Calling

[Mike D]

As I get more involved in waterfoul hunting, I am very lucky to have a good friend who has a GREAT guide company. "Otherside Outfitters" I am very fortunate to be working for him on many great hunts this year and am learning a lot! My problem is that when I was younger, I hunted a bunch for ducks and geese with my dad and my uncles. Listening to them call and killing waterfoul. I would sneak out with my dads calls and go hunting behind the house with his calls and would get the occassional duck or goose that was either deaf or very confused to come in to the decoys and he or she would die! Now many years later and a bunch of bad habbits later, I am very eager to be a real part of the hunt, helping bring in birds and get them to finish. Here is the problem! Many waterfoul hunters, especially the serious ones are very particular about the calling that goes on. I don't think my calling is that bad, but the guys I have hunted with think otherwise. I sit in front of my computer and in my car and anywhere else I can and practice. It is damn tough to get better at calling when every time you touch the call to your lips, someone tells you to shut up or be quiet. The best is when they just tell you to leave your calls in the truck. How do I get good at calling when I don't get to practice in the field? Very confused!!! Help!!!

[Goose4280]

I blow mine when the ol' lady is gone,she hates it when i blow them when shes home. Just go to a park out in the country or something. There are a few decent how to videos to get also,but practice is the only way to get better. I will say that its definately tough to practice with out havin the neighbors or my significant other asking me how long im going to keep blowin my calls.

[Ryan Skinner]

Jeff has a very good DVD out, Calling Geese. Its a good instructional video and you can learn alot. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!

[John Manning]

Jeff has a very good DVD out, Calling Geese. Its a good instructional video and you can learn alot. PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE!!!

+1 on Ryan's post.

Are the 'friends' you are hunting with offering any advise on your calling? Is it a tone issue or loudness/volume issue they are having with your calling?

Something you may want to try is to go outside and set up a tape recorder and call. Place the recorder at different distances from you to mimic what the birds are hearing. Practice, Practice, Practice....it will come!

Good luck and keep after it.

[jrode237]

I also believe calling out in the field when you're hunting is not the time or place to practice. Not saying it to be mean but I know a few people who do exactly this and it just plain sucks. I don't have the heart to tell the person that they aren't any good (but I'm getting close). Practice on your own time and then bring it to the field. I also think if you're hunting with someone the polite thing to do is ask if they want you calling.

[freefall319]

Like they've all said, practice. Find a good instructional DVD or CD for the car and then pick one sound and work on it. Once you've gotten that one down, move on. No use trying to learn the comeback call if you cant quack.;) Stick with it, hell, if a knuckle dragger like me can do it so can u.

[tr7]

I have no intention of high-jacking this post, but I seem to be having the same issue except I am a beginner caller.

I already own Callin' Geese and have not graduated from the "greeting call" yet. My question is how does one know if he sounds good enough on that one note to move on? How do you know when your ready?

[Goose4280]

I have no intention of high-jacking this post, but I seem to be having the same issue except I am a beginner caller.

I already own Callin' Geese and have not graduated from the "greeting call" yet. My question is how does one know if he sounds good enough on that one note to move on? How do you know when your ready?

You should be able to tell by blowing the call if you sound good on that note. When i was younger and first started calling i would record my calling and then play it back and see how it sounded. You could try that too.

[corybdesign]

Many waterfoul hunters, especially the serious ones are very particular about the calling that goes on. I don't think my calling is that bad, but the guys I have hunted with think otherwise. I sit in front of my computer and in my car and anywhere else I can and practice. It is damn tough to get better at calling when every time you touch the call to your lips, someone tells you to shut up or be quiet. The best is when they just tell you to leave your calls in the truck. How do I get good at calling when I don't get to practice in the field? Very confused!!! Help!!!

if your still learning to make the sounds then you need to practice at home or hunt on your own so you can practice in the field. i told my new to calling buddy that once we were down to just a few birds to fill our limits or were about done for the hunt id let him call all on his own but early on in the hunt to let me do most if not all the calling so we got a few birds in the bag. that way we got some shooting he got to see what i was doing that was working and he still got to use his call and get some in field experience.

[Hunter Lewis]

Man its all in practice. Listen, watch and learn when you hunt with other guys who can call well.
Also it helps learning by hearing yourself. So record yourself and listen to it. Get a good flowing sequence down...
I happen to Know of "otherside Outfitters" I believe is ran by Dustin Lewis? Correct me if im wrong. Great guy. I live about an hour north of you.
If your looking to learn new things Id be glad to help you out anyway I can. PM anytime

[northernmallard]

First of all be stubborn, and keep practicing. Everybody learns to duck and goose call differnetly and it takes time, practice, and a lot of motivation.

Tell your friends to go fly a kite. The very best place to learn how to call ducks or geese is in the blind!(once you can make the basic sounds with a duck call) That's how new callers who are brilliant are born. So what if a few flocks flare or you blow them out. You have to learn what not to do and learn from your calling mistakes to get better.

Example. Many people I hear at calling contests etc... are no more than average on calling live birds in the duck/goose blind. Also, try going out if the birds migrate through your area in the spring and lay on the river bank and listen to that ol' hen. I bet the sounds she makes are different from the ones many practice. The ones the actual hen uses work.

Good Luck. Keep Practicing, and working hard, It will come eventually and you will be rewarded accordingly!

[duckboy5]

BUy a mojo and throw the calls out!

[liv4adrenilin]

not a staffer but i have been through some of these situations. Go on google, not youtube, and some of the videos on there are more helpful than the others. the one that i used explained what call to use when and then gave examples. IM sure the videos that you can buy do the same but these are free! And your not gonna get much more advice other than what video to watch and practice practice practice!!!

[brsutton86]

I just started goose hunting last year and I have bought over a dozen dvds and had several excellent callers help me. But the thing that helped me the most was the " Bad Grammer " dvd. Its flat out awesome. Explains every different sound how and when the geese use them. Its awesome for beginners and i know several good callers that love it also. its the best 20 bucks ive spent on waterfowl hunting. And for the guy who said throw the calls out and use a mojo IMO your an idiot. If theres birds on the ground making no noise its a lil bit suspicious..itll work sometimes but not always. and I have actually had the mojo flair ducks, especially before we had bought a remote.

[feetdown20]

Mike D,
don't give up brother. I am about 10 years into calling and owned a call about 6 yrs before that. When I first started all I could do was feed call for ducks. But it helped the guy who was teaching me cause it added realism to our spread. I love calling now, and take it very seriously, but I also understand the guys learning and hope that they push to succeed in it. I am by no means a great caller, but love learning new things, and hunting different places like I did with ya'll in MO cause its a whole different ball game up there, than it is here. We do more subtle talking to ducks as up there, we were on them hard. once you get the basics down its like riding a bike, you want to bunnyhop and ride wheelies! lol.. There aren't many days in the offseason where I don't call, either on my breaks at work, or on my way home. I listen to meat duck routines to add more notes in my game. Try that and let me know if you need any help. Dustin, Loomis, mark and I spent some time while I was there calling in his pool room and teaching each other what each of us couldn't do. Helped me out alot. Stay with it bud! It makes you feel accomplished when you get it, and work birds down to the dekes