Many hunters are familiar with the traditional “wheet-wheet” squeal that a woodie makes in flight, and most call manufactures produce these types of calls. Because they are fairly loud, these calls are effective in getting the attention of most wood ducks.
Can you call wood ducks with a whistle?
This vocalization is only made while wood ducks are flying, but your goal is to imitate ducks resting on the water. 1. Low Note: blow a modest amount of air into the call – enough to lift the reeds and make a low whistle, but not so much air that the call squeals.
Can you use mallard decoys for wood ducks?
Calling Wood Ducks
“I like running a whistle the whole time, and if we have mallard decoys in the spread, it helps to have a mallard call, too. You don’t need to run the mallard call a lot, but it does help catch the attention of woodies that want to drop directly into the tight spots where you don’t want them to go.”
How many duck calls do you need?
How Many Duck Calls Do You Need? John Stephens recommends having at least two or three calls on your lanyard for a given hunting environment. When hunting mallards, he’ll typically run two or three calls specifically for mallards and a whistle for his dog and pintails, widgeon, and teals.
What kind of sound does a wood duck make?
Calls. Female makes loud “oo-eek, oo-eek” when disturbed and taking flight. Male has thin, rising and falling zeeting whistle.
Where do wood ducks nest?
trees
The Wood Duck nests in trees near water, sometimes directly over water, but other times over a mile away. After hatching, the ducklings jump down from the nest tree and make their way to water.
What duck sounds like whistle?
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck Sounds.
What kind of duck call should I get?
Wooden calls are usually softer and mellower than acrylic calls, and they are a good choice for close-up calling situations. Polycarbonate (molded plastic) calls fall between acrylic and wood for sharpness and loudness. Dunn adds that acrylic calls don’t require as much care as wooden calls.
Is a mallard a wood duck?
Mallards have a rounder head than Wood Ducks and males do not have the ornate head pattern of Wood Ducks.
Where do wood ducks go during the day?
Woodies like to roost on ponds, and in corners of wetlands large and small, usually where there is some cover. They leave at first light to spend the day in ponds, wet cornfields, and creeks, but pinning down their exact spot is rarely easy.
How do you attract wood ducks?
3 Ways to Attract More Ducks to Your Pond
- Increase water clarity. Clear water encourages aquatic plants, aquatic snails and several aquatic insects, which are primary foods of migratory ducks.
- Reduce disturbance. Human activity near a pond can scare away ducks, causing them to relocate elsewhere.
- Add duck food plants.
What is the easiest duck call to use?
For a beginner, we recommend a double- or triple-reed acrylic call. You won’t have as much upkeep to worry about and mastering it will be much easier. Often, novices can learn to produce natural sounds relatively quickly, and take part in calling during a hunt.
Do all ducks respond to mallard call?
Truth be told, mallard hen calls are amazingly effective at drawing in almost any species of duck. But while those other species will often respond to a mallard call, they react most favorably to the sounds of their own kind.
Do wood ducks have ears?
Waterfowl ears lack external appendages and are located slightly behind and below the eyes. The ear openings are covered with soft feathers, called auriculars, which offer protection and help muffle the sound of the wind when the birds are in flight.
What size shot is best for wood ducks?
Wood Duck Guns and Loads
In reality, most shots at wood ducks are at close range if you’re set up right. A 12- or 20-gauge loaded with steel 4 shot and an improved cylinder or light-modified choke is all the gun you need. Test your gun at 20 and 25 yards to be sure your pattern is wide enough at close range.
How many decoys do you need for wood ducks?
If you’re where they want to feed, loaf or travel, they’ll probably plop down into a spread of two decoys just as readily as they’d commit to a 100-block rig. For water hunts, I throw out six to 12 wood duck decoys to attract the attention of birds and perhaps slow them down for a split second.
Do mojos work for wood ducks?
What does work, experienced hunters agree, are spinning-wing decoys like Mojo’s Screamin’ Woody. Love them or hate them, spinners, where allowed, are deadly on wood ducks, grabbing their attention at a distance and helping focus them visually on the small spread of decoys.
Do you grunt into a duck call?
While single-reed calls often have to be blown with precise air pressure to sound right, you can blow a double-reed call in many different ways. You can grunt real hard into them, or you can just kind of buzz the reeds like I do, or you can blow straight air into them.
What word do you say when blowing a duck call?
Air Presentation & The Basic Quack
Say the word “Quit” into the call. Other reference words to say into the call are “Hut” or “Dut”. Force the air up from your diaphragm just like you would push your air out as if to fog a window. Do not puff your cheeks out and blow.
Why are acrylic duck calls better?
Acrylic is a dense material, so these duck calls are the most durable. They produce a sharp tone at a higher volume than wood and polycarbonate calls, so they’re a good choice for long-range duck calling. In addition, acrylic duck calls are easier to maintain and produce more consistent sounds than wood calls.
Are Wood Ducks noisy?
The sounds of the male and female Wood Ducks are easy to tell apart. The females make loud squealing calls sounding like oo-week, oo-week. The males make soft wheezing whistles that rise in pitch: jeeeb or ji-ihb.