# Duck call



## TheDuke

In your opinion what is the best duck call for the money and why? I'm a very green duck caller and have really no understanding of how they are priced and their functionality. Thanks folks.


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## Dogtrainer4God

I buy all my duck calls at Walmart, usually $10-$15 there and they work great. And shoot, if it goes bad after a season, go buy another one. You are out only a couple bucks. 
btw, you want a double reed call.


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## mlp

If I had it all to do over again I would've bought a high-end call for my first call. You can by a great call for aound 75-100 bucks that will be with you for a long time, and most call makers will tune the call for free for as long as you own the call.


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## LAwaterfowler

I have blown many different calls and blow different calls throughout the season based on where i am hunting that day. Here in the south (louisiana) we go with a call that actually sounds like a duck. One of my favorites is the Commander in Chief - Duck Commander. Very duck like and easy to blow. also i blow The Original - Zink. Another double reed that is easy to blow but sounds great. Hope this helps


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## limiman12

A Dean Downer Duck call, 

Every Guy likes the Double D's


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## Leddyman

Zink PH-2 double reed acrylic call. Easy to blow, sounds great. Look on ebay.


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## ducknwork

If you want a decent call without dropping a ton of money in it, get a duck commander. Personally, I like the Willie's camo max, but it is the same call as the duck picker, just in camo. They are normally 20-30 bucks. They sound pretty ducky to me.
________
HANDJOB ASIAN


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## Mike W.

I have three duck calls on my lanyard:

RNT Daisy Cutter

Echo Timber 

Haydell Pintail Whistle


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## marshmonster

buck gardner baby buck........about 30 bucks....can run with the competition calls in the right hands..


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## limiman12

marshmonster said:


> buck gardner baby buck........about 30 bucks....can run with the competition calls in the right hands..



I would say that the hands around the call are always more important than the call ;-)

Should I take it as an insult when my hunting buddies tell me to call softe r;-)


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## DSO

Take a hard look at the Buck Gardner spit-tech calls. Bought a tall timber single reed and a double nasty double reed when they 1st came out. Absolutely will not stick when they get spitted up. Broke the sounding board off the double nasty last winter / sent it back to the company / they switched out the entire insert, reeds and all and tuned it as well. No charge. Fast, professional service / great sounding and easy to blow. Can't say enough good about them. Cost about $75.00 a piece. 

Danny


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## Tim West

I have tried a bunch of em and I still have a Haydel DR 85 on my lanyard. There is nothing easier to blow that sounds like a duck. I still use if for real close in calling. 

I also like the Echo calls. I bought a double reed acrylic recently which I really like and I bought their competition acrylic just to get really, really loud when I need to. It is obnoxious it's so loud, requires a lot of air....both qualities I have plenty of....Almost as much as Guthrie...


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## Matt R

RNT Quackhead - single reed. $19.99 at Gander Mountain. Great starter call and one of the best calls available for the money.


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## Brad B

I own several but lately I'm really liking the Haydel Dirty Rice call.


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## Rick Hall

Everyone's physiology, methodology and tone preferences differ, so there is no one best call. RNT's line seems to fit me and my preferences better than others, but it's probably a safe bet that Haydel's DR-85 is the most popular call and has helped kill more ducks than anything else out there.


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## Bayou Magic

Another vote for Haydel's for inexpensive and effective. The Redleg is very easy to use and ducky. If you want to upgrade, try one of David Gaston's acrylic calls. Great range and only takes a little air. 

fp


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## Shawn Oliphant

As Chris will tell you, I competed in duck calling competetions for a number of years, including competing at the worlds a handfull of times. I have blown RNT (back when Buck and Butch still owned the company) Southern, Echo and many others in competition. I don't have any competition calls on my hunting lanyard, but I have found that the competition call makers also make the best duck hunting calls. Most of these manufacturers sell calls around the $30 to $50 range. Echo and Southern Game Calls are my prefence and Hunter Specialities makes some decent calls that you can find anywhere for a reasonable price. The lower priced calls are usually plastic versus the acrylic competition calls. 

If you want an easy blowing call you can go with a double reed, but the sounds you can produce with such a call are very limited. I would by a single reed call and learn how to use it.


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## saltgrass

Zink, RNT, Duck Commander....


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## RN

Another vote for Haydel's DR85.


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## harleyx2

For a lower priced good call go with the DR85 or the Dirty Rice Mallard or the Duck Commander line.


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## Grant Wilson

RNT all the way! The guys are nice and will do anything to help you. They have overnighted me lost barrels and reeds to I would be ready for the weekend. The service after the sale is the best around.


