Guide 02

Calling & Calling Etiquette

1. Volume is the only variable that matters. If they're not committing, you're not blowing hard enough. Ducks respect confidence, not subtlety.
2. The best time to test a new call is the moment birds are on their final approach. That's when you'll get the most honest feedback.
3. If a duck call comes with instructions, it's for beginners. Real callers learned by feel.
4. The greeting call should be the first sound a duck hears from you, and also the second, third, and fourth.
5. Once you find a call sequence that works, use it exclusively, forever, regardless of species, weather, or decade.
6. A call hung around your neck should touch your chest at all times. This keeps it warm, which improves the reed.
7. If ducks are flaring off, that usually just means they haven't heard enough calling yet.
8. Whispering to decoys counts as calling. It's a lesser-known technique, but it works on the ducks who are paying close attention.
9. The double-reed call is for hunters who don't trust their own lungs.
10. You can tell a call is working by how tired your arm gets holding it up. That's just physics.