Like many ’fowlers, I take care of my hunting gear, but I don’t baby it. I’ve never met a call-maker who isn’t happy to talk with his customers. Or, if need be, discuss replacement parts. But, I do like a custom call because I enjoy picking up the phone and talking with the guy/gal who made it. Or Rich ‘n Tone owner, John Stephens, one of the most talented and well-respected names in the industry. Or ’95 World Duck Calling Champion of Champions, Buck Gardner. I can’t hold a candle to the likes of four-time Tennessee State calling champion, Bill Cooksey. PriceĪgain, simple-Can I afford it? If the perfect call, per se, were to exist, but was outside my price range…well, then it’s not the perfect duck call. And then the person blowing it needs the ability, via practice, to make those sounds. First and foremost, a call has to make real duck sounds. Doesn’t matter if it comes in a color that can be seen from space, and is emblazoned with skulls, dragons, or mermaids. It doesn’t matter if it costs $20 or $200. Pretty, while nice, doesn’t kill ducks natural duck sounds are what I’m looking for. Plain and simple, a call has to sound good. That said, what criteria did I use when arriving at the decisions above? What’s important to me when it comes to determining whether a call makes the list or plays second fiddle to another? Sound During that time, I’ve found this: Every caller is different, and a one-size-fits-all kind of duck call doesn’t exist. I’ve used wood, polycarbonate, acrylic, and one-of-a-kind custom designs. Over the past three decades, I’ve had the opportunity to try dozens upon dozens of different calls-singles, doubles, even a triple reed. While I wouldn’t consider myself a duck call “nerd,” I have over the years grown quite particular about those I pack on my working (field) lanyard. Most User-Friendly: Buck Gardner Double Nasty.Best on a Budget: Big Lake Calls Duck Popper Hunter’s Pack.Best Wood Duck Call: Primos Classic Wood Duck.Best Double Reed: Slayer Calls Drake Slayer.Best Single Reed: Field Proven Single Shot.Most Versatile: Buck Gardner 6-in-1 whistle.Which brings to the forefront-How does the new duck caller start down the road to selecting their first call? Or for that matter, what might the veteran take a look at when he or she decides it’s time for another…which, by the way, it always is! Here is an in-depth look at the best duck calls on the market today. Today, duck hunters are blessed with an almost infinite variety of call options-single reeds, double reeds, triple reeds, mylar, metal, Old School true cork wedges, wood, acrylic, polycarbonate, hybrids. But poor duck calling isn’t anything new some ’fowlers are good, and some…well, are not.īut not-so-good duck calling, while perhaps having any number of root causes, can’t be blamed on the calls themselves. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.In regards to ducks, duck callers, and duck calling, Nash Buckingham is quoted saying, “A duck call in the hands of the unskilled is conservation’s greatest asset.”Īnd Mister Buckingham may be spot on when it comes to poor duck calling being responsible for saving the lives of countless mallards over the last 100 years or so. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at for further information. For more information on the series, follow the hash tag, #decodenature on Twitter.Ĭopyright © 2015 NPR. And this was part of our Close Listening series. And it will be quiet until the next summer. And so in one night, the night chorus can be gone. SYMES: Because when it gets really cold, it's enough to kill the insects. But come the first hard frost, this summer sound disappears. MONTAGNE: That chorus can be heard as late as October. And what we hear at a distance is just this continuous background hum. But if you have lots and lots and lots of tree crickets, all those sounds blend together. So if you have one tree cricket, you hear (imitating cricket chirping). SYMES: There is sort of a high-pitched (imitating cricket chirping) sound on a lot of the recordings. SYMES: It makes a call like, Katy did she didn't she did she didn't, especially if you have two individuals going back and forth. And Symes explains how you can tell their sound. She's an evolutionary biologist at Dartmouth College. But typically, cicadas call during the day, and what we're hearing at night are crickets and katydids. LAUREL SYMES: People sometimes describe night-calling insects as cicadas. Listener Philip White sent us an email with his guess, cicadas. At least that's what dozens of you said in emails asking for help identifying the sound. MONTAGNE: Perhaps surprisingly, most of us don't know what makes this summer chorus.
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