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## roger

One thing no one has mentioned or asked, where do you do most of your hunting? I guide on the Saginaw Bay, where there's lots of wind, open water, and high flying birds. For that type of hunt, I'll use a loud single reed that I can jump all over. In flooded timber, coves, or areas with a possible echo effect, I'll resort to a softer double reed call. Most calls today can all call ducks to a degree. The importance is not so much the call, but more as to when and not to blow, plus how to blow..Good Luck, just my .02 worth !


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## Chris Miller

Haydel DR 85 19.95 with a CD.


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## BonMallari

Water Rock said:


> RNT all the way! The guys are nice and will do anything to help you. They have overnighted me lost barrels and reeds to I would be ready for the weekend. The service after the sale is the best around.



Ditto for RNT but if you arent into paying a C note for a call then try the Quackhead J frame which is their polycarbonate versions both in single and double reeds cost about twenty bucks. I carry two of them because they are easy to use


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## Chris Meyer

RNT. They have some of the best, easiest blowing, duckiest sounding calls someone can buy. I learned on a cheap call---going back, I'd have gotten a high end call right away for 2 reasons. First they will last forever if you get an acrylic. Second they are much easier to learn on and blow.


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## kjrice

I mostly use an Echo Timber poly single reed tuned extra snotty - $25

Carlson Duck Calling A-Z cd w/ Equalizer call


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## Fowlfeller1100

I will assume that you want to become a passable duck caller ASAP for hunting, I would reccomend a primos wench or a haydel dr 85, as they are both easy to use and to sound decent with. These are both also often packaged with an instructional cd or dvd. As you get more technical and want to better adapt to you hunting environment, or get into competition there are more specialized (and way more expensive) calls to get into. A cheap decent call is just like a remington 870 it works jut fine and will kill a lot of ducks, but eventually some people want a snazzy new Italian thing that cost alot more (not that those aren't great).


A double reed tends to have a richer sound that is easier to sound "ducky" with, while a single is often high and whiny (often louder) and more versitle, but somewhat harder to use. I would a good begginer call and learn how to call and then go back to the store and try a bunch out (many stores let you do this and supply alcohol wipes). Learning will be frustrating at first but a good caller is better than a good call any day. Good luck


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## Ken Guthrie

Hey TheDuke,

I've got a few hundred calls laying around.

If you'd like one I'd be glad to send you one.


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## Ken Guthrie

Tim West said:


> It is obnoxious it's so loud, requires a lot of air....both qualities I have plenty of....Almost as much as Guthrie...




Tim, last time I hunted with you, you were blowing a BGB.

There is a guy in Central Illinois w/ River Bottom Calls. He is first class and really makes a nice call. He will customize it for you, double or single read, even put a picture of a lab or some ducks on it.

I've got one with Dozer's name on it that stays on my lanyard at all times.


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## Tim Price

I used a RNT original acrylic for years. A few years ago I called David Gaston at Gaston Custom Calls. I told him the type of duck hunting spots I had and what I was looking for. He tweaked his call a bit for me and I hardly ever pick up the RNT now. My Gaston call is a cocabola. It can get real loud in an open water situation and has lots of bottom for in your face timber hunting.


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## Jim Danis

I really like the Buck Gardner diamond wood spitfire call. I also have a Bernie Boyle single reed on my lanyard. Those 2 calls are what I blow the majority of the time. I also have one of the Drake Mallard/Pintail/Teal whistles on my lanyard.


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## Mike Boufford

roger said:


> One thing no one has mentioned or asked, where do you do most of your hunting? I guide on the Saginaw Bay, where there's lots of wind, open water, and high flying birds. For that type of hunt, I'll use a loud single reed that I can jump all over. In flooded timber, coves, or areas with a possible echo effect, I'll resort to a softer double reed call. Most calls today can all call ducks to a degree. The importance is not so much the call, but more as to when and not to blow, plus how to blow..Good Luck, just my .02 worth !


A single reed Gaston can produce some very big sound on the open water of Saginaw (Rock Heaven) Bay. I like the double reed Strait Suzie as well for closer work.


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## Steve B.

J.J. Lares Hybrid. A hands down consistent performer. It will be my go to call this year.

I also like my Echo calls, they work real well.


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## ricejumper

Haydel Redleg is the easiest to learn to blow in my opinion. Its a double reed call, and most cheaper calls are double reed as well.

I used these $20 double reed calls for years and finally, about 5 years ago, forked up the money and bought a RNT, single reed. THe single reed is more difficult to perfect, but, it requires less energy and doesn't get messed up as much with changes in conditions and such.


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## Matt G

Another vote for Echo Championship Calls out of Beebe, AR. Rick Dunn will still talk to you on the phone as if he's known you forever, and makes calls suited for meat and comp calling. 

http://www.echocalls.com/

And if you want some barrel-burning mallard killin' in the woods, you need to pick-up one of the handful of videos that bunch puts out. Good ole' boys and good dog action!


