Waterfowlers, call instruction, tips, etc.

[PJDiesel]

What have you guys used to get past the basics and hone your calling skills?

Duck: I am okay (just okay) on basic quacks, higher/longer hail calls and a very short and broken up feeder sequence. I can't seem to time my breathing to get a good rhythm that sounds decent.

Goose: This is bad, I spent a while last year with a Scott Threinen DVD, had the basics on a cheap call, then made the mistake of getting a GOOD (Molt Gear) short reed. I basically blow (not well) at using this call for anything other than a simple cluck and double.

Anyone have any audio or video that has helped them along? I am more concerned with my goose sounds for now, kinda disappointed and discouraged it's been this tough to get more sounds/strings out of this call.

Thanks in advance,
Phil

 

[DrunkUncles]

Go get yourself a Glynn Scobey short reed call, they are super easy and sound pretty good.

Price wise they are in the middle of the road, so you dont have to shell out too much cash.

Chris

 

[DrunkUncles]

OK... SO I did not realize he passed away a few yrs ago. That might make his calls harder and more expensive. But if you can get your hands on one, you will love it.

Chris

 

[PJDiesel]

OK... SO I did not realize he passed away a few yrs ago. That might make his calls harder and more expensive. But if you can get your hands on one, you will love it.

Chris

Interesting. The ONLY calls on Ebay at this point are his Son selling them. Metal reed, never heard of that.

 

[DrunkUncles]

I have one like this... (old school, not a metal reed).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-GENUINE...94227271?pt=US_Game_Calls&hash=item3f2a656347

Chris

 

[PJDiesel]

Yup, 30 year old calls going for $125 with no possibility of replacement guts.

 

[DrunkUncles]

First I bought this thing and it sucked:

Then my wife bought me this for XMas:




If you can get your hands on one, it's worth it. Good luck. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Chris

 

[PJDiesel]

That Honkey Tonk probably sounds about as good as my "Quack Head".

I guess a poor craftsman blames his tools though. I really need pointed in the right direction instruction wise. I've been using youtube videos (run through my truck radio) and that makes things a little easier, I can work right along with them.

 

[Bradw410]

John Taylor makes nice goose calls . He's here on the shore

 

[MDHunter]

I'd recommend moving this over to the Outdoors sub-forum, you're likely to get a lot more responses over there.

 

[PJDiesel]

I'd recommend moving this over to the Outdoors sub-forum, you're likely to get a lot more responses over there.

Good call, I'll ask.

 

[fabsroman]

lol - I have killed way more geese with a piece of crap $20 Knight & Hale flute versus any of the damn expensive acrylic calls I have bought. I know one of the acrylics is a Tim Grounds. I have a Foiles and another acrylic and two other POS calls for geese. End of the day, it is mostly about practice, practice, and more practice. Also, listen to the geese when you are out hunting. If they show you wing tips or tail feathers, call. Reduce your volume the closer they get, but increase the frequency. When they are circling, I usually go to a bunch of short clucks to simulate a ton of excited geese.

I have seen people get new calls during the season and sound like complete crap on them. Then, after a summer of some serious practice they come back the next season sounding amazing. Then, there are people that suck no matter what because they don't practice. They have 15 different calls around their necks and in their packs and almost always blame it on the call. Just like playing a trumpet. You aren't going to pick one up and sound like Louis Armstrong overnight (fyi - I played the trumpet for about 8 years).

Watch as many videos as you can that are specific to teaching how to call geese. Read as many books as possible. But most importantly, get out and blow that call. I would drive off somewhere and practice for an hour at a time in the car so the people in the house did not kill me.

Just like shooting. If you do not practice, you are going to suck.

When I started waterfowling, I read almost everything I could get my hands on about the subject. Decoy placement. Calling. Hunting the weather. Building blinds. Shooting. Etc. I still have plenty to learn I am sure, but I kill my fair share of geese and ducks. Now, I need to read some books about how to find more properties to hunt and/or just buy my own place.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

The only Goose call I have ever owned is my OLT #800. I make like Goose with it. The Goose comes to it. If the Geese have no interest they will not come to any call. Calling Geese does not require a college class. You make short honks like a Goose and they will come if they care. One thing you don't do is try to call the whole group. Your goal is to entice the lead Goose. If you get his attention the other will follow. If he flies in to a brick wall the rest will fly into the brick wall too.

One thing you do not want to is over-call. I hear so many guy who blow on their call and it sounds like a rock concert. You want to make your calls sound like one Sentry Goose saying hey man we're over here stop by if you want to. Don't blow so much that it sounds like a street fight. I have seen some of those YT videos and I find it hilarious when you have 3-4 guys blowing on their calls like it's a competition to see who can get the lead goose first.

When I have Geese fly over the farm and they honk a few times in a half mile of flight I will blow my call maybe 5-6 times every few seconds. Just enough to let the lead know there is a Goose down there somewhere.

.

 

[iggy]

What have you guys used to get past the basics and hone your calling skills?

Duck: I am okay (just okay) on basic quacks, higher/longer hail calls and a very short and broken up feeder sequence. I can't seem to time my breathing to get a good rhythm that sounds decent.

