I’ll never forget that first time eighteen years ago when dad told me to “get on the whistle”. We ended up getting about 75 greenwings to come light in the decoys that morning! Naturally we had big ducks on our minds so we didn’t even shoot, but we could see an immediate change in their attitudes and the results of the whistle were overwhelming.

Never underestimate the effectiveness of a whistle! Many hunters don’t feel the need for whistles simply because they may not have pintails in their area while they may have mallards widgeon and teal. As we have experienced many times these four species of ducks DO respond to the whistle. Most of our most successful hunts last year were late in the season using whistles in conjunction with our mallard calls. I hunt in a very small pothole in the marsh, which is not usually frequented by teal and pintail since they usually prefer larger bodies of water. The whistle has made a noticeable difference in helping me attain a daily bag limit including the species.

We try to identify the ducks before we call to them so that we can “speak their language”. At times, however it can be difficult and even when you mistakenly use the wrong call, can sometimes be to your advantage. For example when calling “call shy” mallards. Often a pintail whistle will elicit an immediate response where perhaps a mallard hen call would cause the birds to flare forcing you to really lean on the call even more.

I know a guide that swears by using our bluewing teal call on mallards on very windy days. As previously mentioned, using whistles in conjunction with your mallard calls is an effective technique when everyone in the blind wants to call. That is an excellent opportunity to have one person lead off on his mallard call while the others fill in using whistles. The most obvious opportunity our whistle affords is that it is a four-in-one call, which gives him a chance to quickly duplicate the sound of incoming ducks with only fingertip control. It is also most helpful to select decoys based on the species found in your particular area.

One of my favorite ways to use whistles is in an effort to get youngsters in starting to call. I’ve often get a twitch when I hear fathers say that they don’t get many opportunities to hunt so there’s no way that they are going to let their kid mess up a flight by squealing a call. There is absolutely no sound that a youngster can make on a whistle that will scare ducks. I don’t care if he plays “Mary had a little lamb” ducks are accustom to hearing all kind of whistles and peeps – these are natural sounds to our fine feathered friends – and anything he does is going to simulate some type of bird. Let your young hunter start enjoying the real fun of the sport…the CALLING! It will not only make him feel that he had a part in bringing in that duck, but it will probably make him/her want to go with you more often and you’ll get more passes from the home front! Who knows one day that little kid may put ” old dad” to shame in the calling arena. Just ask my dad!

I guess that is a fitting title, as there really is really not one that exists; not from the factory that is. Some are awful close but each has their own history of flaws. That being the case let us examine what it takes to build it.

First and foremost the ultimate gun must shoot where are looking in order to have the ability to cleanly kill at normal ranges. Since there are a wide range of hunters in their physical size, this in itself is a quality that gun manufacturers would never be able to solve totally. The manufacturers try to fit the gun for the average size hunter but some customizing must be done to fit everyone. In order for a gun to fit you properly it must first be patterned to see where the gun shoots for point of impact. If the gun shoots off of center there are a number of things that your local gunsmith can do to correct this. Some manufactures such as Beretta offer guns with adjustable stocks. There are also many gun manufactures offering replacement stocks that you may have custom sized for you. Check with your local sporting goods dealer.

After this how does the gun feel? I like to close my eyes and mount the gun as if a quick flight of teal were passing at first light. Then open your eyes and see if in fact that you are looking straight down the rib. If not some adjustment may be necessary. I would stress fitting with your hunting coat on as some length may need to be cut of the stock The gun must come up smoothly without snagging your coat! Again your local gunsmith should be able to take care of this.

What does the pattern actually look like? Are there any holes in the pattern? How does it look at different ranges and loads? Different chokes and load combinations will solve these type problems. It is a lengthy process and mostly “trial and error”. Some of the specialized chokes on the market may seem like a waste of money but some are well worth the expense. They may actually pay for themselves through a reduction in the number of shells it takes to bring a bird down. A lot of hunters I have talked with seem to be shooting too tight a choke which may be part of the problem especially in not hitting a bird at all. We at Haydel’s have recently started offering replacement tubes especially for the waterfowler for this reason.

