Duck Calling How Much

[Spaniel]

I am just wondering what level of calling Ducks and Geese you all do while out on the foreshore.

If you watch amy of the american clips they seem to be non stop calling and to be honest they seem to pull in quite a few ducks etc but I know that they also have a lot of decoys out as well.

 

When I am out I normally wait until I see the birds before calling, and to be honest i will call a bit to try to get their attention, thats ducks and geese.

 

i was out last night and to be honest i only saw 2 ducks and One came at me so low i didnt see it in time and as it was low i never took the shot, but the guy behind me had a few decoys out but he was non stop shooting.

I noticed the same guy a few times last season and every time I have seen him, he is non stop shooting. I have shot in the same place as he was before and yes I see Ducks but if I fire the gun more then 3 times I am lucky, and I am using decoys etc.

The only thing I have noticed with him is that when he is using his calls, with the Duck one,which sounds a bit strange he just gives one Quack and then stops, the next thing you know Bang goes the gun, he leaves it for a few more minutes, then your hear a Quack and almost straight afterwards the gun goes off again.

Last season I watched him give a single Honk and he brought a Canada in and bagged it.

 

So is less calling better, does a single Quack attract the attention of the Ducks better then all the calling scenarios you see on YouTube etc?

 

Thanks

[TJ91]

When I attempt to call ducks I usually only give 1 or 2quacks..sometimes works other times it doesn't.

 

I don't continuously call, and only call if I see something that is not heading at me.

 

I think the more I call the less realistic is seems (to my ears anyway)

 

Try a quick quack, if it doesn't work try a few quacks in quick succesion, if that doesn't work blow the call inside out and cross your fingers.

I guess different days, different things will work.

Jus experiment on the day.

 

When calling geese I usually give a good few repetitive honks.. but I have never masterd the art of goose calling, never seem to do a gud job of it

Edited October 8, 2011 by TJ91

[mudpatten]

Difficult question to answer. Sometimes a single quack will have a dramatic effect on a duck. Sometimes I`ve got to keep talking to them to prevent them drifting off course,right up to the bitter end.

 

Blowing a call continuously is frequently very annoying for other gunners, especially if you`re not very good at it and is likely to lead to a surgically implanted call, thrust where the sun don`t shine, by another angry gunner fed up with the racket.

 

You`re quite right that they blow their calls a lot in U.S. videos. But the clue to that is that the video is made by a call manufacturer so it comes with the territory.

 

If you watch the U.S. stuff closely they rarely call to an empty sky, except in timber shooting where their visibility is severely restricted by the trees, but when they do call, everybody joins in.

 

A couple of good callers working a bird or two is pretty to watch but the operative word is "good". There are many great callers in this country, but, in my humble opinion, most are`nt that good and I`ve rarely heard two good callers working together, one leading and the other backing.

 

There is a lot of good tuition stuff on You Tube but you have to be brutally honest about your own calling ability. If you sound like the instructor then you`ve probably got it about right. Not only will it sound right but you will have frequently experienced birds coming in directly and obviously responding to your call. If you don`t, then you`ve got some work to do on your technique and don`t be surprised if the birds don`t respond well to less than realistic calling.

 

Calling does`nt work all the time, but when it does it`s deadly.

 

Good luck and keep practicing, you`ll get there in the end. Just don`t practice on the marsh!

 

I think we may have corresponded about calling previously. The offer of tuition still stands.

[kent]

I like calling, watching a passing duck turn to the call and come into your deeks is great. Turning a couple of duck when you have no deeks out is even better. Sometimes it stinks and except at those times non-callers will take the rise a bit and use it to justify not calling.

If a duck or goose is way off your line it cant hurt IMO., but personally with geese i keep it to the minimum if a single call dont grab any attention i leave them. With ducks i tend to use a three or four note hail call, then feeding quacks and chatter. Calling an empty sky with other guns about or calling birds heading past you on direct line for another shooter is always going to create upset though

[Spaniel]

Thanks Guys.

Got to admit when i heard this guy calling and shooting, I decided the best thing was for me to leave my calls hanging around my kneck, I just didnt want to start calling as he was truely doing something what was succesful.

 

MP I havent forgot your offer and truely appreciate it and as soon as i know I can get down your way I will drop you a PM

 

Many Thanks

Ian

[henry d]

All depends where you are decoying. Yanks are calling migrating duck on flight paths so any duck passing is given great gusto, in the UK most duck are stopping here and they call differently. Try sitting near a pond at night and listen to the subtle calls of male mallard and the "feed" chatter. Another thing I like to do is mix the calls, use teal for mallard or wigeon for teal that you see passing up river.

 

Geese are a different thing all together, (when decoying inland)you cannot make enough noise when pinks are moving IMHO.