
	Jim James - Owner of Carlson Championship Calls and 1996 World Duck Calling Champion

In Search of “The Magical Flute”

by Jim James - Owner of Carlson Championship Calls and 1996 World Duck Calling Champion

How many duck calls do you have in your “call drawer”? How many have you tried and then relegated to the “call drawer” because “It just isn’t right” or, “It just doesn’t fit my style of calling”? I know of guys that not only have drawers full of calls but also sacks of calls. Some drag the sacks along every time they venture in to the field. How many guys do you know who insist they have a half-dozen duck calls around their neck while in the blind? They have one for hailing the ducks. They need another for when the ducks get closer. They need that “special call” for the real close-in ducks they don’t want to scare away.

Awe...the endless search for that “magic flute”. The endless search for that one “special” call that fits one’s own seemingly special ingrained calling habits. It’s been this way since the first duck call was invented and, sadly, it will be this way to the end of time.

Fellow waterfowler, I have a News Flash! There is no “magic flute”! There never will be a “magic flute”! No call can operate itself...never has...never will!

I’ve never seen a man take a call out of his pocket and have it magically operate itself. One must blow into the call (hopefully on the correct end) to develop and maintain correct Chamber Pressure. And, he must do something with his hand. More likely than not he’ll have that hand out in front of the insert of the call flapping around applying uncontrolled Back Pressure and thereby randomly increasing and decreasing Chamber Pressure. How about his tongue? How is it configured and located? There’s no telling what it may be doing to contribute to the overall operational equation.

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Because man is involved in the calling equation it is imperative that he properly interface not only with the overall design of a call, but also interface with its operation if any degree of success is ever to be achieved. Ironically, it’s because of the very involvement of man that there can never be a “magic flute”. One’s calling habits can be just as ingrained as one’s speech mechanism idiosyncrasies. These speech mechanism idiosyncrasies have most likely developed over many years, even a lifetime. They are usually the result of genetic, cultural or regional influences. Trying to “break” old ingrained calling habits can be just as difficult as trying to “lose” a cultural brogue or regional accent.

Really top-notch calling has always been a much envied aspect of the sport of waterfowling. Good calling is readily recognizable by others out in the field and on the competitive calling circuit. It is indeed an admirable art to want to achieve. Without question it can add a tremendous amount of enjoyment to this sport we all love so dearly. Consequently, it’s no wonder so many guys are constantly searching for that “magic flute”.

If there is no “magic flute” then how and where does a guy turn when seeking to improve the calling aspect of the sport? A very good question!

A serious student needs three things if he really wants to progress to becoming a top-notch call operator. 1. He needs a functional and properly designed call. A call that will produce the many and varied sounds savvy waterfowlers have come to expect and demand. A call that has the needed stability and consistency that will allow him to reproduce the same sounds every time, given the same Chamber Pressure and Chamber Dimension. 2. He needs meaningful, proven and make-sense instruction. No student will ever be better than his instrument AND instruction will allow. And, the instruction must interface with the call’s design. 3. He needs to make the mental commitment to want to learn, and to do so with the understanding that he may have to “forget” all that he’s learned to date. In other words, break old habits! He needs to study, learn and then implement the instruction being taught.

Let’s examine the third requirement first, for without it the others have little meaning. Commitment to learn any subject will take the student a long way towards reaching the stated goal. Make no mistake about it, learning new calling habits is not easy! Unfortunately, the longer a student has been “blowing” a call the more habits he’s unconsciously ingrained. It’s not enough to simply say, “Okay, today I’m going to learn new habits”. Just as it would not be enough for the Scotsman to say he’ll no longer speak with that very identifiable Scottish accent.

It takes a great deal of honest and sincere commitment to approach the subject of calling and call operation with the same mindset as any student trying to learn any new subject. That’s precisely why young kids generally pick up meaningful instruction quicker than their older counterparts. Over the years I’ve formally taught call operation. I’ve seen many instances where young kids rapidly outpace their fathers as they both study and try to implement the same material. The youngsters are used to learning new subjects and their minds are open to receiving instruction because of their day-to-day exposure to the “teach and learn” cycle of schooling. Just as important, is their lack of bad calling habits from years of “blowing” on junk calls. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of their fathers!