In a typical shotgun shooting a modified choke your shot string is approximately 12 feet long at 40 yards. If you hit a bird with the front edge of your pattern at that range on a crossing shot he is out of the way when the back edge of the pattern catches up! By adding the rearward facing ports to our tubes we can slow the wad down; cutting our shot string in half thereby DOUBLING shot density! We have also constricted our tubes for specific situations such as shooting over decoys, passing shots, and extended range for geese. We have now maximized our shot density while offering more forgiveness in shot placement by throwing a wall of pellets instead of a string!

Will the gun function flawlessly? Most automatics do not take the cold temperature without a little TLC. Single-shots, pumps and doubles are better but as long as we are talking ultimate lets stick with the autos. One thing that helps is keeping the top end of the gun (above the receiver) dry of any oil. Oil builds accumulates powder residue and slows the guns from cycling. Be sure that any O-rings are in top shape and replace if necessary. The lower end must be free and loves a little oil. One part that is often neglected is the recoiling spring tube inside the stock of the gun. Most autos that I am aware of have these spring tubes. Over time they become rusted and sluggish. Don’t neglect this tube and oil it about twice a year. If neglected you will eventually only be able to get one shot off and the gun will not push the second round completely into the chamber.

There are many manufactures that offer products that in many cases exceed the manufactures. Sure Cycle is one of these. They make after-market recoil tubes out of stainless steel. They never need oil nor wear. In many cases they have faster cycle times than the original. They are currently about 20 percent more than factory replacements but if you ever have to replace it again it’s money well spent. Well worth the peace of mind. This is cheap insurance to keep you blood pressure in check! I have had these replaced on two of my own guns and have never had a problem even after several years’ worth of dunkings.

Now that we have a gun that functions properly and shoots a good pattern where we are looking we need to be sure we are LOOKING in the right place. Some hunters have really increase there hit ratio by adding fiber optic sights. Many companies offer these. HI VIZ and TRU GLO come to mind. I do not particularly shoot them myself because honestly to correctly shoot a shotgun you should never CONSCIOUSLY look at your sight. Your subconscious however does. This may be the reason that some have found these items successful. I tend to concentrate on the sight and not the bird with these.

Now that we have the ultimate duck gun we should never miss. Right???

Keep your calls sounding natural sounding by sticking with the basics. Fancy calling is best left on the stage calling judges, and in most situations rarely in the duck blind.

The greeting call is what I use when I first see ducks at a distance. It’s a series of 5-7 notes in descending order at a steady even rhythm (Kanc, Kanc, Kanc, Kanc, Kanc).

The comeback call is used when ducks don’t respond to your greeting or you want an immediate response such as in the timber. It’s more urgent sounding and faster (Kanckanc, Kanc, Kanc, Kanc).

A pleading call is usually followed by holding the first note a little longer (Kaaanc, Kanc, Kanc, Kanc). These three series make up about 75% of my calling. Another 20% are single quacks and a little feed calling. As you can see I’m not much on 30 note hail calls. I have yet to hear a real hen call in this manner. I try to sound as natural as I can. Most mallards I hear feed calling in the typical “kitty, kitty, kitty” fashion are flying. While ducks actually feeding are more broken up and erratic sounding (da-dit da-dit dit dit, da-dit dit). Also I have found live hens only call to others after they have flown over the pond or passed their location. Usually she’ll give them only one comeback call.

Keep these points in mind:

• As long as the ducks are coming in forget calling.
• When they start an erratic wing beat; hit them with a comeback call immediately to bring them back on line.
• If they look as if they may drift off-line use single quacks and feed calls to bring them back online.
• Try calling at birds as they circle when they quarter into the wind. This will make it easier for them to set up for a landing zone into the wind. (Anticipate their swing).
• Remember your whistle and mix these sounds in with your mallard call. Youngsters can blow these with ease and feel partly responsible for bringing the ducks in! The mallard drake sound should not be discounted either especially on windless days!
• Always start high and come down the scale smoothly with no “start up note”.
• If possible use a call that applies to the species your trying to call. Talk their language (ex. blue-wing teal, use a blue-wing call).
• When team calling let one person be the leader and the other just fill in. Don’t compete against yourselves.
• Realize that all ducks are not callable and that real ducks do not call in all the ducks all the time.
• Be different! If what you are doing isn’t working…CHANGE.

