How to: Call like a Duck
As a guide, researcher, speaker and writer, I have always been interested in learning about the animals I hunt: how they react to the weather, which calls they use and why, and when and how they mate; so that I could use the information to become a better hunter. Even though I'd cut my eye teeth on a duck call, and I'd been hunting ducks for over thirty years I knew I didn't know it all. So, when I met well known waterfowl biologist and goose researcher Dr. Jim Cooper a few years ago I decided to pick his brain. I specifically asked him what calls were best for hunting. He told me that if I really wanted to learn about duck behavior I should read the book Handbook Of Waterfowl Behavior by Dr. Paul Johnsgard. He also suggested the book Ducks, Geese and Swans of North America. What I learned from my conversations with Jim, and from those two books, has dramatically changed the way I hunt ducks and geese.
When you are hunting early season geese you should scout to determine which areas the birds like to rest in, and which areas have the proper food sources in them before the season begins, especially if you are leasing land. If you are hunting on water check to see which of the nearby wet areas have water in them, and which wet areas the birds are using as resting areas. If you are hunting on land check nearby fields to determine what crops are growing in them. Farmers often rotate their crops; what may have been corn one year may be beans, wheat, rice, barley or alfalfa the next year. It pays to know well in advance which fields have the right crops in them.
