Perfecting Your Duck Calling: Becoming the Best Duck Caller You Can Be

When it comes to the art of duck calling, there are skill levels a waterfowler is either at, or can easily achieve. We have beginner, novice, intermediate, veteran, and the expert. From my experience, when it truly boils down to success, the seasoned veteran and the expert reap the rewards of perfecting their instrumental craft. Here we will go over some of my favorite bits of advice I give to many callers asking for help across the country.

Let us address the elephant in the room and what you are probably already thinking: Reading ducks properly is way more important than being the world duck calling champion; just like every other species of animal we can communicate with. However, let’s break it down even more. Would you rather go on vacation to a foreign country and be able to only say, “Please”, “yes”, and “Thank you”? Or would you rather go on that trip and be able to speak fluently, understanding & interacting. In turn, enhancing your overall experience?

There are a few steps each of us can take to constantly improve, no matter your skill level. We all have room for improvement, no matter our skillset, because every hunt and situation are never the same. Take pride in being the best you can possibly be—even on a duck call.

First order of business—and it may seem simple—but go listen to live ducks! It could be a local park, a low spot in the field that flooded in the spring, the local refuge, or your buddy’s dock. There is no better teacher than nature itself. This will give you plenty of ideas on cadences ducks use, and how you can use them in the field. There are only a small number of notes duck callers use, that ducks don’t. These are the ringing hail and a rolling feed. The ringing hail was meant for the World Duck Calling Stage, the rolling feed was too. The guy in the blind across the swamp might think he needs to do it, but you don’t. Listening to ducks will show you that they make three note greeting calls, as well as slow, drawn-out hails that might be 10-12 notes each. Leave your duck call in the truck and go to the marsh and listen. It is a step in the right direction.

The second tip I’d suggest is avoid aimless practice. Just blowing a duck call to blow a duck call does no good. Be intentional with how you practice, work on cadence, shaping notes, and developing new sequences. Perfect practice is what makes perfection. Remember, slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. You can’t walk before you crawl or run before you walk. Simplify what you are doing, and perfect each step along the way. Practice with the intent and purpose of becoming better. Everything you are doing on a duck call will all be muscle memory eventually, and refining what you are doing on the road to being a proficient caller will pay off immensely. Simply breaking everything down and perfecting even the simplest note to execute when you need it will add confidence to your calling. You will go from calling ducks, to controlling ducks.

Another thing to keep in mind is there are no speed limits on a duck call. Each situation presented while out hunting can be incredibly different, and the urgency can change with each group. If you revert back to my tip above about listening to ducks, you can have a seven-note hail that is incredibly quick or a four-note hail that is drawn out and sounding like it takes forever. Ducks do that every day. There are many situations where a feed can be single cuts, and ducks finish to it. There are other situations where every single caller in the blind will be feed chattering as fast as they humanly can because that is exactly what the ducks wanted to hear that day. It all comes down to everything I have stated above. It sure is nice to know it, how to execute it, and use when needed.

Another valuable tool to become a more versatile caller is to look up duck calling contests. I know, “You’ve never heard ducks do that.” However, the sport has changed completely. There are meat calling contests that showcase a caller’s ability to perform the “hunting” scenario notes, but also live duck calling contests that don’t showcase a routine, but rather the caller’s best rendition of what they think live ducks sound like in a marsh. I encourage you to at least go to a contest and listen. You may have the urge to compete, all it will do is open the door to push you to be the best caller you can be on the stage, which will in turn help you in the field.

The final tip I have is to pick up as many calls as you can, blow them, and try to get as comfortable as you can with them. You will realize as you grow as a caller you may outgrow your current duck call and need something else. Find what fits you best and your current skillset but in the same instance, find another call that you find a little tougher to handle, and practice with that. There are many great calls on the market, however some truly do have their limitations. I like to explain some duck calls are built like a house. Most double reeds are limited, you have a first floor and a second floor. That’s it. Most are limited with their volume and responsiveness. A single reed will have more volume depending on the design, and it will have quicker reed response in most cases. Your single reed duck call has all the capabilities to be a house with a finished basement, a first floor, a second floor, a game room and man cave. Combine that, with a duck caller that knows how to utilize the call, and it will be a lethal combination. Grow into that call, because where you are currently at, is not where you will be in a month or a year. I promise that with hard work and dedication to practice you will grow exponentially.

At this point in the article, I am sure you have realized the importance to keep it simple & get back to the basics. Often as duck hunters, we start to get caught up in the next hunt or the next best thing to add to our spread, that we completely overlook some of the basic controllable variables. When it comes down to it, you need to be confident in your ability to take your gun, six decoys and lanyard out hunting and be successful. Duck hunting has many uncontrollable variables, but it is time that we start to perfect the controllable variables to ensure we are capitalizing on all the opportunities the good Lord gives us.

---