mallard call

[olivhar01]

Hi guys im sure this post has been covered before but im looking for a bit of advice on a good mallard call to buy and start off with as im new to calling

 

atb

Cal

[wildfowler.250]

As above. I bought a double nasty and don't really like it,(plus I think it's choked up with mud now ).

[Chad63]

The Big Rivers Sweet Cherry is nice and easy to use and reasonably priced too. I got mine from Tidepool.

[Contemporary-Wildfowler]

I started off with one of the original Dave Jackson Sonderman Duck Calls - wooden and double reed - I believe they are still in production and if your lucky enough, you might just pick one up on Ebay for relatively cheap. It proved to be a great call for producing those raspy notes.

 

CW

[aga man]

The Big Rivers Sweet Cherry is nice and easy to use and reasonably priced too. I got mine from Tidepool.

+1 the banded lady is also goodhttp://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Duck-Call-Big-River-Series-BANDED-LADY-Wildfowling-Duck-Hunting-Decoying-/151140283575?pt=UK_SportingGoods_Hunting_ShootingSports_ET&hash=item2330a9b4b7

[tigger]

I've got a buck gardner mag nasty, also had the double nasty 2 and thought it was the easiest duck call I've ever used, I think a double reed is better for a beginner/novice than a single, also go on YouTube and put in duck calling for beginners plenty of good stuff on there I learnt from there myself.....

Edited November 14, 2013 by tigger

[Penelope]

This one. I have had mine for 25 years. Good sound, not too loud and very easy to use.

 

http://www.whistlingwings.co.uk/acatalog/Sonderman-Duck-Call-N30_SDC_66.html

 

I started off with one of the original Dave Jackson Sonderman Duck Calls - wooden and double reed - I believe they are still in production and if your lucky enough, you might just pick one up on Ebay for relatively cheap. It proved to be a great call for producing those raspy notes.

 

CW

[jonnybgood]

just got a double nasty, after loosing my last call (big river-banded lady) and really like it. very easy to use, and very mallard like!

[olivhar01]

Thanks for sharing your info chaps

[mudpatten]

Go to Facebook and take a look at MPK Custom Calls.

 

You can get a superb hand made wooden call for the price of a nonedescript plastic one.

[Double four]

Iv had all manner of duck call in the past 30 years and finally settled on a sonderman and more recently a foulmouth 2, that was until I tried a E Nixon job a real raspy tone and very easy to blow and to add a stunning looking call too.

Edited November 15, 2013 by Double four

[mudpatten]

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Edited November 16, 2013 by mudpatten

[mudpatten]

The MPK Custom Calls "Tide Flight" double reed mallard call, hand turned in cocobolo.

 

A piece of call artistry for the same price as a nondescript plastic call.

 

]http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/ag77/mpkcustomcalls/ACF6A5F0-C156-4F7C-810F-57C262F874B5-559-000000CB3441A8A4_zpsb88259ce.mp4[/img]

[kent]

You know its about 10% the call and 90% the caller

 

For instance

Don't give an alarm call if you want to shoot at em!

Don't give a feeding chatter if your deeks are in 6ft of water - mallard aint diving ducks!

Don't sound like one of those Duck calling competitors on u-tube, I haven't ever herd a Duck quack like that

 

You can call the Mallard pretty good with your voice, however like any call it takes a lot of practise and a fair amount of listening and watching the Ducks reaction to get it right.

[mudpatten]

Personally, I think it`s more like 40% call quality and 60% calling ability.

 

No matter how good you are on a call, a poor quality call will always sound tinny and high pitched,the reed will constantly stick with spit and ducks just won`t respond to it if it sounds too unrealistic.

 

A good quality call will have a rich tone which will not scream if you blow it hard, nor will it stick when wet. It will also, in a small way, cover up some of your technical shortcomings by sounding more like a duck right from the outset.

 

There are shed loads of instructional DVD`s available and the "language" of the mallard has been pretty much decoded by the Yanks.All you have to do is to learn how to reproduce the right sounds in the right scenario.

 

I`m intrigued by your comments about not giving a feed call for decoys in 6ft of water. How do the ducks know how deep the water is?

 

I agree that what the Yanks might call a "highball" call,9- 15 hard blown notes in a descending cadence is a bit unnatural but it is only intended to get ducks attention at a very long distance. It is`nt something that you`d blow at closer birds.

 

You`re quite right that you can call a mallard with your voice. The only problem with that is that it simply is`nt possible to get any sort of volume when doing it. If the bird is close enough to respond to mouth calling, you could probably have shot it anyway. I think that the lack of volume is probably the reason that artificail calls were invented in the first place.

[kent]

some can get volume by mouth only though volume is sometimes not important its giving the duck the confidence over the deeks to commit , Duck are not capable of ear splitting volume either and the nice thing is calling by voice there is no call to spit out so you might grab the gun!

 

Watch Duck that live in an area they know full well how deep the water is, if there is no feeding there is no chatter- Duck in deep water chattering is not natural and for an already suspicious duck..................... If you hear Dabbing ducks chattering over deep water pls film it because it just don't happen. Its like when the first widgeon come in the drake don't whistle and if you try whistling when they are not it just don't work, same sort of thing right thing wrong place

[stalker58]

Scotch Shaker...easy to use,and works a treat...call and feeding chatter

[mudpatten]

Obviously, I`ve never met the same mouth callers that you talk of but I`ve never heard anyone who can get sufficient volume with their mouth when calling duck to be of any use in a field situation.

