Duck hunting is and equipment intensive sport.  This book will tell you what you need in the way of shotguns and shells, decoys, duck calls, blinds, boats, clothing, accessories and even hunting dogs.  Then, it will thoroughly explain how to put this equipment to the best use.

The highlight of this book is the section on duck hunting techniques.  Unlike any other duck hunting book available, this one shows you exactly what to do in a wide variety of specific situations, from hunting puddle ducks on potholes to divers on big water.  It explains how to set your decoys and place your blind according the the wind and what guns and ammunition to use.  It also gives you some technique and equipment oriented tips that are sure to make your hunt more enjoyable and successful.

As long as we have an abundance of water and good nesting cover, duck populations should continue to flourish.  It doesn’t matter if you are a newcomer anxious to enjoy some exciting wing shooting, a veteran waterfowler who gave up the sport or a die hard who stuck with it, this book is designed to be used as your guide to the new world of duck hunting.

The Complete Hunter Duck Hunting

Guide-Tested Techniques for Taking All of the Important North American Duck Species

The history and evolution of the American duck call is a culmination of over twenty years of collecting and research on the subject.  Duck Calls-An Enduring American Folk Art presents photographs and advertisements on a scale never before undertaken of calls and their makers from past and present.  This book presents  this craft as a true American Folk Art form.

No one knows exactly who invented the first duck call or when and where it was constructed. Howard Harlan and W. Crew Anderson, coauthors of Duck Calls: An Enduring American Folk Art, discovered what may be the first evidence of their existence in an 1854 Nathaniel Currier art print, in which a dapper sportsman is depicted with a primitive tongue-pincher-style call tucked in his breast pocket. In 1863, Fred Allen of Monmouth, Illinois, is believed to have fashioned the first modern-appearing duck call, consisting of a barrel, stopper, and internal reed assembly. A few decades later, another early master, Victor Glodo, developed a more effective design, which he put to good use as a market hunter on Tennessee’s Reelfoot Lake. Over time, many individuals experimented with and improved upon these early prototypes. Another major innovation occurred in 1957, when Texans Jim Fernandez and George Yentzen patented the first double-reed duck call.

The evolution of the modern duck call continues today, as call making has grown into a multimillion-dollar industry. While many call makers now mass produce their wares in state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, others continue to painstakingly fashion calls by hand, upholding the grand traditions of their craft. Visit your local sporting goods retailer and you are likely to find a plethora of duck calls made of almost every conceivable material, from traditional woods to space-age acrylics.

The Arkansas Duck Hunter’s Almanac is the ultimate book on mid-south duck hunting, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. The Arkansas Duck Hunter’s Almanac has received rave reviews since it was first published in soft cover in 1998. Few books have so well-described and preserved the past while bringing the reader abreast of what is happening today, said Guns and Gear magazine.

There is enough information in the Arkansas Duck Hunter’s Almanac to keep any duck hunter entertained for weeks. In addition to hundreds of anecdotes, tips and profiles of hunters, the book gives detailed information on public waterfowling areas in Arkansas.

The hardcover version of the Arkansas Duck Hunter’s Almanac, published in 2000, includes an extra 16-page section of old photographs not contained in the original soft cover book. The Arkansas Duck Hunter’s Almanac was written by Steve Bowman and Steve Wright and published by Ozark Delta Press.

Few possessions are as highly prized by duck hunters as their favorite calls.  Skillfully crafted and highly individualized calls enable the hunter to attract waterfowl by mimicking their sounds.  In recent years, the appreciation for duck calls and the art of duck call making has increased notably among waterfowl enthusiasts.  As collecting has grown in popularity, a fascination with the history and craftsmanship of duck calls has emerged.

In this lavishly illustrated book, The Duck Calls of Illinois 1863-1963, collector and enthusiast Robert D. Christensen recounts the history of duck call making and provides a practical guide for collectors of this uniquely American folk art.  Featuring famous makers and introducing many lesser known craftsmen, he shows how Illinois artisans dominated the early market and continued to influence the design and refinement of the modern duck call.  The book spans one hundred years of call making from 1863 to 1963, detailing the development and evolution of call design and focusing on the work of Illinoisans, whose contributions in the “golden age” of hand-crafted duck calls have remained unparalleled.  Christensen offers useful advice on collecting duck calls, including information on finding antiques, evaluating calls of unknown origin, assessing value and identifying counterfeit calls.

