CALL OR DON' T CALL FOR DUCKS

DUCKN BAG · 11-01-2003, 02:35 AM

I HAVE BEEN HUNTING DUCKS THIS YEAR AND DONE REAL GOOD.I BEEN USING MY MOJO DUCK DECOYS AND MY REGULAR DECOYS.I HAVEN' T BEEN DOING ANY CALLING THIS YEAR AND HAVING DUCKS POUR INTO MY DEKES.SHOULD I KEEP ON USING THIS TACTIC OR SHOULD I START CALLING ANY TIME SOON.DOES ANYONE HAVE A GOOD ANSWER FOR THIS.

Ngtshade · 11-01-2003, 10:26 AM

well i' ve had good years like that as well my philosophy is if the dekes are working and attracting birds then don' t call and risk changing it, but if you' re not attracting any birds then do some calling to get em flapping your way......
i.e. if it ain' t broke don' t fix it

DUCKN BAG · 11-02-2003, 12:18 AM

THE COUPLE OF PUBLIC HUNTING SPOTS I' VE BEEN HUNTING HAVE ALOT OF PEOPLE CALLING ALOT OR JUST CAN' T CALL AT ALL SO I DON' T CALL ANY AND HAD GREAT SUCCESS WITH DUCKS COMING IN TO ME AND NOT THE OTHER HUNTERS.I' M JUST WONDERING WHY IS THIS HAPPENING.THE OTHER HUNTERS SEEM TO BE EXCEELLENT CALLERS AND THERE STUMPED AT MY SUCCESS.

Ngtshade · 11-02-2003, 09:16 AM

ran into that problem a few years back on public lands, every joe was out there calling like crazy, some were good some couldn' t call home if you dialed the digits for em

, the ducks just were shy of any calling cause of it. ducks aren' t that dumb and learn fast so in those situations if you don' t do what everyone else is, it generally leads to much better different results.
That year i just brought 8 or 9 dekes in with me found a quiet little nook at the edge of the land i was on ,set em up in front and then sucked back into some weeds at the shore, diudn' t call once and i' d hear the other fools calling like mad then some skybusting and within a few mins i' d have a small flight lining up at my dekes.....walked out of there with 3 or 4 ducks each time i went( which is all i' ll shoot at a time, its a long walk out and i' m lazy

)
so i guess the moral of the story is ducks can be conditioned in heavy hunting to avoid calls , so find what isn' t working for everyone else and DON' T do it !!!

kooldude · 11-03-2003, 12:57 AM

I agree, more often then not I don' t call and it works great. If I can just get my partners to belive me. If other groups of hunters are calling and ducks are going in to them, thats the time to call, or like someone else said if there landing out in the middle, I start calinng like crazy, they' ll stay up and pick a new spot, I hope my dekes.

blackliner · 11-03-2003, 08:02 PM

I agree up to a point. When hunting in congested public areas, the ducks will hear every bad caller along with any of the good ones. Here, not calling can be very productive.

The times I think a " young" or " green" hunter SHOULD be calling is when they are working away from the crowds. I think it is an absolute necessity for a beginning caller to be put in actual hunting situations. The trial and error method of duck talk teaches a hunter exactly what works, what doesn' t and all the stuff that may talk ' em in or flare them in a spectacular explosion of flight.

Bud Light · 11-11-2003, 08:23 PM

After hunting for several years, learn to use the other hunters as decoys. Their mistakes are your success! Observe and learn the behavior of the birds. It comes in very handy. I haven' t even blown a call in 5 years. Ever seen those 80 year old men pound the hell out of the birds with doing no work? Put yourself in the blind with them so you can watch and learn(even sacrifice your body as slave boy if you have to). Ask many questions when you don' t understand EXACTLY what they are saying about the birds. There are no words printed anywhere that can make you THINK like a duck. You see two old men going out hunting, just ask and offer your young strong body and maybe even breakfast for the experience and you will learn more in one day than you could in five seasons. My old teachers being so dedicaded sank their boat and drowned in Minnesota two years ago cause they were so dedicated and didn' t take a strong young lad with them to help out when help was needed. They are sadly missed by about 300 well trained waterfowl hunters in my neck of the woods. I think Fred was about 88 and always had more birds than he could carry even on a day when the birds were nowhere in sight.