Don’t get stuck in a rut! Hopefully these points will help you sound natural in the marsh; which is so very important late season and the further south you hunt. Further north a caller can get by with a lot more mistakes and has a chance to experiment a bit. Up till now, I have discussed 95% of my calling in the field. What about the other 5%? You didn’t think I was going to let you in on all my secrets did you?

This September I will be headed north to Alberta Canada as I have done for the past 10 years. The goose hunting there is the best I have ever experienced anywhere bar none. Now, I should not lead you on to think that it’s a snap. You still have to rely on good blinds, decoy placement and skillful calling tactics; however you have the numbers of birds that allow you to experiment with different techniques which are helpful when back south of the border.

We’ve learned through the years for example that if the geese are wanting to skirt your spread on one side that you can place more decoys from that side to the opposite leading edge and the birds will swing in most of the time. This is something to keep in mind for instance if the wind changes direction on you. Rather than pickup the whole spread including the blind; you can simply move as little as six decoys and be back to hunting in less than 5 minutes. We have even tried hunting behind; in front; and even to the sides of our spreads and under certain conditions they really pay off.

Calling experiments can sometimes really get wild. Last year for example we were set up in a pea-field one morning and figured out that if the bird came from the river we needed to call very excitedly; lots of double clucking and rapid cluck them all the way to the blind. If the birds came from the beaver pond south of us we simply clucked and moaned the birds in. The beaver pond birds that came from the east worked only to single clucks a lot of moaning and rapid clucking the last 40 yards. This held true the next time we hunted that field 3 days later after a major migration! Much of the same tried and true rules still apply but we were experimenting to see what it took to bring the birds in on their first pass and consistently from group to group. There are always birds that will do something once (like coming to a siren on a call); but I wouldn’t chance that one in the states. Flagging seemed to work great one afternoon even though we were about a mile from the river.

Canada has a lot to offer. In September it’s usually comfortable especially for the kids and gives them the opportunity to learn to call as well as those who are experienced to play around. Alberta Wing out of LaCrete Alberta hunts some of the first grain fields the geese get to on their way south. Give Boyd a call @ 318-258-4888. He’s a heck of a caller of course not that I’m biased but during the off season he does work with us.

With the duck season behind us and 9 months to wait, most waterfowlers are switching to the spring nuisance goose season in order to get in a few more hunts for the year. This is a tough time to hunt these wise old birds but it does appear that we had a good number of juveniles with less “years of experience” than in the past. Let’s take a look at what it takes to be successful.

Scouting definitely plays a major role. The birds should be feeding heavy this time of the year since they have a long way to go and will need a full tank. Rye grass fields are favored at this time for their protein levels. If you don’t see them you’ll probably smell them as they can get awfully sticky when feeding on these grasses. Years ago when creeping geese were common it kept the birds broken up into smaller flocks and spread out. This allowed hunters more opportunities to call in smaller bunches. Naturally this was more effective than having hundreds of eyes looking down at you. Now a days snows tend to group up tighter and combined with the warmer temperatures they do not have to feed as heavy or frequently during the regular season. Snows use to be a marsh goose and seldom feed in dry fields 30-40 years ago. All this has changed due to agriculture practices and they tend to get up more as one big flock together thus making it them harder for hunters to call in. Try scouting and hunting smaller flocks. Nothing is more frustrating than setting all those decoys out and having a big group of birds set down in the adjacent field over. Anything that follows will now be attracted to them and the hunters can not compete with live birds on the ground no matter how good a caller they are.

