If you are a first time caller what kind of call would you buy. Also Goose Too.

Hmmmm....how should I answer this one ???

It would help to know the "age" of the first time caller.

Kids can be started with a "whistle" instead of a classic duck call. That encourages them to be a part of the duck hunt which I believe is very important.

I am a big fan of Duck Commander Duck Calls...they are cheap, work well, and can be easily replaced.

Here is a mallard drake whistle, which can also be used for Greenwing Teal, Wigeon and Pintail. Cost $20.

http://www.duckcommander.com/s...tails&product_id=732



For grown up, novice callers...for a regular Mallard HEN duck call you can go with this basic one. Cost $25
http://www.duckcommander.com/s...tails&product_id=749


For Goose I am going to assume you meant Canada Goose (there are a ton of Snow Goose and Specklebelly Goose calls available as well)...well the Flutes are quite fun and easy to use. Here is one $18.
www.cabelas.com
Then do a search for Item No IK-220844


I put the costs of the calls there so you can get an idea that you do not need to start off with $159 calls. Some of the Seanman calls can get upwards of $200 which may not be a good idea for a novice caller.

Also, if you can get a one hour lesson from an experienced duck caller...pay them $100 per hour if you have to and get a lesson. It will be money well spent instead of trying to learn duck calling by listening to CDs.

Now what I have also found is that very few Excellent Duck Callers are good Goose Callers and vice versa. Duck Calling and Goose Calling are two different art forms and in order to learn from the best sources you will probably need to go to two different masters.

So in summary here is what I would suggest.

- Start off with cheap $25 calls. You can buy the $300 Cocobolo calls when you have mastered the art.
- Pay somebody and learn to call Ducks/Geese from a Human Being instead of wasting money on CDs or DVDs...it would be cheaper in the long run
- Learn to master the Mallard Drake Whistle...many duck species do not respond to Mallard Hen....you need to have couple of additional skills in your bag of goodies.
- Practice, practice, practice....that's what summers are for.
- You are never too old to learn the art of waterfowl calling.

P.S. I started off my son when he was two and a half years old....you can see a Mallard Hen call, a Mallard Drake Whistle (can be used for multiple species like Teal, Pintail, Wigeon, Wood Duck), and a Brant Goose Call on dad's lanyard. Now he has his own lanyard and his own set of calls.

Easiest duck call to blow and still sound decent is Haydel's DR-85......no question about it.

And for a beginner goose call it's the River Flute(or something like that, I can't remember the exact name).

I have been using and collecting duck/goose calls for many years. My collection includes some of the vintage working calls as well as new acrylic and polymer calls, IMHO, one of my best working calls is a Rich N Tone (RNT) poly call that I paid $10 for. Most of my high end custom calls are made of various exotic woods, and I rarely use them more than a couple of times before they stay in my collection. There are single, double and triple reed calls. For most beginning callers, a double reed is more forgiving, but some can learn on a single reed. My advice is to learn to do a simple hen mallard quack first. This is the foundation to learning to use traditional calls such as the high ball & come back. Chattering is altogether a different call to master, but practice and patience is the key. Do your friends a favor and practice at home, not in a duck blind with friends. That can be as annoying as having a bad dog in the blind. Pick up a few duck call tapes or CD's and spend time learning each call. You will tend to start "blowing" into the call before you learn to "grunt" into an Arkansas style call. Calling geese, well, another challenge that requires practice...and lots of it. I'd start with a basic Canada goose style call. Even a cheap call can be made to sound better if it's tuned properly and for you. Next Friday will be the start of the NWTF convention here in Nashville. Some of the best call makers in the country will exhibit many duck and goose calls. For waterfowlers, it's like a kid in a candy store. I'm sure I'll acquire more and try to post pics after the show.
LDK
African Blackwood and Ebony call made by Bob Wiseman: Long Pond duck calls

Browning call by Doug Wiseman (with permission to use the Browning logo)

For a beginner I'd say either of those mentioned above, Haydel DR-85, or just about any of the Duck Commander's (smoke, ole raspy, classic).

I'd also recommend Robertson's (Duck Commander) "Art of Commanding Ducks" DVD (I've got it on VHS, not sure if they ever put it on DVD).

Just picked these nine calls up at the 2011 NWTF Convention auction.
Included are:
1. Nolan Couch-Cocobolo duck call with silver band
2. Chuck Wais-Cocobolo with Goose Gang logo
3. Pat Walsh-Light burly Maple w/blackwood insert. Fine checking around the call
4. John Koepp-metallic wine acrylic "Addiction Calls"
5. Chuck Wais-medium burly Maple w/Goose Gang logo
6. Bob Hayes-Navy metallic acrylic with silver barbed wire band. Engraved w/"Bob Wire" and barbed wire logo in white. Screamer call!
7. Herb Ohley-satin black acrylic w/"Quack Assassin" logo
8. Jacob Friend-Blaze Orange metallic acrylic w/Legacy logo. Pair: duck and goose calls.
9. Herb Ohley-Cocobolo goose short reed call.

Holycrap LDK you are going to need a display case for all them fancy Cocobolos

I've been collecting and hunting waterfowl since the age of 16. I have a fair collection and yes, a display cabinet is in order Thanks for looking collector.
Cheers,
David
PS: I hope to post some more pics soon. I'll start a new thread

The calls I would suggest for a beginner that is just wanting the fastest results would be different from the calls that I feel would be the best in general. These are my thoughts and experiences gained from years of waterfowling.

My suggestions for the most inexpensive but workable calls to get the quickest huntable sound out of are this. For ducks a Haydel DR-85 double reed. For geese(canada geese) would be a knight and hale Magnum Clucker. These two calls can both be had new for about $25 or less for both of them.

If I wanted to start off both inexpensively AND have the potential to get into more advanced calling my suggestions are a little different. For ducks I would suggest a poly or wood SINGLE reed duck call such as a echo or RNT. For canada geese the same Knight and Hale magnum clucker is still what I would get. Both of these would run about $40

This is all based on 20 years of hardcore waterfowl hunting. The double reed duck call is easier to make servicable duck sounds on and is a LOT more forgiving of mistakes than a single reed call, but lacks a lot of the finess and tonal range of the single reed. The air is also dilivered a bit differently between the two with the double reed being much more forgiving. BUT!!!There are a few new exceptions to this rule I am familiar with in calls such as the new echo double reed in the "meat" and the hobo double reeds which are both inspired by the same guy(Kent Cullum). The goose call that I suggest is the magnum clucker which is a "short reed" style call and is the forfather of almost all current short reed goose calls. It is fairly easy to make all the basic calls such as the honk and cluck but is capable of MANY MANY more advanced calls.

My personal choice is a single reed acrylic "pure duck" call and an acrylic Bill Saunders canada call. Which is $250-300 for the pair.LOL But I have been called "obsessed" with waterfowl hunting!

thanks
224TTH