I'll get to the point myself.. I'm assuming that you are hunting teal in the early September season.
ORIGINAL: StraighttothePoint
First off I'm new to the forum here at huntingnet.
Welcome.
What call would be good for a beginner?
None at all. Maybe a 6 in 1 whistle... but honestly for teal you don't exactly NEED one.
I have teal decoys. They were a gift. I personally wouldn't spend my money on them. You can use hen mallard decoys. Please note I said HEN mallard... in the early season, most of the birds are still in eclipse plumage, and are almost all brown.
I use about 6 to 12 myself
Is it hard to identify a teal when they are flying in?
For a new duck hunter yes. At least it will be if you have a high occurance of wood ducks in the area. Its easy in my eyes, but I've been doing this for over 20 years.
Is it legal to take both hens and drakes?
Yes. In fact during the early season unless you have good light behind you its damn near impossible to tell the difference until they are in hand.
Best advice I can give is keep the wind at your back, keep a sharp eye on your watch and when its legal time carry at port arms with your finger on the safety because if its going to happen its going to happen like an F-18 on a low level bombing run.