Most successful hunts are planned out very carefully after the fields have been scouted. Lots of decoys are needed to attract even the smaller groups of birds at this time of the year as the geese are staging for their return trip up north. Every hunter should also be calling in order to make those decoys come to life. Even though they may not call well; they will fill in fine with the other callers, as it will take a lot of calling to coerce these birds in this time of year. Electronics may also be helpful. By switching tapes and lowering the volume as they close in you may have the advantage over others using electronics in your area. In calling to large flocks I doubt that they hear too much of what is being said below as they are lacking in manners by talking when being spoken to. One call that I personally favor is our snow goose diaphram. It is similar to a turkey diaphram only blown differently. It allows your hands to be free and sounds more natural to me than traditional mouth blown versions.

Most serious hunters wear white to blend in with the decoys and add to the spread. This will also give you the opportunity to move around a little which will actually inhance the hunt by making the decoys come to life with movement. I believe that movement in your spread definitely helps as most hunters will tell you when hunting geese they prefer some wind. They don’t care which direction as long as it’s 10-20mph! That may be due to the fact that most are using “wind socks” or Texas “rag spreads”. So if possible check the weather and pick a day that’s calling for the wind.

Every other aspect of the hunt should be the same as hunting them in the fall. The Feds relax the regulations in many parts of the country in the spring. Unplugged guns and electronics are the most common. Do the resource a favor and get rid of some of these geese you’ll be doing them a favor and having a ball at the same time!

The scene is a duck hole, Anywhere, USA. Two guys are telling their lies about ‘ol Mr. Buck when all of a sudden one looks up and sees 20 mallards locked up with landing gear down and 45 yards to the southwest of their spread. “GET DOWN!” and he reaches for his call…what’s wrong here?

It’s time to pick up the gun not the call! I must say that I have been guilty from time to time as well. Fact is we all like to call and feel like we are the ones responsible for bringing those birds in. Kind of builds ones confidence if you know what I mean. But sometimes the best call is not to call at all.

There is more to attracting ducks to you than calling. Decoys play a huge part obviously; but let’s take it from Mr. Mallard’s point of view. From Canada to you he flies south looking for food and company. He sees an average of 20-40 friends in a nice hole. They invite him over only to be shot at. He is a quick learner though and soon says the heck with it. I have found at these times; it’s more productive to be different. Use different species of decoys not just mallards. Don’t laugh but I like using some spoonbill decoys where I hunt. It works wonders on pintail! I personally only use about 1/3 mallards with the remainder a mix between pintail, widgeon, teal, blacks, and even coots. Most important, It’s a different look than what everyone else in my area is using day in and day out.

Adding movement to your spread also makes a more realistic setting. Jerk strings have been a staple in our blinds for years. One thing we do however is tying them to one of those ‘feeder’ decoys. I don’t know if it is a jealousy thing but I have seen mallards so keyed in on these that often you can stand to shoot and the birds don’t even flare! Usually I keep the feeder about 10 yards in front of my blind where I want the birds to land. After they have spotted it quit calling and keep the string going, as they will try to land ON IT!

Switching your calls pitch or style is also something you can change when it’s not working for you. When I was 14 we had not begun making calls yet and I had just finished winning 3rd in the Junior World Competition. We were at the St Rose Duck Club out of New Orleans. One of the old-timers (Blacky) wanted me to go with him that morning, as he did not know how to call. We had shot a few birds that morning but he wanted me to see the huge flights of pintail coming off Lake Ponchatraine around 11:00 AM. Try as I might I could not get them interested. Finally I reached down and grabbed my high-pitched “contest call”. What a sight as we finished our limit with bull Sprigs during a year on the point system with pintails =10pts each! Point is the new sound made the difference between a so-so hunt and an excellent one. I know one guide that even swears by our Bluewing Teal call on mallards in windy conditions! When birds will not take the pressure of greeting calls we will use some soft quacks in conjunction with a whistle.

Don’t be afraid to try something different. After all it can’t hurt! Of course now that you know all of my secrets I guess next year I’ll resort to experimenting with fluorescent decoys with the flashing laser eyes blowing a kazoo for a call! Bet you hadn’t ever thought of that one did you? Different!

