Chris Jennings’ Blog

The other day I was sitting face-to-face with Rod Haydel in his office asking him about calling tips. Picturing myself wailing away on my old Haydel’s DR-85 and then watching him call with his, I had a duck-calling epiphany – I am not a very good caller.

I don’t feel like I am a bad caller, but Rod’s three-minute instructional interview held my attention like a flock of wing-set Canada geese. He spoke about when he doesn’t call, which reminded me of hunting public property in Indiana where 50 hunters in a one-mile radius hail called every bird in sight until they were blue in the face. He talked about focusing on calling when the ducks are flying with the wind and not against it. He also uses very few feeding calls, just single quacks.

While every duck and every morning is different, here are a few simple tricks that might help you put more birds in your bag.

• Don’t be afraid to not call. If you’re on the “X” because of quality scouting and knowledge of the local birds, let the call just hang on the lanyard. The birds are in the area because there is something there they want. It might be food or a quiet place to rest. Remember, your call won’t hate you if you don’t use it on a couple flocks.
• There is a time and a place for the hail call – use it then, not all the time. I’ve seen guys belt out hail calls when ducks are swinging no more than 50 yards out, ready to set down. You might as well be on a trombone, because that loud hail call will offer you nothing more than a farewell view of tail feathers every time if the birds are that close.
• Call to the situation. After a few unsuccessful attempts to call birds in, change your cadence. Don’t be afraid to lower or raise the decibel level if needed. Some of the best callers I know will make changes throughout the morning to sweet talk mallards into the decoys.
• Listen to live birds. The off-season or while scouting is a perfect time to sit and listen to live birds go back and forth. Remember the cadences and how other birds react to each type of quack. Talk duck.
• Trust in your hunting companions’ honesty. Ask them if your calling sounds all right. If they are good hunting partners, they might just tell you to put the call away, or to keep on it. While you’re busy focusing on your calling and the birds’ reactions, you might not be able to hear some subtle errors in your calls. When I first started waterfowl hunting, the guys I went with finally told me one day, “Chris, please put the kazoo away.” It was a little disheartening, but it also motivated me to work on my calling. What you are hearing might be very different from what your partners or the ducks are hearing. I can sing Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” perfectly to a note… but my wife is honest enough to tell me never to sing in public.