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Although many duck calls are often advertised that they can do it all I certainly do not agree with this statement. For calling mallards I beleive you need at least a mid-range or timber style duck call for close in work, and also a open water call for the extra volume. We will cover this in more detail below. If you are purchasing your fist duck call I would recommend a mid-range, or timber style call.
Open Water calls are great when you're hunting wide-open areas, windy conditions, migrating ducks, aggressive ducks and can be effective when hunting in areas with a high degree of competition.
Timber calls aren't just for the timber, they are a great call to use in any of the following situations; tight closed in areas, calm days, call shy or heavily hunted ducks, ducks that you're hunting over ice and whenever you need to sound as realistic and natural as possible.
Mid Range calls are perfect when an open water call may be to much but a timber call just isn't enough. We use our mid range calls a great deal throughout the year because they are extremely versatile and they can be used in a variety of different conditions and terrains. Examples of these calls are the RNT Short Barrel, Daisy Cutter, or Echo XLT
The situations that you hunt in should be the first set of criteria that you use when choosing a duck call. Why do we believe the situations you hunt should impact your call selection? Here's why. Different situations can and will require different sounding calls. For example, if you're hunting a large reservoir you need extra volume to attract high flying ducks, a soft sounding timber call is probably not your best choice. However, if you're hunting that same reservoir on a very quiet or calm day, the timber call will probably be your ticket to success. The same scenario could also be applied to the timber or marshes. Even though most hunters would pick a midrange or low range call for these situations windy days require the volume of an open water call. You would also want to use an open water call for attracting highflying flocks coming back from feeding. If you're like us and hunt a lot of different situations, you will need more than one call to be as effective as possible.
If your first starting out calling ducks, or just don't want to practice any more than you have to I would recommend purchasing a double reed duck call. Today many double reed duck calls are capable of producing nearly the same volume as a single reed. The only limiting factor of a double reed is that you will not be able to change the pitch of the call as much as a single reed. Please note that double reed duck calls do have a tendency to stick when temperatures dip below 40 degrees.
What's best? Acrylic, Polycarbonate, or wooden calls? In a nut shell the denser the material used the louder and crisper the sound will be from the call. I also think a denser material such as acrylic will make the duck call track better for advanced callers. When comparing acrylic to polycarbonate duck calls polycarbonate calls are produced from a mold and are not typically hand tuned, while acrylic calls are turned on a lathe to tighter tolerances and hand tuned by the call maker. Wooden duck calls will produce a more mellow sound, with the only draw back being that the sound can change, as the wooden tone board gets wet. Be sure the wooden call you purchase has a brass or steel band to prevent the barrel of the call from cracking.
If your first starting out I would recommend a double reed polycarbonate duck call. Haydel's, Echo, and Buck Gardner all make quality double reed calls in polycarbonate that are very affordable, and good sounding.