doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Duck Calls

Well, I found a new DR-85 on eBay with a CD for $20 so I gave it a go. Something to practice with as I drive around in the car. Gotta start somewhere, probably pick up an OLt if I see a good one.

BTW an acquaintance mentioned also having a crow call. I have heard of them being used for locating turkeys but what use would they have for ducks?

Dustin,

I think I still own the first DR-85 I bought and it's still got the guts in it. I've owned a dozen various Haydel models over the years and never lost the interior of any of them. Just personal experience which is all I can ever offer on anything as I'm by far no expert.

I like good guns and I like good decoys, that's very true. But I like a duck call that sounds like a duck and that you can kill ducks blowing. These big price single reeds, unless you're really a duck caller, won't sound much like a duck when you first start running air through them. With a DR-85, almost anybody (with some practice) can get a duck-like noise to come out of them.

I don't blow them because they're cheap, I blow them because they produce success. I've got all the fancy wood, checkered, carved, metal reed stuff too. But when I put something on my lanyard that I know is going to produce ducks over the decoys it's almost always a Haydel product.

This past season was 25 years on the water for me, calling with success for 23 of those years. I'm not saying I know what I'm talking about, I never claim to be an expert. I'm just saying I've been at it for quite awhile, seem to have a pretty good tally of birds killed at the end of every season, hence feel like I must be doing something right.


Best Regards,
Destry


P.S. As far as cheap black decoys, the finest goose floaters I've ever seen where ones they used on Reelfoot Lake that were made from empty freon cans dipped in tar. Geese would fly over 3 dozen G&H floaters to land in a dozen of those things. Just something about the way they sat on the water, I've never seen anything like it. If I could get some today I'd be using them, not because they're fancy but because they work. And this is a guy who has 2 dozen hand carved wooden floaters......

P.S. to Rob: I carry a crow call when I'm marsh hunting for ducks or field hunting for geese because there are always crows around. If you'll do a little calling when the fowl aren't flying, a lot of the time you'll get a shot. Every duck hunter should kill every crow they have a chance to fire upon, they're a major predator of waterfowl eggs and even the young birds after they hatch.

And, if you like to eat pecans and peanuts! We pile'm up 120 at the time in the pecan orchards. Huge fun with a Super Fox.

SRH

I hunted with some of the best callers on the Missouri river during the 60s, 70s. Ralph Kohler, Jim Kelly, Jim Eagleton and Calvin Metzler. None of them used anything but a single reed call. Either Lohman or Mallardtone were the favorites. Most of the calling was minimal. In my humble opinion overcalling runs more ducks out of the county than otherwise.

tight lines Jim Sears

I'll go with Jim on this one. The first call that I learned to blow properly on was a Mallardtone-5, which I believe actually cost $5.00, jeez, I must be getting old.... I then went on to a couple Olts and tried a bunch of others, but in the early 90's was able to try an Iverson call which belonged to a friend,and have not found anything better. I use the Championship model which has a flat single reed. They were not cheap but worth every penny.Unfortunately they are no longer made and rarely come up on Ebay. I tried a few double reed calls but always found them difficult to blow. I'm sure that some of them are probably fine. Just remember that the air comes from your guts not your cheeks.
Good luck.

I lost the reed holder on my Mallardtone last fall. Called the company, and they sent me a replacement part free - wouldn't let me pay for it.

+1 for Mallardtone

turdugs,

Mallardtone makes the best crow call I've personally blow, it's what I always carry.

Destry

P.S. Olt has been mentioned several times here. If I was going to blow a black Olt I'd search and find a hard rubber D-2 Old Style with the keyhole plug. And only one with a black hard rubber reed, the more modern white mylar reeds don't sound nearly as good. As far as Olt's go, these were as good as they got.