At 3:00 AM we where making our 3 hour drive to our goose pit in Alberta. Gary (which I will hold his last name) was doing the driving while I tried to keep Buster from spilling coffee all over me. You see, Buster thought I was in his seat so I had very little room besides that Gary feeds his dog six pieces of cheese every morning if he can get him out of their bed; see, he sleeps with his 90lb wife and a 110lb beast. The smell was terrible I mean bad!!! This was just a preview of what was to come. He would break as the geese were 90 yards out and on the geese we did manage to kill Buster wouldn’t even retrieve them. You could almost see the evil in the dogs’ eyes as Gary was praising the dog with “Good Boy”. Gary said, “He must just be cold I’ll just give him a little snack to warm him up.” You guessed it, more cheese!

It only got worse as the day went on, as was the drive home. Here are a few tips to keep your cool this season as well as you hunting partners. First off ask your buddy if you can bring your dog especially if you are hunting his blind!

Keep your dog in a dog box. It’s safer for you and him (McDonald’s coffee is awful hot).

Keep him on a leash when outside the truck. He will actually enjoy it as well as it sets his mood. This will keep things manageable at the launch with all the commotion of other dogs and hunters rushing to get their gear organized. You see by showing control from the start, it is much easier to control the dog during the hunt.

If you have trouble with a dog breaking just tie him up. Don’t set the dog up to fail. By the way it’s a good idea to tie him in the boat as well. It makes for a much more pleasant ride especially if the dog is not all wet!

If you set you decoys out prior to opening day it’s a good idea to take your dog along and run some drills with him so he will know what to expect. Loading up, riding in the boat and even the surroundings around the blind are all going to be new to him. Throw some bumpers for him from the blind, as this will create a realistic atmosphere. I was talking with a friend who knew of a guy who spent a ton of money on training and opening day the dog would not even jump off the dog platform. You can’t blame this one on the trainer!

If you have a new dog or hunting a new location, plan on hunting for the dog not yourself especially for the first few volleys. Don’t even shoot; work the dog and make sure he doesn’t break and that he marks the birds. If you have been training with an electric collar LEAVE IT AT HOME! I have seen too many dogs ruined on their first outing. Everything is new to him and he is going to make a few mistakes. If you burn him with the collar without him knowing what you want he will be either shy of that location or completely shut down on you. Think of it as taking a kid hunting for the first time. Use the first few days for teaching him the ropes. You have made a big investment in a hunting companion for the next 8 or 9 years don’t blow it on the first day!

A very good veterinarian friend of mine has Claiborne Animal Clinic in Homer. John Tinsley had a few tips as well. “Dogs should be exercised prior to the season. There is a great amount of physical stress put on a dog in the field and by having your dog in top physical condition it is less likely the he will injure himself with a ruptured ACL (anterior cruciate ligament)”. John also suggests feeding a super premium quality food such as Pro Plan Performance or Eukanuba. After all how many pro athletes do you see eating at fast food restaurants! “Feed the dog at night before the mornings hunt and then again after. If twice a day feedings are not suited to your situation then the best time to feed is at night”.

Make sure you dogs vaccinations are up to date. You will lessen the odds that he will succumb to disease while under this much stress. “If traveling be aware of diseases prevalent in those areas such as Lymes Disease in the Northeast”. In extreme cold conditions use a dog vest. It will cut down bruising and cuts from the ice. “Make sure the vest fits snugly in order to keep him warm”.

“As duck hunting and water go together be sure to check the dogs ears daily. Ear infections (otitis) are relatively common among retrievers”. If noticed early, remedies can be simple. If left unnoticed you may end up going without “Fido” for a week or more.

If while hunting you notice your dog is unsure on some things or develops a problem then spend the time to show him what it is you want. Work him through these problems either during a lull in the action or after the hunt but DO IT and do it at the blind! I had a problem last year with my new 7-month-old chocolate lab “Lady”. She did not want to jump off a point in front of my blind since it was shallow water and I feel she must have hurt herself by launching off like “Superman”. We immediately worked her through that. It took a little while but John was with me on that morning and he understood the importance of it. So what we were 2 birds shy of a limit. We can make that up this year. All three of us!

While most guests of our camp are impressed with the details in our tactics, they are total shocked in our lack of calling at certain times of the season. Since we are at the end of the flyway, we have to do things a little different than in other parts of the country. Which usually means we do not constantly call.