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## Gordy Weigel

The call you should get, really depends on you. Do you want to get a call that with a little practice you can make a "Quack" or do you want to learn how to blow a call and learn how to call ducks.
Most of the doubles mentioned will allow you to do both, but have limitations. Haydel DR-85, Buck Gardner Double Nasty, RNT Quack Head, Echo Poly's, Primos Wench, Some of the Duck Commander, etc, etc all fit that discription and are under $30.
If you want a low priced call, that can do it all, take a look at the Carlson Equalizer. If you are willing to pay in $45 range, the Carlson Volochoke (like getting 4 calls in one, comes with 4 different size chokes for the insert, so you have everything from a timber call to a big open water call). These are single reed calls, but have a lot of duck in them.
If you are determined to learn to blow a call and learn to call ducks, no matter how long it takes, might as well buy a good custom call ( you will save money in the long run and in the future you are going to buy one anyway.)


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## Bubba

Duck calls are over rated. 

Nothing beats a biggo spread of Wonder Bread. Even that party horn /paul plays can set 'em down if you are in the right spot.


Just be on the x regards

Bubba


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## maxx

Duck calls are kind of like boobs, you know once you have seen one pair you want to see them all. 

Once you have one duck call you want to try them all. 

I am not a great caller heck I will admit it to most I suck but I still manage to turn a duck or two from time to time. The biggest thing that erks me is when the darn things quit working on me. I have a few custom calls that sound great right away but then you get them in the field and you get a little spit in them and it gets cold out and they are useless.

The one call I always keep around just cause it flat out works when I blow in it is the Poly RNT J-frame. The thing just seems to work. 

I just picked up my first double acrylic and I have been playing with it for a while and I really like the sound of it. It is a Homewrecker and I cant even remember who I got it from I would have to go look up his name.


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## Ken Guthrie

maxx said:


> Duck calls are kind of like boobs, you know once you have seen one pair you want to see them all.
> 
> Once you have one duck call you want to try them all.
> 
> I am not a great caller heck I will admit it to most I suck but I still manage to turn a duck or two from time to time. The biggest thing that erks me is when the darn things quit working on me. I have a few custom calls that sound great right away but then you get them in the field and you get a little spit in them and it gets cold out and they are useless.
> 
> The one call I always keep around just cause it flat out works when I blow in it is the Poly RNT J-frame. The thing just seems to work.
> 
> I just picked up my first double acrylic and I have been playing with it for a while and I really like the sound of it. It is a Homewrecker and I cant even remember who I got it from I would have to go look up his name.


That's about spot on right there. Some calls just work for some callers, others don't.


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## takemts

I use the RNT original and my buddy uses the MVP. They are awesome. I started out with a cheapy h.s. single reed and still have it on my lanyard after 10 yrs. My 6 yr old can blow the quackhead j-frame almost good enough to call for me. I am an RNT fan all the way!


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## waterfowler 870

You need to blow a few and see what works for you . I blow a Foils Strait Meat Mallard and have for a few years it works good for me. I have blown a few other and I like a single reed over the double reed but I hunt over big water and not in timber. I also have a Zinks power hen on my lanyard and its not a bad back up.


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## NBHunter

Steve B. said:


> J.J. Lares Hybrid. A hands down consistent performer. It will be my go to call this year. QUOTE]
> 
> Lares Calls are awesome. I also like Watkins Calls. The Hybrid and the Original are both awesome calls. They are downright perty and do what they are supposed to do...make the duckies come to me.


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## caglatz

BonMallari said:


> Ditto for RNT but if you arent into paying a C note for a call then try the Quackhead J frame which is their polycarbonate versions both in single and double reeds cost about twenty bucks. I carry two of them because they are easy to use


Exacly, RNT MVP or Original - but if funds are tight get a J-Frame for $20. Ducks won't notice the difference.


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## shootncast

S&K calls out of Louisiana. $30 to $40. Hand made so there is a wait but in my opinion, the best sounding call on the market. Seems like Duck calls have gone the way of lures, They are made to attract the buyer more so the fish/ducks/geese. There is absolutly no reason to spend more than $75 dollars for a call, unless of course the only thing you are trying toaccomplish is looking like you know what your doing.


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## road kill

limiman12 said:


> A Dean Downer Duck call,
> 
> Every Guy likes the Double D's


YUP!!!

I get to wrap my hands around a set of DD's*!!*:shock:
(a souvenir set)

Love it!!

stan b & Elvis!!


