throaty."

Pleading Call
"The pleading or begging hail call is used to get the attention of ducks flying 75 to 200 yards above you," says champion caller Greg Brinkley. "This call is a series of 5 t o 6 quacks that are really dragged out to sound like you are begging the ducks to land. A pleading call is a Kaaanc, Kanc, Kanc, Kanc sound, and its first note is usually held a little longer. The pleading call is a drawn-out, slightly faster variation of the comeback. Many callers save the pleading call for stubborn ducks that refuse to come in. It's the caller's way of literally pleading with the ducks to come into or return to the spread.

Not all ducks quack. While most puddle ducks produce a muffled or softer quack similar to a mallard's, many species, like teal, widgeon and pintails, also whistle, peep and twitter. There are calls available that imitate these sounds and learning how to use them increases your chances of attracting theses species.
While diving ducks are less vocal than puddle ducks, they also emit horse quacks, growls and purrs that can be duplicated with a standard mallard call. There are also calls made specifically for imitating the horse growls and quacks of divers like redheads, bluebills and canvasbacks.

Serious waterfowl hunters know there's a lot more to duck hunting than just killing ducks. Learning how to call ducks will not only make you a more successful waterfowl hunter, but will make your time in the marsh that much more enjoyable.

Article written by Mike Gnatkowski

Back

Back home