One outfit we have had a pleasure to work with is “The Cabin Country” television crew with host Bill Saiff from New York which airs their show on PBS and The Outdoor Channel. The first time Bill came down he was amazed that the birds were not responding to his calls. Let me explain that Bill handles a call extremely well as he is a veteran waterfowler, full time guide and has won many calling contest. However being from way up north the birds just act different (they have that accent thing). I must say that he was humbled in Cajun country.

On the second day Bill sat back and observed as me and dad talked them in (when in Rome…). The first bird of the morning was a single greenhead. He would circle high above and respond to the call as if he really was not interested but could not refuse that ‘ol Susie. After five or six passes Dad whispered “delayed comeback!” I knew what that meant as he had taught me this as a kid while hunting Toledo Bend. We quit calling and Mr. Redleg just lost interest all together. When he had reached the 150-yard mark and had time to forget about that hen; Dad stood on the call hard with a seven note demanding comeback. That duck looked as if he had been hit sideways by a New York City taxicab. He did a 180 and came in “cupped up and locked” to 15 yards! It really is amazing to see the response you get by using this delayed calling tactic.

Another technique we use is on lower flying birds that circle wide of your set up. I refer to it as the “hypnotizing call”. Most of the time we try to make it easy for the birds to work in. This means calling only to position the birds when they are on the corners of the blind and finishing the up on the down wind side. This sets them up for landing into the wind over the decoys. Sometimes after several passes they still swing wide and refuse your calling. If you can train them to swing on the down wind side everytime then conditions are perfect for the hypnotist. The birds are hypnotized! All you do now is give them a comeback call when they are 180 degrees on the upwind side of the spread. They have been trained to respond to the call and before they realize what has happened; they have drifted over you. The birds will not be set up for decoying, as they will be drifting with the wind. Therefore, it will be a pass shot situation. You’ll have to be quick to the gun as dad taught us well that day too!

On the last day after scarffing down a quick bowl of gumbo and a link of boudin Bill went outside and knelt in some salt grass. Dad said a prayer as I sprinkled marsh water from my call over Bill’s head. It was a nice little ceremony! You see that day; Bill was CAJUNIZED!

Now that duck season is over; what are you going do the next nine months? How about crow hunting! Not the traditional crow hunt where you set up in a field and turn on the player but some thing that realistically resembles a duck hunt?

Hunting in this manner is not as simple as it may seem. Crows have excellent eyesight so camoflauge is a must. A good all around camo as you would wear in the duck blind such as the Realtree brand should work well however I would advise wearing gloves as well as headnet. Blinds for natural cover can also be to your benefit. Add in a few decoys and your set up is complete. Decoys may either be bought or borrowed but simple wooden silhouettes can also be used. Set these up as you basically would any duck hunt.

Scouting is the key to successful hunts. While you can hunt crows year round some of the better hunt with the most numbers occur in the fall and spring. In the fall Fisher crows start their migration south. Look for these birds in large numbers especially congregated around lakes. If you spot some flying keep checking back to find their flight patterns and try to get between the roost area and where they feed. In the south, pecan orchards are great places to begin and the farmer will surely appreciate you controlling these damaging varmints to his crop. Other places to scout out are cut-overs. These areas offer plenty of natural cover and the birds really seem to throw caution to the wind. Crows can also be hunted along woods roads or better yet in the woods themselves as it simulates hunting ducks in green timber!

Calling is a great part of any duck hunt and the same holds true for crows as well. Every gunner should have access to a call. Start off with one person calling then switch to two callers making a fuss. The effectiveness of a crow and hawk fight can also be added in, as it has been very successful when using a tape in electronic players for years. Tapes can easily “burn out” an area however. That’s the best reason to use mouth blown calls because each set up is different. One little trick that I really like to throw in is when we are really raising cain with crow and hawk calls is to throw in a predator call. It sounds like an animal really getting hurt! The crows can not stand it. I often times use this in an area after we have killed the easy ones and further calling is not successful. Never throw out your ace in the hole first!