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## Bayou Magic

shootncast said:


> S&K calls out of Louisiana. $30 to $40. Hand made so there is a wait but in my opinion, the best sounding call on the market. Seems like Duck calls have gone the way of lures, They are made to attract the buyer more so the fish/ducks/geese. There is absolutly no reason to spend more than $75 dollars for a call, unless of course the only thing you are trying toaccomplish is looking like you know what your doing.


S&K is Sonny Kirtpatrick near Haynesville LA. I used to sit in his shop and attempt to blow a call along with him. I'm not sure who that frustrated the most, me or him. 

MANY of the sound boards used by some of today's very successful and popular call makers were "modeled" after Sonny's. His Bois D'arc and cedar calls produce as ducky a sound as any that has ever been put forth by a duck call - particularly when they are in his hands. Sonny won’t ever be salesman of the year, but his calls can hang with any of them. 

My Dad’s 30+ year old S&K now rests in his old workbench that now holds some of my priceless treasures. Priceless means they aren’t worth a plug nickel to anyone but me. I still occasionally use a couple of others that are only 20 or so years old just for the heck of it.

fp


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## Wtrfwl with Ruff

The Haydel DR-85 has killed boat loads of ducks and it is very cheap. In my opinion it is one of the best Meat calls out there. Now my main call is a RNT Short barrel, microhen or original but that is just to be cool i guess...


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## shootncast

When I first got a S&K call I called down there and talked to Sonny. He was the most laid back gentleman I have ever talked to, said he made the calls outta old cedar fence posts. I asked him if he ever got into the calling contest game and he replied " Nah, couldnt beat one of them fellas on that stage, but not one of them fellas could beat me in the blind". Great Guy- Great Call


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## redleg06

Rick Hall said:


> Everyone's physiology, methodology and tone preferences differ, so there is no one best call. RNT's line seems to fit me and my preferences better than others, but it's probably a safe bet that Haydel's DR-85 is the most popular call and has helped kill more ducks than anything else out there.


Couldnt have said it better myself. If you decide to buy a nicer call then dont make your decision by listening to suggestions from others here online go blow a few and if you dont know how to blow good enough to evaluate a call yet then maybe start out with a cheaper call to get the basics down then buy a better call. Until the Indian learns to shoot the arrow wont be effective. 

DR 85 was my first call and has had quite a few ducks killed over it...about 15$


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## Richard Finch

Echo Timber is hard to beat!

Good finess call. I would definately start with a double reed.



Richard


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## D. Province

I bought a BGB acrylic call a few years ago and love it. Since then the big guy died and follies has taken over his molds and continues to produce them. Its loud, its soft, it works in fields, it works in timber. Wouldn't have any other call.  Spend over 100 bucks on it and its worth every penny.


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## Tim West

Guthrie, I am afraid to ask, but prepared for the worse...what is a BGB?


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## GulfCoast

"Big Guy's Best" from Mike Kellar, who won the worlds. He was a BIG guy. He passed away, and I think Jeff Foiles started making the BGB calls.


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## Nate_C

If you are really going to stick with it get a nicer single reed call. Haydell's redleg and others are actually effective but the double reed will spoil you. Took me for ever to get good calls (especially feeding) from a single reed after usuing doubles for so long.


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## Lily'sPal

I am also a new caller and I just bought a Zink PH-2 (polycarb.). It came with an instructional DVD. Got mine at Cabela's for $30. DVD is good and the call is easy to blow and sounds good.


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## Brent Keever

Who needs a call just two fifty pound sacks of milo in the pond ducks come right in.
Feeding Regards,


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## maxx

http://www.wingsupply.com/shop/Scripts/prodViewSKU.asp?SKU=99HS08010

I have never used this one before but I do have a buddy that has a different HS call that is cheap that he uses over a few of his high dollar acrylics. Hard to beat a duck call for 5.95 what do you have to loose.


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## bobbyb

Brent Keever said:


> Who needs a call just two fifty pound sacks of milo in the pond ducks come right in.
> Feeding Regards,


mixed with ground up sweet potatoes !!!!


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## coonsmen

my fav/ by far is the bgb death whisle. i can hit every note from high to low and raspy with it and its only 40 bucks. i have never been able to use a single reed so i cant help in that department.


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## ricejumper

Nate_C said:


> If you are really going to stick with it get a nicer single reed call. Haydell's redleg and others are actually effective but the double reed will spoil you. Took me for ever to get good calls (especially feeding) from a single reed after usuing doubles for so long.



+1 Start w/ single reed so you dont have to relearn how to blow a better call in the future


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## birdhunter66

New to Duck and Goose hunting and was wondering if you bought your first 3 duck calls and one goose call what brand name and models would they be? I'll be hunting mainly ducks in creek bottoms, small ponds and once in a while in waterways in NC and SC. Also what lanyard is best to get? Thanks


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