need some advice on duck calls

[Nab]

First - get a call that you can control - whether it costs $5 or $500 - cost alone does not make a call "good".
Second - I like the wooden ones and single reeds - seem to get the best duck sounds out of them - never liked the acrylic or plactic ones.
Third - forget about that 50 note hail call - learn a good 5-8 note combo hail/comeback call with a little feeding chatter mixed in when needed - the cadence is more important that individual notes - you need to get the cadence down pat.
Fourth - and with ducks around here it's the toughest one - learn to read ducks and give them what they want to hear - this can change from day to day - flock to flock even(nowadays around here a "flock" is more than one duck!) The biggest mistake alot of people make is calling too much - call as little as needed to get the job done.
Pratice, listen to real ducks when possible or get a good tape of real ducks, know when to and when not to call, get the cadence down and remember cost means nothing if you can't make it sound like a duck - and there's a big difference in calling a person judge and calling the real thing - 2 completely different types of calling wins in the different situations.
Good luck!

[saltynut]

Excellant advice Nab. Unfortunatly the best way to learn to read ducks is by screwing up and losing them after they appear to be commited. You have to remember what you did to make them leave and excercise a little self control and stop doing it.