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When you first see puddle ducks a long way off I use a loud, long hail or high ball call (decrescendo) to get their attention and let them know where you are. Also use loud, long calls on windy days, when the ducks can't hear as well, especially if they are upwind; and when I'm hunting flooded river bottoms, where sound doesn't carry very far. If the birds don't come my way, or if they turn off before they come in, I use a more drawn out version of the hail call (decrescendo), to try to convince the birds to come your way. While you call try to watch the birds. If they respond to the call your using, keep it up. If they don't respond try something else: a loud decrescendo; a soft decrescendo; a long, drawn out decrescendo; a string of short quacks; or a chuckle, whatever it takes. Sometimes I quit calling all together, to see if that works.
Once the ducks get within a hundred yards or so use softer, shorter hail calls and slow, loud quacks, trying to sound like a contented hen. Most duck hunters have heard the early morning quacks of a hen Mallard across the water, that's the sound you should imitate when your calling ducks that are in close.
When the ducks are close don't blow loud, fast quacks, that's the sound a duck uses as it jumps into the air when it's alarmed. And don't over call. If the ducks are coming toward you, put the call down, grab the gun, and let 'em come. If they look like they might swing off use slow, soft quacks or the chuckle to keep them coming.
Think While You Are Calling When you are calling ducks, think about what you are trying to do. Initially you try to get their attention, to let them know there are other ducks in the area, and where they are. If the ducks aren't coming toward you, you try to get them to change their course and come closer. As the ducks get closer you try to convince them that there are other ducks on the water, that it is safe to land, and that the area is a good place to rest and feed in safety. However, the calls you are performing are not used by the ducks for those purposes. They are used to announce a willingness to mate, used during courtship behavior, and used as a threat. So, what you have to do is use the calls the ducks use, but, use them in a way that will get the ducks to do what you want them to do.
You can use a loud decrescendo as a hail call to initially get the ducks attention. Even though the decrescendo is a pair bonding call, it can be used to attract ducks because they are accustomed to hearing it in the fall. You can also use the decrescendo as a comeback call to turn the ducks, and as a pleading call to entice the birds to land. But, when you are calling, remember that ducks are not very big, and they have small lungs, they can't possibly call as loud as you hear some hunters blow their calls. The closer the ducks get, the softer you should call.
You can use a series of quacks and chuckles to convince the birds that your decoys are real, and that everything is all right. Even though the inciting call is a threat and not a feeding call; it is used by ducks in a feeding situation. You can use the chuckle or a diver growl to convince the in coming ducks that there are one or more drakes harassing the hens in your spread. To add more realism to your calling you can use the social contact calls of the drakes, and the sounds of any other duck or goose species that might be in the area.
Be Adaptable always carry more than one duck call, each call with a different pitch. If the ducks don't respond to one call try the others, until you find one they do respond to. Also carry several calls so that you have a backup when the call I'm using gets wet and won't blow. While you really like the sound of a good wooden call, they sometimes have a tendency to freeze up on cold days. Always have a couple of non-wooden calls with you. Plastic, polycarbonate and acrylic calls may still freeze up, but you can usually clear out the ice by blowing into them hard, or by knocking them against your hand.
To keep from sounding like every other hunter on the marsh, especially when the ducks don't seem to be responding to your hen Mallard hail calls, quacks and chuckles use a drake Mallard call. When the ducks won't respond to a Mallard call use a Pintail/Widgeon/Teal whistle or a Wood Duck whistle, which may be all it takes to get the ducks to respond. If your hunting lakes, rivers, sloughs or marshes that are big enough for divers to use also keep a diver call on your lanyard. You should include decoys of these other species in my decoy spread just in case some of them show up. After being hunted for several days or weeks the ducks often get call and decoy shy. When this happens you may stop calling altogether, use fewer or more decoys, or move to a new location.
Purchasing A Duck Call If you really want to sound like the ducks you've got to have calls that can produce the right sounds. There are a lot of calls on the market that don't produce the right sounds, or that can't produce a wide range of tones. If a call doesn't produce the right sounds, or is not able to produce a wide range of sounds, you won't be able to reproduce realistic duck calls with it. If you have limited experience with a duck calls stick with a double reed call, although they are more limited in their range of tones than single reed calls, they are easier to blow, and they will get you blowing the right sounds more quickly, and more consistently. After you become proficient on a double reed you may want to get a custom single reed call.
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