 

In fact, I`ve just spent 10 minutes trawling through Youtube to see if I could find any. There are indeed a few clips of people calling duck by mouth. Most are April fool overdubbed setups but one or two are real but patently lack volume.

 

You don`t have to blow a call loud to get ducks to "finish" over decoys. I have to ask if,when calling by mouth, which simply cannot be heard over any sort of distance you get ducks to the point where they need quiet calling to finish them, how did they get there in the first place? If they could not hear your original calling they would probably have "finished" on the own.

 

Respectfully, have you never heard duck eating floating grain on a deep,fed flight pond. I can assure you that they feed chatter. The sound they make has everything to do with the availability of food, natural or otherwise, and very little to do with the depth of water.

 

I`m not quite sure what you mean by spitting out the call since one does not put a mallard call actually in ones mouth to begin with.

Edited November 18, 2013 by mudpatten

[kent]

Obviously, I`ve never met the same mouth callers that you talk of but I`ve never heard anyone who can get sufficient volume with their mouth when calling duck to be of any use in a field situation.

 

In fact, I`ve just spent 10 minutes trawling through Youtube to see if I could find any. There are indeed a few clips of people calling duck by mouth. Most are April fool overdubbed setups but one or two are real but patently lack volume.

 

You don`t have to blow a call loud to get ducks to "finish" over decoys. I have to ask if,when calling by mouth, which simply cannot be heard over any sort of distance you get ducks to the point where they need quiet calling to finish them, how did they get there in the first place? If they could not hear your original calling they would probably have "finished" on the own.

 

Respectfully, have you never heard duck eating floating grain on a deep,fed flight pond. I can assure you that they feed chatter. The sound they make has everything to do with the availability of food, natural or otherwise, and very little to do with the depth of water.

 

I`m not quite sure what you mean by spitting out the call since one does not put a mallard call actually in ones mouth to begin with.

 

I have zero desire to shoot fed ducks and what use in calling them if they are habituated to the pond in this way, others can do as they wish. No never heard it coz like I say I don't shoot fed ducks! If the real ducks chatter in this situation yes the call might / should work but I bet another sack of that floating grain might work a heap better

 

I just say what I see and hear and observe in real life, there is all sorts of nutty stuff on the net. If its un-natural our quarry knows, it need not figure it all out and work on conspiracy theories

 

Please don't be pedantic about the spit it out - you cannot shoot and call simultaneously with most manufactured calls as you need to hold them. Duck often need that extra push to commit (finish if you spend too much time on American sites)

 

Volume? how loud is a duck though? The widgeon brass trumpet aint exactly ear splitting is it - still works! There is a place for Duck calls with a string of them around my neck I cannot deny it

[mudpatten]

Agreed!

 

Matt from MPK Custom Calls is currently working on a cocobolo wigeon whistle which has the thing that, as you rightly say,is lacking from the brass ones - volume.

 

You don`t have to blow it loud but, if you need to reach out to distant birds, you can.

 

I shoot most of my wigeon with a punt gun rather than over decoys but,if you`re interested, it would be good to get someone like yourself who does, to field test it.

 

If you`re interested, I`ll let you know when the prototype is ready.

[Penelope]

Do you have other contact means for MPK, as I don't use Facebook? I have tried google to no effect.

 

Agreed!

 

Matt from MPK Custom Calls is currently working on a cocobolo wigeon whistle which has the thing that, as you rightly say,is lacking from the brass ones - volume.

 

You don`t have to blow it loud but, if you need to reach out to distant birds, you can.

 

I shoot most of my wigeon with a punt gun rather than over decoys but,if you`re interested, it would be good to get someone like yourself who does, to field test it.

 

If you`re interested, I`ll let you know when the prototype is ready.

[kent]

Agreed!

 

Matt from MPK Custom Calls is currently working on a cocobolo wigeon whistle which has the thing that, as you rightly say,is lacking from the brass ones - volume.

 

You don`t have to blow it loud but, if you need to reach out to distant birds, you can.

 

I shoot most of my wigeon with a punt gun rather than over decoys but,if you`re interested, it would be good to get someone like yourself who does, to field test it.

 

If you`re interested, I`ll let you know when the prototype is ready.

Can I ask you connection to MPK?

[mudpatten]

I have no connection to either him or his call making other than the fact that he is a mate of mine and we both belong to the same wildfowling club.

 

I mention him merely because he is a home grown,rather than American, call maker who produces a first class call at a very reasonable price point.

 

Any particular reason for asking?

[mudpatten]

Penelope,PM sent.

[anser2]

The depth of water will have no bearing on the effect on the so called feeding call. In reality it is a mating call from a female mallard that she makes when a second drake comes too close to encite her mate. She makes it when a unwanted male comes too close by bobbing her head with her beak pointed towards the newcommer and usually away from her mate. I can never understand why its ever been called a feeding chatter or call , after it makes sence that its hard to call with a beak full of food.

 

I sugesst if anyone doubts this go down to your local duck pond and watch the ducks , what they are doing and saying.

Edited November 19, 2013 by anser2