Goose and duck calls

fathermartin

New member
Hey im looking to get a couple of good calls for some Canadian geese and some ducks who makes a good call and how to use them well im new to calling birds thanks!
 
i have primos the flute one and a honky tonk. also a hs/buck gardner canada hammer. geese are a target of opportunity when duck hunting for me. but these calls dont cost much and sound ok. i also have a couple of honker/clucker type that the kids use to fill in/ sound like more geese. i dont know if these are good or not, but they are what i can afford, and i have called some geese with them.
 
For a beginner to duck calling you might want to try a Haydel's DR-85 which costs under $20 and can be bought from Cabela's, Mack's, etc. This is a double reed call which should be easier than a single reed for you to learn on. You'll still need to spend lots of time practicing to become good at it.
 
I don't hunt ducks and geese,but a friend told me that a good set-up is the key.Get in the right spot and put out some decoys right and you can use very little calling and get action.So he says.IDK,but sounds about right.
 
rule#1 be where they want to be. rule# 2 HIDE! HIDE !! HIDE !!! if i can see you from across the marsh they can see you! my buddys boat has a nice blind on it. THAT IS NOT ENOUGH ! we bring in willows with us, cut more when we get there, its alot of work but we kill em when others dont. wear a mask too. ive seen guys get the boat hid pretty well, but then i can see there face from across the lake! my partner dont even own a single duck or goose call. and its his boat ! no fancy deke patterns, two groups with a hole where you want them to land. just dont bunch them up. 4 or so feet between each deke. its all worth it when there right in your face, they dont even flare when we stand up to shoot.
 
Pretty sure the guy asked about calls right ? To help with your question.I would say buy as good of a call as you can afford.I would good with a good short reed goose call and practice with it.So cheaper calls work good but its pretty much a grab bag of if you get a good one or not but if you spend alittle more money you will be happier.The more expensive calls are hand tuned and are made from acrylic and most have customer service to help with any problems.
Look at Tim Grounds, Foiles,Zink Lynch Mob,DRC and plenty more other companys out there.Some have a less expensive ploy calls that are hand tuned as well.If you have any questions on any of the call just get me a shout I can try to help you out.I've owned or tried pretty much all the brands out there but there is always something new.
 
Right now I am partial to my Echo Timber for ducks and a Buck Gardner SS-1 with Straight Meet Reed and sound board for goose. They don't make the SS-1 anymore now that Shawn Stall left Buck Gardner's pro-staff. The quack head is a good starter call for ducks and a Canada Hammer is a decent goose call. Buy the best calls you can afford. No matter what you get practice practice practice. Get the Zink Bad Grammer cd for goose and find a duck calling cd. Both will help you become a better caller. A great time to practice is spring as birds are far more receptive to calling. Go to the local lake or river and start seeing what works for you.
 
once u get the hang of a couple calls like the double reed and long reeds, and you start trying short reeds the best piece of advise I ever got was to take all your long reeds and double reed calls and put them away and only practice on your short reeds, because the way you blow the call is completely different
 
I have some questions.
1. What kind of duck hunting are you going to be doing.
IE hunting wooded river bottoms or open water or field hunting?
2. What is your budget like?

Were you hunt well tell you a lot about what kind of calls and decoy spread you well need.
For timber hunting I would go with a dubble reed duck call for a deeper more rasper tone.
For open water and for field duck hunting I would use a single reed.
You can use a dubble reed for field duck hunting but a single reed well be loader and be able to do the comback call and hale call better.

Go to walmart and get a Buckgardner dubble read I think its called the "dubble naster".
I have killed tons of ducks using that call.
And like the other guys are saying location location location.
If your not were the ducks want to be you wont kill very many ducks or geese.
I don't know much about Canadian goose calling Im just getting started on Canadian goose hunting.
 
Last edited:
I am fairly new to bird calling (4 years) but I do have several calls now and practice with them fairly regularly. For ducks I own a double j quack head and for a $20 call it is great. I also have an echo meat hanger and nothing that I have blown holds a flame to that but you are looking at more money for an acrylic call.

As far as goose hunting goes, I run Bill Saunders Traffic and love it. I used to blow a Foiles Straight Meat Honker and never really got that call to sound super goosey. If you are going to learn how to call with a short reed I highly recommend that you get the video "Bad Grammar". It is a great video that takes you from buying a call to making all of the sounds you need and when to make them.
 
I have the Meat Honker and have called in a fair enough amount of geese with it and i have the double nasty that i have gotten 3 to come in to. I did not get to see any mallards in large flocks in iowa it was a weird season. We hunted a river this season and only saw teals and wood ducks then got two mallards in california when i went home for xmas break. Hopefully next season will be better for me but thanks for the advice/info
 
I'm a big fan of DRC calls run great for me and I've own a lot. DRC is made in us with US products. Cory also has thee best customer service.
drc2.jpg
IA2011.jpg
 
There's nothing wrong with expensive calls, I have a few myself. But I use a Haydel's DR-85 or DRS-88 more than anything. They just sound ducky, period. If you are just learning to call, I would STRONGLY suggest one of those calls and the Haydel's instructional CD.
 
One of the easiest goose calls i ever used is a Faulks H-100 Honker Call. I would of never bought it, but I won one at a ducks unlimited event. After using hunting I fell in love. Im on my second one now after I broke the reed on the first one when it was 7 years old.
 
Back
Top