Quinte Fishing

Got a few mallards and a goose tonight. Still I don't seem to like the sound of any of my calls, more importantly, neither do the ducks. Seems they come in better when I shut up and go the other way when I "call". I have tried a bunch of different ones and tried changing the reed position to sound more natural, but not much luck with any of them.
Anyone know of a nice sounding duck call that they seem to like?

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HUNT, FISH and RIDE

Buck Gardner's "Kryptonite" mallard call. Got one for Christmas last year and I like it alot. True sounds at both high and low volume. once you have the birds attention and they are closing I like to use a bellows type feeder call that you shake. Primos or Quaker Boy both make them. Sounds like a group of feeding mallards and the birds really seem to set their wings once they hear that.

Late season mallards can be spooky though. My neighbour Bob is a hard core waterfowler and he says the later the season gets, the less he calls, as they get more call shy. Bob also has a few Buck Gardner calls, including "Brads' Reactor". He gets really good sound out of them, much better than me, but he puts in the practice and is out there from the opener to ice up. When I hunt with him I leave the calling to him and just shut up and shoot.

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Bruce Ogilvie

"Fish Hard, Hunt Hard, Live Hard"

http://www.muskiescanada.ca/

I have to agree with Bob here. I call much less as the season goes on but still feel location is most important.

Adventure, I think what you are seeing is fairly heavy pressured birds. So it's probably not your calling, but rather calling in general. Two things to consider are: Avoid calling when the birds are facing you, with pressured birds or late in the season I often let them take the first pass silent, and if they don't hook back quickly then get on the call. On calm days call quietly and less (or non), when it's windy and rainy you can get away with a bit more volume. What you are trying to avoid is the birds zeroing in on your location and picking you out.

So now to the question you actually asked....for calls it has more to do with the individual. I know guys that can make a $10 sound like a million bucks and guys that can make a $250 custom acrylic call sound like a 4 year old who has just discovered a kazoo. Generally speaking acrylic will give you a sharper and louder sound, hardwood such as cocoboa will be a little more mello and polycarbonate calls can vary quite a bit. Depending on your price range I would consider the Echo XLT (acrylic or cocoboa), RNT makes a bunch of great calls depending on what your looking for, I hate to admit it but I have a few Foils calls that never leave my lanyard. If you don't mind supporting the creep the Straigh Suzy is one of my favorite calls I've ever blown.

My best advice, get together with someone who doesn't mind letting you try his calls (do this at home, not while hunting), or try them next time your at Bass Pro.

Like shotguns, duck calls have to fit the hunter to be effective.