Read the Ducks to Choose the Right Duck Calls

The best waterfowl callers go out to the blind with a plan, but with the knowledge that being flexible and reading the birds will dictate how to get the ducks into the dekes.
Start with your location. Accepted wisdom on big water hunting is to use a louder duck call, such as the single reed Blue Collar Girl duck call. When you can see flocks from a mile away, a loud hail duck call is important to getting their attention. In turn, smaller waters or timber holes call for a quieter double reed duck call, such as the Redneck Woman duck call. There is, however, plenty of opposition to this wisdom.

"I like the T-Lock Double Reed for all of my calling," said Captain Teddy Carr, Owner/Operator of Outdoor Action with guide service in Locust Grove, Va. "I hunt a mixture of both big and small waters, and I don't care where I'm hunting, the most important thing is to read the ducks - if a mallard cruises by at 100 yards and he's looking, call to him."

That's basic duck reading, but Carr takes it a step farther.

"The ducks have been shot at a while before they get to me and have heard a million hail calls and comeback calls, so I don't do that a lot," Carr said. "I start with an excited quack/greeting call that starts quick and ends slower. I add in some smaller feeding calls and simple quacks, but I try to stay away from what everyone else is doing.”

When hunting a smaller pot hole, Carr doesn't use duck calls as much. "Ducks in close quarters don't take a lot of calling. If you call too much, you're just educating them."
Observing the first couple flocks of the morning helps clue in the callers to the mood of the ducks.

"I listen to the birds," said Richie McKnight, Knight & Hale Ultimate Hunting Team member and champion duck caller. "I do what they're doing. If they're quiet, I'm quiet. If they're yakking it up, I crank it up a level."