The Woman Hunter

[XBowLady]

Posted as a reply to my question as to how duck calls should be tuned.. Good information... [Well, this isn't an easy question to answer as everyone has a different opinion/preference about how a duck call should sound. There are several different aspects that make a call sound a certain way, but I think you can generally break them down it three categories:

(1) Volume (Loud vs. Soft) - Loud calls are typically used for big water and calling to distant ducks. Typically a loud call sounds "duckier" the harder you blow it. Loud calls also typically don't sound as good (loose their tone) if you try to blow them soft. Soft calls are used for situations where you expects the ducks to be close in before you see them and start calling. Places like flooded timber and sloughs where you won't usually see ducks at a distance. Soft calls sound best when blown softly, and can sometimes stick or squeak if you try to blow them too hard/loud. There are also "medium" volume calls that are somewhere in between a loud and soft call.

(2) Tone (High Pitch vs. Low Pitch) - I think this is more personal preference than anything. Ducks are like people in that each duck has a different "voice". As long as it's realistic sounding, I don't think pitch really matters that much. Higher or lower pitched calls might carry better over long distances, but I don't hunt much open water so I can say which is better for open water. Again, there are duck calls made in all tones from really high to really low and everywhere in between.

(3) Rasp (Very Raspy vs. Very Clean) - The amount of rasp in a duck call is determined by a lot of factors including tone board shape, air vent size/shape, reed size/shape, etc. It's hard to explain the difference between a "raspy" duck call and a "clean" duck call. I personally think that the more raspy a duck call is the more it sounds like a real duck (at least to my ear). I also think that double reed calls are generally more raspy (and therefore more ducky sounding) than single reed calls. However, I've heard guys blow single reeds that sounded almost as raspy as my double reeds, so it probably has something to do with the operator

As far as what you should ask for, it's up to your personal preference. I carry both a loud "high volume" duck call and a soft "timber" call on my lanyard because there are times when I want to call loud and other times when I want to call soft. All of the calls I carry regularly are double reeds, mostly because I like the raspier sound that I get from a double reed.

If you want to get a call that sounds just like the ducks in your back yard, probably the best thing to do is to listen to them again and see if you can decide whether they're high or low pitched and how raspy they sound. Then you should be able to give the DC guys some direction. If you're still not sure, call John from DC and tell him you're not sure. He might be able to ask the right questions to figure out what will make you happy.

Hope this helps