Your favorite duck gun will work just fine; however I like to shoot a modified or even full chokes. A good load of 7½;’s or 6’s for longer shots and you’re in business. Take the kids along to, as it’s great practice for them as well. It may just build up their confidence level to where they will have the interest to learn to blow a duck call for later the next fall.

A lesson a friend of mine learned after an outing a couple years ago is that as a joke he brought home a couple crows and dressed them for his wife to cook. After a long day at the office one day he came home to find the house dark, a single candle illuminated a plate on the table along with a note that said, “Here’s your dinner dear. The kids and me have gone to “Outback Steak House” and a movie so you can relax after such a long day! Love Diane.” Now that’s what I call eating crow!

What’s the deal nowadays with acrylic calls? Their popularity has grown to overwhelming proportions in the last few years. Is it because of them being so widely used in competition or are most people actually using them in the field? Question is, do you need one? Let’s explore the differences between wood and acrylic.

Twenty years ago when we started our business wood calls were the norm. Dads’ handed down their traditional wooden calls to their kids. Plastics were new and a hard sell. We decided in the very beginning that we wanted a call that would not stick and a material that was consistent from call to call. Acrylic definitely fits these criteria over wood due to the nature of the grain structure and the fact that there in nothing to swell when wet. After all, acrylic is just a form of plastic.

Let’s look at the differences and compare apples to apples. We currently make three different calls in our extensive line that are identical in shape and size except for the materials. One is wood ($85.00), one acrylic ($115.00) and the other our standard plastic ($34.95). The wood and acrylic are turned pieces and the plastic is injection molded. I am constantly asked why acrylic is so expensive. It is not in its natural state. The cost comes in the form of labor. Both wood and acrylic have to be turned on a lathe. The acrylic then has to be buffed to remove all the scratches and make the call transparent. This is very time consuming and the reason for acrylic calls being so pricey — the labor.

Sound is where the difference comes in. Overall, wood tends to be real ducky sounding depending on the specie of wood used as well as the individual piece. Exotic woods tend to have more variety in sound such as tulip, ebony, and rosewood. I remember dad having a contest call out of rosewood that was an awesome call till the call just died one day before a contest. No matter what he did he could not revive it. The structural composition must have had changed as the call remains dull and not bright as it did in it glory. Bois-de-ark and walnut are pretty consistent as well as cocobola. Some of my favorites have also included cedar for it’s ducky sound but it isn’t very durable and cocus wood which when you can find it is extremely pricy. Cocus is used I am told in many fine instruments such as high-end clarinets and oboes. When wood gets wet the grain rises changing the tolerances in the relationship between the sound tunnel and reed; this totally changes the sound. This is the reason for sticking developing after a call has been blown awhile. One of the things that we do to compensate for this is to use plastic parts on the inside of the call. Thereby eliminating any chance for swelling to develop in these tight tolerances.

Acrylic when compared for sound with wood tends to be a brighter sound hence it’s usually slightly higher pitch. It seems to work great for hail calls of a contest call as well as for long distance work in a blind. For some that may hunt off of natural flyways or on those special “flightdays”… the louder the better. I personally favor a higher pitch call most of the time till ducks get a little call shy late in the season. Then I just back off or use a lower pitched call. Don’t confuse higher pitched with louder. Both are two separate qualities that operate individually of one another.

Injected plastic seems to be the best of both worlds and will handle most hunting situations on a day to day basis just fine. It has the duck and versatility to be blown with that higher pitch. Again this is comparing our calls with all things being equal except for materials — apples to apples.

Combinations of these various materials are also available in the market place as we are this year even introducing a new call by combining a hand turned cocabolo, blowing barrel with an injected acrylic end piece. This new “cocacrylic” combination gives you the feel of wood, the sound of acrylic at a price that is affordable to anyone.

Some days the ducks like one thing and others maybe another. That is why you see guys with so many calls around their necks—in order to be versatile. Some favor acrylics in competition, but an awful lot are getting use in the field as well. Now I’d like to sell everyone of you a nice acrylic call and I am fortunate to be able to blow what ever I’d like but if anyone ever wanted to know what I personally blow in the blind… 99% of the time it’s a $15.00 injected plastic call.