Best all around duck call

[KurtR]

This is my best duck call. Up north here it seems little to no calling is better than hammering on it.

 

[dtrkyman]

I have two cheap calls I use, a Haydels of some sort and a Big River, I call, ducks come. has nothing to do with the actual call in my opinion.

Less is probably more as far as calling but I like to call, so they are going to hear it!

 

[Gman12]

My favorite is my Echo. I reach for it every time. For whatever reason, it just sounds better than the rest of my calls.

 

[backcountry_hunter]

No matter what or how many expensive calls I have on my lanyard I still always have a dr-85 on it. I swear the new dr-85's are different than the old ones but haydels denies any change. Last season I blew a mondo LAS and dr-85 pretty much exclusively. Season before daisy cutter/dr-85. Very much like Lares as others have mentioned as well but I don't know if I've shot a mallard in the last 10 years that I couldn't have just saved myself the money and stuck with dr85. Mines been electrical taped and is chocolate brown from coffee stains.....

If you're into saving money on goose calls like you did on you dr85 field proven's poly carb (think its called raptor?) is about the easiest short reed to learn on and makes the 150$ acrylics seem foolish to spend that kind of money on.... I don't own one but have pointed about a dozen people over the last 3-4 years towards them and have yet to hear a complaint. My son has one. Pretty sure it came with broke in guts.

 

[Rich M]

Im deaf, pretty much rely on decoys and location. Would love to hunt w someone who can call birds in, that would be neat.

We do okay, mostly rely on location relative to the flight paths on a local refuge.

 

[WildBoose]

Get a Lares (Hybrid or T1) and learn to blow it. They take some getting use too because they use "clean air" but once you figure them out, there's nothing else like em.

 

[Wallace]

I know this is an old thread but I'll post anyways. Different calls fit different people's style, same with location.

When I hunted in the southeast (not many mallards, mostly beaver swamps and ponds) I wanted a soft call, I used a J frame most of the time. I didn't over call, it was more about finesse. If I was hunting open water or a field, I'd want a loud loud/clearer call.

I now hunt mainly public woods in Arkansas, I've blown a cut down and a JJ Lares T1 for years out there, they work.

In MOST circumstances, when/how you're calling matters a ton more than what call you're using. With that said, in some cases it does matter. I have no qualms with the DR85, I had one on my lanyard when I was young and there's been a pile of birds killed with them, maybe more than any other call ever produced. But if all things are equal when it comes to the hole I'm hunting in public woods in Arkansas, and you put me within 500 yards of someone with a DR85, I'm likely going to pull the majority of the ducks off of them with a cutdown and they're going to listen to me shoot all morning. If it was just them with no one around, they'd kill their birds fine.

My 2 cents, go find somewhere that has a large selection of calls displayed, try them out. I haven't darkened the door of a Cabelas or BPS in years, but I remember them having a display stand you could blow calls. If you're ever in Stuttgart, MPW has plenty to choose from as well. Any of the waterfowl shows will have call makers set up also. Aside from the big names (Echo, RNT, Zink, etc), there are a TON of small shop call makers, maybe more than ever before, putting out some great products. Give them a shot to earn your business, a lot of them will take the time to tune a call for you in person, over the phone, or simply through messages if you describe to them your calling style.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

I bought a DR-85 and I don't get the hype...I like my Buck Gardner Double Nasty better at that price point.

JJ lares hybrid is my go to. Got an original OLT DR-115 recently and really like the sound from an all wood call.

 

[JjamesIII]

I was wondering what everyone thinks is the best all around duck call, at a budget of up to $150?

I have been using a Zink polycarbonate one and am looking to upgrade.

Thanks!

There’s a lot of calls that sound fantastic and have a lot of ducks in them but vapor lock on you in the marsh right when you need to hit a passing flock. Rnt, rm and echo calls are like that. Stage calls aren’t always the best to hunt with. I like a call with spit grooves and a tone board cut that are less likely the lock up. Duck lander con artist is a good all around call that doesn’t lock on me. Plenty of volume and you can get soft and whining with it. Lares have more rattle to them and take a different air presentation than most, but they don’t lock up easily either. If you want to really bark at ducks, a cutdown that I like is the rnt mondo, but you’ll need to run a few in the store to figure out which model fits your style. The vary wildly with what each person can do with them- but again, very unlikely to lock up on you.

 

[Kathol22]

CS Archangel or Lares Hybrid. Great calls

 

[Banded_spooney]

I’m a bit of a call whore and I have a box with a lot of very expensive calls in it. There are 3 calls on my lanyard. Listed in order of use.
Lares Hybrid
Lares t1 small bore
Lares t1 large bore

 

[MT-nuffgun]

A can of beans and sweet sweet time

 

[OneGunTex]

No matter what or how many expensive calls I have on my lanyard I still always have a dr-85 on it. I swear the new dr-85's are different than the old ones but haydels denies any change. Last season I blew a mondo LAS and dr-85 pretty much exclusively. Season before daisy cutter/dr-85. Very much like Lares as others have mentioned as well but I don't know if I've shot a mallard in the last 10 years that I couldn't have just saved myself the money and stuck with dr85. Mines been electrical taped and is chocolate brown from coffee stains.....

If you're into saving money on goose calls like you did on you dr85 field proven's poly carb (think its called raptor?) is about the easiest short reed to learn on and makes the 150$ acrylics seem foolish to spend that kind of money on.... I don't own one but have pointed about a dozen people over the last 3-4 years towards them and have yet to hear a complaint. My son has one. Pretty sure it came with broke in guts.

For you and @Oregon - how do you get the DR-85 to not sound like a kazoo? I'm new to this, thought I could quack and then my buddy quacked his acrylic call and I realized the DR-85 was much too high pitched and buzzy. But it was that sound when he blew it too.

Did I get a "bad one" or am I doing something wrong?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Hnthrdr]

Most of the time calling is for us callers, it feels awesome to reach out with a hail call or turn that big flock back your way. As I became/ become a more mature duck hunter it is often the subtle stuff that matter far more than ripping super loud calls. I almost exclusively hunt smaller water, I love wood duck calls, stuff I can make soft quacks and feeding chuckles on. My 6 dollar whistle has probably finished more ducks than anything. But man finishing a nice flock of mallards is a thing of beauty! Echo timber, some of the acrylic zink calls atm/ dead meat, and a whistle.

 

[cacklercrazy]

I was wondering what everyone thinks is the best all around duck call, at a budget of up to $150?

I have been using a Zink polycarbonate one and am looking to upgrade.

Thanks!

150 will buy you the best if that's what you want. I have used most and have a buddy that's has definitely used them all. The top of the list will be from either Lares or RM calls. I like the lares calls because how there built. You can buy different reeds to fit your calling style. I love a call that's snappy, quick and loud and my hybrid lares does that.

I was wondering what everyone thinks is the best all around duck call, at a budget of up to $150?

I have been using a Zink polycarbonate one and am looking to upgrade.

Thanks!

 

[8grenade]

The more I get to know this call the better I like it.
Spent half the summer trying to bark right then after I got that I found the low end. Wow.
It was cut to fit me and oh boy it fits.

 

[Oregon]

For you and @Oregon - how do you get the DR-85 to not sound like a kazoo? I'm new to this, thought I could quack and then my buddy quacked his acrylic call and I realized the DR-85 was much too high pitched and buzzy. But it was that sound when he blew it too.

Did I get a "bad one" or am I doing something wrong?

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Have no clue. My air comes from the diaphragm. Dr-85s have killed millions of ducks. I get a high end call and blow and I scare ducks.