Call advice

[crichbish]

Just embarked on my first season wildfowling and am looking for some advice on calls.

2 questions;

Are they necessary, shooting is over tidal marshes, apparently I should not expect to see a great deal of geese, quarry tends to be Mallard, widgeon, teal and a few pintail.

If they are necessary, apart from plenty of practice, what makes/ types/ models do you recommend?

 

Thanks

Chris

[chrispti]

Buck Gardner do a wide range of quality calls.

 

Are they necessary, not always, but I have been sat down the marsh with a good experienced caller, who managed to call birds off of their flight lines and call back birds that passed from behind, which resulted in us not going home empty handed.

Edited September 24, 2012 by chrispti

[silver pigeon 3]

Yes worth learning how to call, and also when to call!!

 

I see loads of people calling after big skeins of geese and ducks that are bombing through at a million miles per hour and way up to no avail, however call at pairs or singletons and quite often they will respond, and turn to seek out where the calling is coming from.

The only time i call when i haven't seen birds in the air is when i am on a feeding spot, ie a splash or known area where i have observed duck feeding and i know that there is duck in the area, often a good crescendo mallard call will get others calling back and sometimes even up on the wing to find the source of the call.

 

There is also the tendency to overdo the calling once a bird has been called at and has turned to find the source, most of the time a couple of soft quacks or a short feeding call is all that is required, especially if decoys are out. once the bird is commited its time to leave the call and get back on the gun.

As for calls i purchased some HS calls when i started out and have been happy with them, especially the black ice mallard call, it is an easy call to master and can produce the whole range from hail calls to feeding noises. I don't pretend i am the best caller out there but it seems to work ok for me, and i think less is sometimes more when it comes to calling.

[xav]

With a lot of pratice and observation, it's possible to make birds respond. Best not to overdo it, it will only scare them. For me, I found it worked best on tide flights with single birds, but others may have different experiences. I sometimes (not often as I would hope though) manage to get mallard into the decoys, it's great when it happens. You'll soon know whether it's worth trying or not, you can "read" birds; if they're on their way to their chosen destination, they won't normally respond to anything. When you practise, ask someone to stand 80 yards away to check how it sounds. There are different type of calls depending if you shhot a marsh or a pound etc...Have a look, lots of choice out there.

[.philmypower.]

Some very interesting answers here as I'm in the same boat as crichbish. Will be following this topic. Thanks

[kent]

Practice a lot first, then learn when to call. No hard and fast rules just observe. I have turned geese ninety degrees from a fair distance and had them totally ignoor the call. Had duck scared by the call and have also turned missed duck by another directly towards my spread and shot them. Sometimes there is no real obvious reaction it just gives them a little extra confidence. One thing for sure the mouth blowing the call has more bearing than brand of call

[washwildfowler]

when i first started out, i was told by a 40 year wildfowling veteran..... don't speak unless spoken to .....and he said it's the same with duck's and geese .....

[chrispti]

when i first started out, i was told by a 40 year wildfowling veteran..... don't speak unless spoken to .....and he said it's the same with duck's and geese .....

 

I disagree.

 

Hen mallard will call for drakes.

[chrispti]

There's a fee app on android phones called " duck hunting calls " for mallard, and " goose hunting calls " for Canada geese

 

They are a good training aid and it also tells you what each call is for and when to use it.

[washwildfowler]

I disagree.

 

Hen mallard will call for drakes.

 

so is she not speaking to him then if she is speaking (calling ) out for a drake you speak (call) back ....or it works the other way round ....

 

speaking when spoken to ... but i don't know everything ....

Edited September 24, 2012 by washwildfowler

[chrispti]

 

 

so is she not speaking to him then if she is speaking (calling ) out for a drake you speak (call) back ....or it works the other way round ....

 

speaking when spoken to ... but i don't know everything ....

 

I meant the other way round,You call.

 

Ducks don't always fly around quacking, so if you see some in the distance and they are not making a sound, do you call them or not?

 

I know I would not have shot as many if I didn't.

[Yoggy]

Decoying with the aid of a call is without doubt my favourite form of Fowling. When I first started I probably ruined more chances than actually increasing them. As already stated practice and knowing when to call is the most important aspect of calling.

But when you`ve mastered the art its one of the most satisfying things about wildfowling. Even today I still get just as excited "turning" Geese or Duck just as much as shooting them. With todays technology you can easily find help especially on the American Duck hunting sites via the internet. Duck calls come in all shapes,sizes, colours, and makes. They range from anywhere from 10 quid to over a 100 quid. I`ve tried all sorts of callers over the years ranging in price. I`ve personally found that once you`ve mastered the art of calling a 20/30 quid caller you will bring the birds round as much as a caller costing 100 quid.

For starting out I`d highly recommend 2 callers. They`re quite easy to use and dont cost the earth. In fact I still use them myself. The first one is the Primos original Wrench. This is a double reed caller, its dead easy to use and has a raspy sharp sound. This is ideal for close to mid range. The second is the Foiles migrator "The Legend". This has a more deeper sound and is ideally suited for longer range use. Again its really easy to use. But before you even start using your caller I recommend you spend at least a season practicing before using it on the birds. Have a look on the Duck hunting sites from the U.S and see how and when they use the caller. You have different types of calling like the "Come back", and "Feeding chatter". Once you`ve mastered these and feel confident then try it on the Geese/Ducks. Best of luck.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Yoggy

[mudpatten]

I agree completely with both Chrispti and Yoggi. Calling is well worth the time and effort it takes to master it.