Let’s now examine the second component we identified above: Meaningful Instruction. For well over 100 years the “norm” has been the “do like I do” or “make ‘er sound like this” method of instruction when it came to teaching one to operate a duck call. For this approach to be successful the student must have three very important things. 1. He must have an instrument that is capable of duplicating the sounds he hears. 2. He must be around some really good calling to try to duplicate. 3. He must have the natural talent to be able to mimic or duplicate the sounds he hears. I think most would agree that the chances of having all three of these necessary components are very slim.

Very few duck hunters are born with a wealth of musical talent. The number of really top-notch callers that are around is also few (just listen on any public marsh on opening day to further reinforce this fact). And, the chances of having a call that is capable of duplicating the sounds one hears is equally doubtful. This is often true even if he has the same brand of call as the so-called teacher.

Meaningful instruction when it comes to the duck call is rare. The most common forms are audio tapes, CD’s and video tapes. In these media forms the primary means of instruction still remains the host producing sounds and the student, once again, being left to do his best to duplicate or mimic the sounds he hears. The majority of the video library that exists today only further confuses the student by trying to entertain him with wondrous footage of hunting and shooting ducks. Great to watch and entertaining but somewhat limited in their ability to impart meaningful instruction in regards proper call operation.

The complicated world of Forward Pressure, Back Pressure and the Size of the Mouth Cavity and how they interface with Chamber Pressure and Chamber Dimension is not easily conveyed in an entertainment-like format. Understanding how the same Four Elements of the Speech Mechanism are used to both speak and operate a functional call can go a long way in turning on the preverbal light in a student’s mind. Understanding not only what “Ring” is, but also understanding what causes “Ring” to occur in a call can only further reinforce that sought after but often times elusive sound. No matter what the subject it can be said that knowledge is a wonderful thing...but only if passed along! It can likewise be said that stupidity is often terminal, while ignorance can be cured with knowledge.

The last component a student must have is a functional and properly designed call. Without such an instrument, once again, the other components become meaningless. A functional call is one that is capable of producing the sounds demanded by the instructional material the student chooses. Because of the lack of manufacturing standards not all calls are functional. With musical instruments there are certain worldwide standards that make a trumpet a trumpet, a tuba a tuba and a violin a violin regardless of where it’s manufactured. With duck calls there are no such standards and consequently they vary tremendously not only from brand to brand but often from call to call of the same brand. One will never learn to play any musical instrument if he’s practicing on an inferior instrument or even the wrong instrument altogether.

A properly designed call must not only be functional as just defined, but also be stable and consistent in its operational characteristics; from the high-end Ringing sounds down to the softest of sounds. For a call to be useful as a learning tool it must operate the same way each and every time the same operational controls are applied. Calls that are traditionally “all over the place” only cause the student hours of frustration as he tries and tries to produce sounds in a somewhat consistent manner. He’ll never be able to answer the age-old question, “Is it me or is it the call?”

No, there is no “magic flute”! There are many calls out in the marketplace and many will, on a given day, call a few ducks. But isn’t it odd that the better callers seem to get the majority of ducks, especially on those days when the ducks seem really stale and almost impossible to call. What isn’t odd is that a very select few have the necessary components of design, function, stability and consistency to be judged winners in world sanctioned calling events. While most average duck hunters could care less about calling contests it should be noted that just as in other sports serious competition brings about demands for the best in both equipment and performance. There’s no reason why the average duck hunter wanting to improve his calling should not be the beneficiary of these demands and advancements in both equipment and operational technique.

Once again, there isn’t a “magic flute”! My best advice is to seek out a proven call that has a proven track record. Seek out meaningful instruction that will allow you the chance to become as good as you possibly can, regardless of your God-given level of talent. Invest in instruction that will allow you to get out of your call all that was designed into it. And lastly, be prepared to make that all important personal commitment to want to become a top-notch call operator. Understand and accept the fact that whatever you have been doing in the past just hasn’t been getting the job done. For if it had, you’d not be searching for that mythical “magical flute”.