[Bret]

What do you guys think about this?
Do you change the cadence and or tone for different species of puddle duck? Sure we all know about whistles and junk, but what about changing tone and or cadence with your mallard call for say Gadwalls or spoonbills or to imitate a pintail hen.....?

Bret

 

[frazier2209]

i don't, mainly all we get around here are mallards as far as puddle ducks go. :thumbsup:

 

[Swamp Puppy]

i do for widgeon...hard to explain WHAT i do, but i'll try.

I am sure most of us have heard the hen widgeon's quack. sort of a low, flat, drawn out quack. with more of an "EH" sound than an "A" sound.

to try to imitate this, i reduce the air pressure a bit so i am more mouth blowing the call instead of forcing air up from my gut and draw out my quack with a long winded "heeeeeeet" ( 'eh' sound.. not 'eeee' ) the result should be a longer, flat sounding hen mallard quack. if people look at you like you're crazy, then you're probably doing it right. :laughing:

...and this one i know i can't explain, but i'll try. this seems to work well as a comeback for widgeon. i use a similiar type of quack sound that you would for a mallard greeting, but instead of a decending tone with a steady note length, increase the speed of your calling and shorten each note..then slow it down and lengthen the notes out again i use a "hut" sound for this and i guess it would go something like this.

hut.....hut...hut..HUT.HUT.HUT.HUT..hut...hut....hut

i'll have to make a sound file for this one...too hard to explain.

 

[Bret]

Not silly at all I change up a little myself with the old mallard call. that is exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. I started this same thread on another forum. I am hopping for some ideas over here because it is a different crowd here.
I know of a guy who swears goldeneye come to goose calls so.... nothing is to strange here. I don't care how crazy as long as you beleive it works I want to know about it.

Bret

 

[Swamp Puppy]

we have another one that a friend of mine and i named "The Sleazy Pintail". it's more of a joke, but i have to mention it.

*backstory*

while hunting a local public WMA we were "fortunate" enough to be sitting in a blind adjacent to a complete rookie hunter. now, my rookie days weren't all that long ago so i usually take pity on the poor slobs, but this guy was something else. he was attempting to do a feed chuckle i think..but it was coming out more like a growl. in fact, the only way i could imitate the sound was to growl like a dog into my call.

ok, so the poor slob finally gives up and packs it in..not being able to contain myself anymore (and to cut through the boredom of a bluebird midmorning ) i began to imitate the slobs growling to amuse my buddies. i changed it up a bit to be a little more humorous and we were all having a good chuckle.

my buddy calls out, "bird..out front.. high and coming in"

i look up to see a big bull sprig dive bombing in from about 100 yards out and up. he dropped right in and sat there looking at us. we already had our pintails for the day, so he was safe.

i have tried this again..mostly to break up the monotony of a slow day and have had other drake pintails come in to it. don't know WHY they do..it sounds horrible.

anyway, i wouldn't ever do this seriously, but it is amazing that it works at all. not to mention damn funny for those of us that get the joke.

 

[worknem]

Has anyone ever been working Specks hard with a Speck call and noticed the Widgeon were falling all over em selves to get in? People think we're real rookies when we start in with the Speck call with none around...til they see what happens.
Hey Bret: A tough one is trying to get the hen Greenwing out of a mallard call.

Rel Atwood

 

[Bret]

A hen greenwing......aint that the truth.:withstupid: I try to get as close to it as I can, but it isn't easy or a very good simulation for that matter.

A spec call for widgeons ......hmmm we don't have any specs to speak of in Utah so I have not tried that one ...but don't put it passed me.

growlin' for pintails...interesting.

I try to imitate whatever hen I am hunting if I have heard one quack enough to remember what she sounded like. Gadwall I blow short choppy greatings, and slow single cut feed through the raspiest (I think I may have just made up that word.) call and it seams to work well. faint high pitched greating of a greenwing is another I try.

It seems like a shoveler quack is real coarse and a little undefined. What do you think?

I have been wondering what other guys do for different kinds of puddle ducks for quite a while, or just corky stuff that has work for some strange reason. This is good.

Bret

 

[Swamp Puppy]

It seems like a shoveler quack is real coarse and a little undefined. What do you think?

well, that would explain why so many of them come in when i am calling....lol. :laughing:

 

[worknem]

[quote="Bret"
It seems like a shoveler quack is real coarse and a little undefined. What do you think?
Bret[/quote]

It's short, that's for sure. S.P. you'll love this. Can you imagine a hen spoon highball?

Rel Atwood

 

[duckbuster]

nope i figure if there comming in to where i can tell the difference then theyll finish out and it works sticking with my regular stuff 9 times out of 10.

 

[Swamp Puppy]

It's short, that's for sure. S.P. you'll love this. Can you imagine a hen spoon highball?

Rel Atwood

you had to go there.... :thumbsup: :toofunny:

actually, it would probably sound very similiar to the highball one would hear out on a public WMA from all the weekend hacks trying to sound like the pro caller they hear that promotes the new 200 dollar contest call they bought the day before. :umm: :toofunny:

 

[Bret]

:toofunny:

 

[Ducksbeus]

Blow the Benny Hill tune like a kazoo...gets em everytime :yes:

 

[Felsenthal]

Most Puddlers will come to a Mallard hen call save widgeons in my experience. You need to have a 6-n-1 whistle and do the widgeon whistle when you hear or see widgoens.

I have killed Wood Ducks, Mergansers, Green Wing Teal and Gadwalls with a mallard calling routine and Mallards of course.