Duck Calling Instructions Only a Phone Call Away
Waterfowlers seeking to improve their calling skills would be wise to receive instruction from accomplished callers, not necessarily the guy next door. A number of learning tools are on the market, with three of the most recent additions being Rich-N-Tone's calling package The Right Stuff. Hosts Butch Richenback and John Stephens, both former world champions, lead you step-by-step. Available on CD or cassette tape by calling 888-RNTCALL. On the video side of the ledger, Will Primos and staff have developed The Truth 1 -Incoming-Ducks & Geese. Primos can be reached at 601-366-1288. And finally, Louisiana call maker Shane Roten is offering the video Fowl Language. Call 318-377-8169 for details. Call Selection, Practice Are Key Components
Over the years, Charles Petty, a Georgia native, has won just about everything there is to win in the world of competitive calling, except the finals in Stuttgart. He is now also involved in a northeastern Arkansas waterfowl guiding operation. At age 51, Petty is the voice of experience.
"People should not be intimidated when they are learning how to blow a duck call, because they are not going to learn, not going to get better, if they don't get that call out and practice," Petty says. "One of the most important things is getting a call capable of making the right sounds. If you don't have a good call, you are going to have a lot of difficulty."
"Get a call that you feel good about, that you can have confidence in," Petty adds. "Different people like different kinds of calls. But, the more you practice with that call, and the more time you put into it, the better off you are going to be. And that goes for people who are just starting out, and those who have been calling for years."
NEW
Brand new to the market is "Waterfowl Workshop," in CD and cassette versions, offering personalized instruction from Rod and Eli Haydel, who produce the popular Haydel's Game Calls line. For details, call 318-746-3586, or check out the company's Web site at www.haydels.com.
If melding sounds to create a convincing medley is one of the keys here, so may be the level of duck-calling proficiency. Two accomplished callers will most definitely have more impact than one, and so, too, may two callers of average skill. A wide variation in talent, though, may cause problems, according to at least one other highly regarded caller.
"I think it's better to have a team in the blind where both callers are of the same caliber," says 1985 world duck-calling champ Mike "Big Guy" Keller of Kansas City, Missouri. "It's easier to complement each other that way. If one caller is much better than the other one, the guy who's not as good may get intimidated and not know what to do." Learning what your partner is capable of doing, and then making the most of your combined skills, takes time and patience. The benefit of being able to simulate an entire flock of ducks is well worth the investment.
"Two accomplished callers in the blind are definitely an advantage," Keller says, "but if you don't hunt together all the time, you probably aren't in sync. The more you hunt with someone, the more you are going to get in sync."
Keller also says that the more competent one becomes with a duck call, the better chance that hunter has of persuading birds to drop by for a look. This is not a revelation, but those who put their call away at the end of the season and do not pick it up until the start of the next one are likely to remain inept. Too many folks do just that, and suffer frustration as a result.
"Accomplished callers have an advantage because they can make any sound that's in their call," Keller says. "They know what it can do. And they are confident with what they can do. They will try different things to get the ducks' attention. "There are days when we try everything in the world-squawking, screeching, loud hail calls, soft calls, no calls. You learn to try everything that you know, because sometimes what you might not expect to work is exactly what they want to hear."
Cullum, Curtis, and Keller all agree that being aggressive with the call can pay off-if you know what you are doing. But remember, being aggressive is not necessarily synonymous with high-volume calling.
"When the ducks are way out there, you can be more aggressive, and louder," Cullum says. "You want to sound realistic, just like mallard hens. It's like talking to a person: You can holler into the call, or whisper, depending on where the ducks are. But you can still be aggressive and snappy, even when they're close, just by toning it [volume] down."
"In timber, you can pretty much call all the time," Curtis says. "Sometimes, you call even when you don't see ducks, because down in those trees, you can't see far away. You want to get their attention if they're out there. I think you have to be aggressive, and call them all the way down to the water."
Timber hunting is one thing, but gunning over open water, fields, or marsh sometimes requires different strategies and considerations for team callers. For one thing, with the sky wide open, the callers must first be sure they are calling the same ducks. If one person is looking one way, at a flock 200 yards out, and the other caller is looking the other way, at wings-cupped mallards at 50 yards and dropping, the hazard is obvious. Communication is essential in this scenario.
"In a rice field, you have to read the ducks a lot more," Curtis says. "In timber, you do some, but in the rice fields you really have to watch them. If they get off line, you call at them to get back on line. In a rice field, it's a lot more like directing traffic. You have to be able to pick up what the ducks are responding to."
"There might be 300 acres of water in that field," Cullum says. "Ducks are going into the fields to eat, and they really don't care where you want them to light. You've got to have your decoys right. You're going to have to be hidden. And you and your partner have really got to stay on them when you're calling in a field."
Primos figures that field hunting provides an opportunity to mix in other types of calls.
"Anyone who has ever sat next to a flooded cornfield and has seen ducks coming into it will probably see teal, wigeon, mallards, spoonbills, and more. They are all saying something," Primos says. "When you get in those situations, you can use a pintail or wigeon whistle, or do a fast teal call. Ducks are used to hearing a lot of sounds, and when you can do that, it's convincing."
Keller knows that team calling works, but also believes that too many members in a duck blind orchestra can sometimes become a liability.
"I think you can have too many people calling at once," Keller says. "I don't think it will bother anything to have three or four guys calling if the ducks are way off. But the closer the ducks get, the fewer callers the better. Two is OK, but any more than that and chances are somebody is going to say something too loud. The exception is a windy day, when I think the more callers the better. On windy days, you can often scream at them all the way to the water."
This is, then, a multiple learning experience. The keys to team-calling success include learning what your call can do, learning what your partner can do, learning to read the birds, and deciding what they want to hear on any particular day. But every rule has exceptions.
"Some days," Keller says, "the ducks don't like anything. That's just the way they are."