For years I have hunted with many men who call prior to legal and hunted around many who call prior to legal. When I am calling the shot, we don't do it.

I will kick water a ton before daylight but every time I call prior to daylight, the ducks end up landing in the decoys and by the time it is legal, the have either gotten up or they have drifted off too far for a good shot.

In fact, I don't even call until I see how they are going to react. A call may not be needed. More often than not in the last five years, ducks have come into range or come into the decoys without the use of a duck call at the start of legal hours. I believe, ducks are so much more educated than they were 10 or 15 years ago. Blowing a duck call early in the day is much like a politician who tries to campaign in church. If he's not careful, he will say too much and ruin his chances.

I used to get upset when others hunting around me would starting yacking on their confounded duck calls well before legal. Now I know it means more than likely, the ducks will land near me and not them if I have scouted effectively and I am set up right.

Calling before daylight is unnecessary. Sometimes a few minutes prior to legal I might peep on the teal whistle, just gettin ready I guess.

I am working with a young dog but she seems to be bird aware. I love watching a seasoned lab's ears perk up when they hear ducks overheard before legal. That alone is worth all the pairs of shoes and furniture they ruin as puppies.

I love that first cup of coffee in the woods right after everything is set and your are checking that watch every two minutes.

Even better than than that is hearing the Cheeee----Cheeee--Cheeee-Cheee of ducks hitting the water near your decoys. Then the old ticker starts pounding. May it always to that.

Here's to full straps and muddy dogs all season.

I do it sometimes. I've heard many of ducks calling early, I try to mimic them.

i use to get mad when i would be waiting for legal time and about 5 till i hear guns going off.... but where im at, there is alot of puddle jumping ducks so that is stirring them up off the waters right before time. So i wait till about 5 till and the guns start blazing, and i start blowing some warm air through my calls, i learned they can sounds totally different. right at legal, i call just for about 30 seconds and here they come. its like clock work. but thats just me. this year i think im going to tweat some on a teal whistle on my way to the blind and see if that helps at all. If it starts calling in birds before time, i will quit because i dont shoot birds that are on the water, again, just me, so i might play around and try different things this year.

Maxed I hear folks calling as soon as they get the decoys out non-stop for 10 minutes or more. It sounds to me like you have adapted to the the situation around you. You can bet sooner or later, those shooting before legal will get popped for it. It is only a matter of time when they are in the right place at the right time.

I always check my calls before daylight, just to make sure they don't need any last minute adjustments.

When I am hunting spots that I don't hunt often I will sometimes try to get a jump start on seeing how the birds want to work or seeing how they react to a call. Sometimes I can learn something before legal shooting light that will help us get a head start. Like we need to move the decoys, we need to stand on the other side of the deeks, or they are call shy today.

You guys are overthinking it. The ducks that come in before legal shooting light are prolly not gonna end up on the strap anyway, so why not take the time to learn something from them. The birds that come in 10 minutes later will prolly react to your set up like their early riser friends.

All that being said, most places I hunt I already know how the ducks are going to react, so I get the decoys out and sit back to drink some hot chocolate while ducks are splashing in the decoys.

I call before leagal just to warm up the calls and maybe get the ducks attention right before shooting time get's there. During teal season I don't call hardly at all.

The reason I don't call any more is due to trial and error. I will tell you more often than not, I do kill ducks that come in and land in the decoys prior to legal if I keep the call in the pocket. When I call prior to legal, they do usually come in and land too early for sure. If I do not call before legal, I can usually be still long enough so that they hold and I have time to yell them up when it is legal to shoot.

I appreciate your insight on over thinking it but whether I am hunting ducks or deer, more than half of the fun to me is trying to outsmart the animal----to cut them off if you will.

I am sure there is no right or wrong answer here. I just like to compare notes with other hunters. I think everyone has little idiosyncrasies they hold to. Growing up, we were taught to NEVER shoot wood ducks prior to about 10:00AM. We were taught if you left them alone, the mallards would follow. I don't always hold to that anymore. If I am in the flooded timber, I usually do.

We don't get wood ducks on our lease.

so we shoot at what ever is dumb enough to come in.

I call for about 20 minutes before legal so the other hunters know how good of a caller I am.

That's exactly right!

What the point of calling in the dark? If they fly in, I still can't shoot them.

The only thing I might do is make sure the calls aren't clogged.

I always call before LST.....








My buddy is always late so I got to call to wake him up!!!!!!!!

Nobody else does the Star Bangled Banner? Thought it was mandatory under section IV in the Waterfowl Handbook.

I always do the Star Spangled Banner before daylight, theme songe to Bonanza around 9:30 and finish the hunt with the theme to Looney Toons.

Look, I know that calling before LST is not everyone's cup of tea- but I hunt only public land and I sure as heck ain't the only one out there on a weekend morning. I have seen by experience that I can call a few ducks in to land early before LST. If you stay outta sight they won't leave- sometimes they do, but most times if I stay outta sight and stay quiet they will swim around awhile. The more public land ducks I can get to visit the spread at first light- the better chance I have that I didn't lug all that gear out there to come home empty handed. If I am out on a weekday, different story... I stay quiet and let the Lucky Duck do it's Magic... but if I hear whistling wings in the dark, most times I call a little and listen to them splash in. Then all I have to do is wait for my cell phone alarm to tell me it's time for fun!

X2! Too much calling could be a bad thing...

I warm my calls up the night before. However, right before LST (like 2 mins), I'll do a couple of quacks to ensure everything is in working order, so when the action starts...I know everything is working.

Same here. I just plop my butt by the near by mesquite tree and wait.

i call very prior to legal time of shooting. i will only use my pintail whistle and throw in a little bit of a feed call

I begin calling as soon as I get out of the truck and I don't stop until I am back in the truck.

Cable don't give away all our secrets! Don't say ANYTHING about your Mallard Madness CD and the camo jambox.

My bad, I was just trying to help our fellow waterfowlers become better duck hunters. I love the camo jukebox. Definition of a meat call.

^^^that guy looks like he just walked a mile with food poisoning and the trots!