Duck calls

[Remington700]

What is a good duck call now days. I have not hunted ducks in about 20 years. My daughter wants to give it a go. I dug out my old duck calls (Olt, Roy Rhodes, etc) to find out they are antiques. What is a good custom call these days?

 

[Displaced_Vol]

Sky's the limit.
If she doesn't have one at all & wants to give it a go I think a Haydel dr-85 is hard to beat for $20. I still carry one everyday with calls that cost plenty more. Course there's not much custom about it but it's one of those everybody ought to have one.
My group has a bunch of RNTs and a couple echos and I like both those companies. I know there are a lot of "lesser" known call companies that have devoted followings I just haven't gone down that rabbit hole yet.
What kinda places will y'all be hunting? Big lakes, rivers, holes in the woods, farm ponds, etc?
I'd like to get some older calls and try sometime, olts & yentzens, stuff like that.

 

[Remington700]

We will probably end up in flooded timber more than anything. I like the older calls but they didn't seem to keep up with the modern ways. I love Olt calls and have a Yentzen also. They are older and wood. They are not as loud as modern day calls.

 

[prstide]

I still think wood calls sound great for timber hunting and use them more than anything else. DR-85 is a good starter call that would break the bank.

 

[TNGunsmoke]

DR-85 or a Buck Gardner Mallard magic both work well for cheap calls. Easy to blow, and they won't break the bank.

 

[West_Tn]

Lares

 

[TAFKAP]

We will probably end up in flooded timber more than anything. I like the older calls but they didn't seem to keep up with the modern ways. I love Olt calls and have a Yentzen also. They are older and wood. They are not as loud as modern day calls.

A Yenzten will always be on my lanyard, but last year, it slipped apart in the cold and I had to dig through the mud to find all the pieces again. Their new Yentzen is a steep price tag at $160, but it's a polymer call that screws together.

 

[Cache]

X2 on the lares. A lot of people still hunt with keyhole olts and modify them. I've never been able to blow one but hunt with a few guys that can and on certain days there is no beating one.

 

[Panther Bone]

Lares Hybrid and T-1 smallbore. End of your search. They never stick either. Little different to run, but easy to learn.

 

[tickweed]

for a beginner, a cheap call, mallard magic. for the big boys, only one. Lares Hybrid

 

[Westtnduckhtr]

Haydel DR85, RNT NOS, RNT Original, RNT Daisy Cutter, Lares Hybrid are some excellent choices.

 

[m_allison71]

The best call in the world is the one you can make sound good enough for a duck. I can promise you that a duck does not care who made or how much you paid for a call. The first duck I called in came to a Hunter Specialty double reed. I paid less than $15 for. I've got an old Johnny Marsh that I got from a friend. Some days it works some days it doesn't. If you can still make those antiques sound good use them.
Ive come to the conclusion that people think ducks are smarter than they are. People put too much emphasis on the call they have, not enough on how the call.

 

[Bgoodman30]

Depends on your skill you might want to start with a double reed like a Buck Gardner but once you discover the Lares Hybrid and its versatility with different reeds your search is over...

 

[Displaced_Vol]

Seems there's lots of Lares fans on here. May have to check one out myself some day.

 

[West_Tn]

Lares Hybrid and T-1 smallbore. End of your search. They never stick either. Little different to run, but easy to learn.

The new model Mag Hen is great as well.

 

[PJones]

Lares no question

 

[redheadshooter]

Havoc!

 

[Jubal]

Haydel DR85 inexpensive solid call. Just pick a call and learn how to use it.

 

[Smashdn]

Some days they want a specific sound. You've got to figure it out before you run out of ducks to experiment with.

Lots of call makers out there now.

The cheap poly Primos and Haydels work.