Sure-Shot Yentzen
The Yentzen’s double-reed design, the first in the industry, was ahead of its time in the 1950s and is still a leader in the market. It’s easy to adjust and offers a true duck sound and dependable performance. Styled in black walnut and tuned by hunters for hunters,the Yentzen is a classic and carries a lifetime guarantee. And at $50, it’s a bargain. www.sureshotgamecalls.com
Haydel’s Flamin’ Bois d’ Arch Cajun Squeal Mallard
The new Flamin’ Bois d’ Arch Cajun Squeal Mallard features the classic double-reed “Cajun Squeal” parts in a beautiful Bois d’ arch (hedge) body. It features the Haydel’s double O-ring seal and is truly a call to pass down from generation to generation. $85; www.haydels.com
Banded Angry Bird
Banded is a startup company that launched in 2012, and its line of duck calls deserves a look. The Angry Bird call has Arkansas-style guts and a double-reed design, featuring the foolproof raspiness and nastiness of a double-reed and the free operation and exceptional range of a single-reed. Banded says “she barks, she growls, she’s ‘bad,’ and she does it with medium volume. She may run ’em off, but they darn well won’t ignore her.” $140; www.banded.com
Foiles Strait Timber
The "Ultimate" in soft mallard calls, note this new style double O-ring call's diminutive size. It's a perfect concealed weapon to keep in a pocket for days when you need that unbelievably subtle sound to reach out and touch something that's about to end up in a marinade. You pick the color for the barrel and insert from a vast array of choices (shown: cocobolo and smoke). $129-$139; www.foilesstraitmeat.com
Flambeau Sweet Cherry
A favorite of the Flambeau team, the Sweet Cherry is a great little timber call. It’s subtle but raspy, great for any type of close-in calling. Made of cherry wood with a brass insert to hold the tone channel and wedge and prevent splitting, the Sweet Cherry is an easy-to-run double-reed that produces a mellow sound with very little air. $31; www.flambeauoutdoors.com
RNT DC Diablo
Through RNT’s new insert back-boring process, the company’s taken the signature deep raspy sound of the original Daisy Cutters and mixed it with a touch of soft whiney back pressure that’s often associated with finishing-type calls. The result? A medium-volume, deep, raspy, feather-slinging little silver-tongued devil that can be used in virtually any hunting environment from open water to timber. This is a single-reed call with an O-ring insert. For a few extra bucks you can have it monogrammed and personalized. (Shown: black cherry acrylic.) $139; www.rntcalls.com
Down N Dirty Chaos
From the potholes of North Dakota to the flooded corn of Southern Illinois to the back water of Western Kentucky, the Down N Dirty Chaos call has racked up an unbelievable body count since being developed two years ago. It’s squeally, nasty and ducky. (Shown: black/clear.) $112; www.downndirtyoutdoors.com
Flextone Guide Series Double Reed Mallard
Flextone describes this as a “raspy, nasty, smooth, soft, loud, mean, easy, acorn-in-the-throat, rice-field suzie.” What more do you want? The soft Flextone exhaust bell mimics the soft tissue of a duck’s neck and tongue, taking the ring and ping out of a duck call and giving it a natural sound. The hard polycarb barrel gives this call plenty of volume. $25; www.flextonegamecalls.com
Toxic Duck Call
Not exactly your grandpa’s duck call company, Toxic is making a name for itself as the next generation in hard-core custom calls. You pick the barrel color, the insert color and the reed style (single, double or even triple) and Toxic puts together a flat-out deadly, nasty, no-holds-barred call that’ll roll from open water hails to timber clucks and everything in between. With the skull and crossbones engraving and bold color choices, there’s no mistaking a Toxic call for anything you’ve seen before. $85; www.toxiccalls.com
Duck Commander Mach3
The Duck Men have made quite a name for themselves, but fame hasn’t stopped them from making great duck calls. The Mach3, like all Duck Commander calls, is built by serious Waterfowlers for hard-core duck hunters. Each call is hand-assembled and hand-tuned to ensure quality and consistency. Precision-made of acrylic, the Mach3 features a patent-pending triple-reed system that duplicates the voice of a hen mallard. It’s a pure sound with an extra kick, and the system is easy to clean, tune and operate. $130; www.duckcommander.com
Zink ATM Green Machine
The new Green Machine double-reed features smooth mallard sounds with greater volume than previous Zink calls, and a radically improved bottom-end feeding chuckle. The Z-CUT no-stick tone channel permits a huge range of tones while virtually eliminating the irritating reed-lock common with lesser calls. (Shown: orange marbleade.) $140; www.zinkcalls.com
Wac Em Calls Meat-N-Gravy
Wac Em Calls are cut off a custom jig and hand-tuned. They’re turned out of polished acrylics, any type of wood, laminated wood, and PVC. Wac Em will also custom-tune any call to your preference; just ask. For the Meat-N-Gravy call, Wac Em took an Arkansas-style call and “Cajunized” it! Nothing but duck from top to bottom, this call was designed by hunters in north Louisiana and south Arkansas who have the tough job of fooling call-weary birds that have heard it all on their way down south. $60; www.wacemgamecalls.com
