Acrylic Duck & Goose Call Maintenance

I want to share some tips and techniques on how to keep your duck and goose calls running at their highest performance.   

Barrel:

I recommend cleaning out the inside of the barrel periodically. This insures that dirt has not made its way to the tone board where it can affect the sound.

 I DO NOT recommend any alcohol or solvents. Standard dish soap with warm water will do the job just fine.

How To Clean: 

You can wrap a soft cloth around a ¼” dowel to scrub the inside of the barrel. Simply run your barrel under the faucet to remove any soap or dirt. If you would like to remove light scratches, I recommend using any automotive paint scratch removers. (“Scratch X” or the headlight polishes). Either of these is available at Wal-Mart or at an auto parts store. You can also polish your bands with these.

Insert:

Remove the cork and reed. Set them aside. All of our reeds are machine cut and engraved.

The engraving tells you two things.

a. Size and type of reed.  

b. Reed orientation. (Which way to put it back in.)

How to Clean:

1. Take a toothbrush with warm soapy water and scrub the tone board area to remove any build up of dirt.

2. I like to clean out the insert bore as well. This can be a little tricky since the hole is            ½” or less. A good way to do this is to sharpen a ¼” dowel like a pencil. Wrap a small amount of a soft cloth around it soaked in soapy water and run it through the hole. 

3. Finish cleaning the tone board by running under the faucet to remove any soap/dirt.  

O-Ring:

Inspect the o-ring for cracks or wear. The o-ring is what seals the call and insures a proper insert fit. 

Replace as needed. 

Reed and Cork:

Anytime you clean your call, replace with fresh cork. You can never really replace cork too often! 

Inspect the reed for any bubbles or delamination . If your reed is damaged, it will need replaced. If it is not damaged, wash it on both sides with soap and water to remove any dirt.

                  

Re-installing your reed & cork:

Place the reed on the tone board with the engraving facing up so you can read it.

Put the reed against the back of the cork notch. 

Bite and moisten the new cork gently to compress it slightly. 

Hold the reed down and slide the cork under the cork notch until it is seated against the back of the cork notch. 

Trim off the excess cork with a knife. (If there is any gap between the cork and the back of the notch, it will leak air and your call will not function properly.)

Final Step:

Place the insert back into the barrel of your call. You should have a cleaned and properly running call after this maintenance. 

If you would like to view a video on how to replace your cork and reed, click on the link below to watch on our YouTube page. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aylrFBZaWAk

Call Selection

What is the best call for me? What is the best call for a beginner caller? What’s the difference between this model and the next?

These questions I get asked on a regular basis. I am always happy to answer them. I try to set every customer up with a call that fits their particular needs. I thought this would be helpful if I shared my thoughts on selecting a call and what each of our call models are built to do.

CALL MODEL DESCRIPTIONS:

Conartist: This call is an open water, FULL range call that will ring on the top. It is similar to a Main Street style call, but will not have the same back pressures as a true Main Street Comp call. It has a nice raspy hen under the ring, solid mid range duck and can go very low on the bottom end. The feed will have some squeak and squeal in it when pushed. It is about the easiest single reed call to blow. I suggest this call for new callers wanting to learn on single reed or for experienced callers wanting a smoother running full range call.

Conartist Hand Cut: It is just a little raspier than a standard a Conartist. The Biggest hen will be more of a loud raspy hen. As opposed to the "ringing top end" on a standard Conartist. The feed will run more free and the bottom end will be looser. This call is in between the LT Hand Cut and the Standard Conartist in rasp. It is also more forgiving than the LT Hand Cut.

Loud Timber (LT):  The LT is a cut down version of a Conartist. It has a much shorter barrel that makes the call very fast, it has a little higher toned duck, and a very squeaky feed. It will handle a little more air pressure than the Standard Conartist and not as much as a Conartist Hand Cut. The LT line of calls can be harder to run due to the smaller size of the call.

Loud Timber Hand Cut (LTHC): The LTHC is our raspiest and loudest call we make. It will take a ton of air with the proper reed set up. It has an extremely aggressive feed that you can poor power into. A good amount of hold throughout the call’s range. If you can drive these calls, they will kill ducks all day!

Loud Timber Hand Cut Small Bore (LTHC): The Small Bore LTHC call runs very similar to a LTHC but with about half the volume. It will have more back pressure due to the smaller exhaust. This a great call for guys that like the LTHC but want less volume.

Sinner: The Sinner is a very unique sounding call. It is more of an upper midrange call. It is very raspy but still has a lot of squeal in it. The feed runs strong and very aggressive. The top end is all big hen with no "ring". This call requires very good calling mechanics to get it right. If you can run it properly, it is one of our most realistic sounding calls.

Saint: The Saint is our Main Street comp call that will do everything a Comp call should do. The one big drawback to hunting with a Main Street call is they are going to stick. That is the nature of the beast. Some guys really like the "ring" and feel of a Comp call in the field.

TroubleMaker: This double reed call has a very limited range that was designed to be very realistic in the middle range. It can be a little hard to get the pressures just right. It is not an easy call to run but when ran well, it has a fantastic hen in the mid-range.
Quiet Timber (QT): The Qt shares the exact same tone board as the Conartist. It has a great mid-range duck with lots of rasp. It has good back pressure that lets the caller get soft on the low end work. It is a very easy single reed call to use. Great call for someone wanting a soft call with good range.

Quiet Timber 2 (QT2): The Qt2 is very similar to a QT in how it runs. We wanted a double reed that would keep up with our single reed designs, but still be forgiving for a caller trying to learn. It has a slightly longer barrel and a more forgiving tone board to accomplish this.

The questions I get asked the most are:
1. What call should a new/beginner caller start on?
2. What is the best sounding loud call we offer?

I will start with #1, how I like to set up a new caller:

If a person is getting into learning how to run a duck all, and they are going to practice often. I like to see them get a SINGLE REED Conartist or a Conartist Hand Cut. I prefer the Standard Conartist. I have 3 main reasons for suggesting these calls.

1) A single reed call will offer more range, more ducks and really more of everything. It will also show any errors you are making while learning. Bad sounding notes are a great teaching tool.  If you are a double reed guy that is fine. I make double reed calls and have nothing against them, but please keep in mind that the top reed governs the bottom reed. It will hide errors the caller is making.

2) The Conartist is an open water call with a large bore. The large bore gives the caller a little more room to be off on their pressures. Any time you choke the exhaust end of the call down you need better mechanics and pressure to run the call well. One of the biggest mistakes I see new callers make is they get a small bored call because it feels easier to run. You need a call that is as forgiving as possible to learn on.

3) This may upset a few of you reading this but, I want a new caller striving to get some "Main Street Style Ring" out of the call they are learning on. A Conartist will "Ring" well. Learning how to "ring" a call accomplishes many things. It teaches you proper pressure, how to keep your throat open, hand placement and it will build up your air supply in your lungs. You may never blow that note in the field, but you will be better on a call knowing how to do it.

#2 Which call is the loudest call we offer?

If you are after a loud "ringing" type call the Saint, Conartist and LT would be the best.. Those three calls have the same volume but, they will have a different feel and tones through their range. The top end on all of them will be a "ring". The big hen will be right under that. The feeds will be slightly mushy with notes blending for speed. If you’re after a loud course duck then I recommend a LT Hand Cut or Conartist Hand Cut. Both of these calls will have a loud course hen on the top end, an aggressive feed with lots of power and rasp. The LT Hand Cut will be the call with most volume and rasp of the two. The Conartist Hand Cut will be a little more forgiving to run.

If you have any question, please feel free to let us know. Email us at: Admin@ducklandercalls.com.