Goose: This is bad, I spent a while last year with a Scott Threinen DVD, had the basics on a cheap call, then made the mistake of getting a GOOD (Molt Gear) short reed. I basically blow (not well) at using this call for anything other than a simple cluck and double.

Anyone have any audio or video that has helped them along? I am more concerned with my goose sounds for now, kinda disappointed and discouraged it's been this tough to get more sounds/strings out of this call.

Thanks in advance,
Phil

for ducks you want to learn the "lonesome hen" call. You need to use this at the right time, when they are directly down wind, to turn them into the deeks. If you dont have this call in your arsenal you wont get many to come to you.

for geese, i would reccomend an easternshoreman. They are easy to work and you can get all the goose sounds out of it. A good caller uses more than jsut a few honks to get the geese in. I'm not great at goose calling, but i know three calls and when to use them.
I also have several different calls tuned to different tones. Sometimes they only respond to a sharper tone, others they want that gravely growl/honk.

 

[Crow Bait]

Say what you want about the honky tonk, but I have killed dozens of geese with it and gotten a lot of compliments on it's sound. It did require tuning, but I think it sounds as good as some of the high dollar short reeds.

I have a zink Money-maker now, but I still carry the honky talk, and use it to mix up sounds from time to time.

Most people Over-call, FYI.

 

[PJDiesel]

Lots of good tips/info here. Thanks so far, keep em coming!

 

[fabsroman]

The only Goose call I have ever owned is my OLT #800. I make like Goose with it. The Goose comes to it. If the Geese have no interest they will not come to any call. Calling Geese does not require a college class. You make short honks like a Goose and they will come if they care. One thing you don't do is try to call the whole group. Your goal is to entice the lead Goose. If you get his attention the other will follow. If he flies in to a brick wall the rest will fly into the brick wall too.

One thing you do not want to is over-call. I hear so many guy who blow on their call and it sounds like a rock concert. You want to make your calls sound like one Sentry Goose saying hey man we're over here stop by if you want to. Don't blow so much that it sounds like a street fight. I have seen some of those YT videos and I find it hilarious when you have 3-4 guys blowing on their calls like it's a competition to see who can get the lead goose first.

When I have Geese fly over the farm and they honk a few times in a half mile of flight I will blow my call maybe 5-6 times every few seconds. Just enough to let the lead know there is a Goose down there somewhere.

.

That isn't necessarily true. I have had small groups peel off of a larger group and the lead goose kept on getting while that small group of 2 to 5 have came in. I usually prefer it this way anyway. No sense shooting at 20+ geese when you can only kills 6 to 12 IF everybody shoots perfectly. Also, the smaller the group the fewer number of eyes looking at the spread and the blind(s). Hence, less chance one of them finds something he does not like and flares the entire group.

One month and goose season is here. I am starting to chomp at the bit.

 

[iggy]

That isn't necessarily true. I have had small groups peel off of a larger group and the lead goose kept on getting while that small group of 2 to 5 have came in. I usually prefer it this way anyway. No sense shooting at 20+ geese when you can only kills 6 to 12 IF everybody shoots perfectly. Also, the smaller the group the fewer number of eyes looking at the spread and the blind(s). Hence, less chance one of them finds something he does not like and flares the entire group.

One month and goose season is here. I am starting to chomp at the bit.

try telling that to the guy around the creek from us yesterday. He waxed em. Probably took 5-6 geese by himself. He must have thought it was still resident season. He did the same thing last october

 

[Franklin]

What have you guys used to get past the basics and hone your calling skills?

Duck: I am okay (just okay) on basic quacks, higher/longer hail calls and a very short and broken up feeder sequence. I can't seem to time my breathing to get a good rhythm that sounds decent.

Goose: This is bad, I spent a while last year with a Scott Threinen DVD, had the basics on a cheap call, then made the mistake of getting a GOOD (Molt Gear) short reed. I basically blow (not well) at using this call for anything other than a simple cluck and double.

Anyone have any audio or video that has helped them along? I am more concerned with my goose sounds for now, kinda disappointed and discouraged it's been this tough to get more sounds/strings out of this call.

Thanks in advance,
Phil

listen to real birds and figure it out on your own is the best way to learn after you watch scott! bad grammar gives you what you need but you need yard time. breath,tounge and hand control. remember with a short reed, you want to heave out the air and then practice controling it.

for ducks, the RNT learning dvds are great! once again its up to you to control the call.

 

[SOMDSHOOT]

That isn't necessarily true. I have had small groups peel off of a larger group and the lead goose kept on getting while that small group of 2 to 5 have came in. I usually prefer it this way anyway. No sense shooting at 20+ geese when you can only kills 6 to 12 IF everybody shoots perfectly. Also, the smaller the group the fewer number of eyes looking at the spread and the blind(s). Hence, less chance one of them finds something he does not like and flares the entire group.

One month and goose season is here. I am starting to chomp at the bit.

I won't argue with that. I have very small groups of Geese coming from 2 directions at the farm. The Main creek and river are only a few short ( 1.5 to 3 miles ) away from the NW corner of the farm and when they come in they all follow the leader. I also get a lot of doubles flying through together and sometimes groups of four. This past early season was a complete bust, but, now I have Geese coming over low, and landing on the field daily. The September season was a real let down, but, I'm ready for November.