Christensen provides essential data on over one hundred call makers of Illinois, long recognized as a vital and active hub for the craftsmanship of calls, and includes over five hundred photographs and illustrations that facilitate identification of the calls.  Covered in the catalog of call makers are such historically significant and skilled crafters as Fred A. Allen, credited with having made the first modern duck call; Charles W. Grubbs, maker of the first commercial modern wooden duck call; Charles H. Perdew, Illinois’s most revered call maker, the Glodo family of Southern Illinois fame; Plilip Olt, founder of the world’s largest call company; Charles Ditto, nationally renowed waterfowler and sportsman and Bill Clifford, call maker of the most intricately designed and crafted laminated duck calls.

An invaluable reference book and collector’s guide, this volume is a unique accessory to waterfowling for enthusiasts and a must for collectors.

Robert D. Christensen, and avid call collector, became involved with collecting contemporary calls in the 1070’s as a result of his search for the perfect hunting call.  Gradually he became interested in antique calls, particularly those from Illinois, long recognized for its calls.  His continuing interest led him to write Duck Calls of Illinois, 1863-1963, for which he interviewed call makers and their descendants, old hunters and historians.

In 1987 Christensen was elected the first vice-president of the newly founded Callmakers and Collectors Association of America.  A number of his articles on duck calls have appeared in the association’s new letter.  As a recognized authority in the field of call collecting, he is frequently asked to authenticate and to appraise calls for other collectors.

A lifetime resident of Illinois, Christensen has hunted ducks and geese throughout the state for almost thirty years.  He has called ducks and geese on the Illinois River, on the Mississippi River, in the Southern Illinois goose country and amid the lakes and potholes of Northern Illinois.  Since 1966 he has made his living as a high school vocational education teacher in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, where he lives with his family.

Duck calls of Illinois 1863-1963

The Art of American Game Calls is a book about a unique American art form, the game call.  Calls are most familiar to duck, goose and turkey hunters.  However, many other types of calls exist and one has been made for nearly every type of sporting hunt as well as for the hunting of most prey animals.  A few other books have been written on calls and the books by Harlan are superb.  Dr. Russell E. Lewis authored Collecting Antique Bird Decoys and Duck Calls, 3^rd Edition and it has extensive coverage (two chapters) of all types of calls.  Yet very little has been written on this subject and few know the value of a good call.  Dr. Lewis has used calls for duck, squirrel and turkey hunting.  He grew up in an extended family that hunted, trapped and fished and used every possible means at gaining their objective at hand, including the use of calls.  As a collector he became interested in the beauty of calls and started keeping a few.  The next thing he knew, he had well over a hundred of them and the calls became a new collection to go with his decoys and fishing lures.

As a former archaeologist and current author on antiques, the next step was to do research on the making and collecting of calls and write a book.  His publisher, Billy Schroeder asked him to do this book with large views of calls to show their intrinsic beauty and tell you a bit about them.  The book is not meant as much a reference as a photographic record of about 300 calls shown in detail.

Dr. Russell E. Lewis enlisted the assistance of Mr. Joe Jaroski who has been making calls since 1945.  Joe has made hundreds of calls and knows or knew most of the major call makers in America, especially along the Illinois River, parts of the Ohio River and Mississippi River hunting areas.

The Art of American Game Calls Identification & values guide

Calling game of all kinds: ducks, geese, turkeys and even big game and large predators is an essential part of the hunt today, whether the hunter’s instrument is a gun, camera or binoculars.  As a result, an amazing array of commercial game calls is available.  Outdoor sporting goods retailers often carry several brands of game calls, mass produced by the tens of thousands.  While major corporations develop some calls, most commercial game calls are adapted from the experimental efforts of custom call makers.

Working alone or with associates, custom call makers have made major contributions to the development and perfection of game calls.  This book includes tips and information from some of the top call makers.  The wisdom, knowledge and practice of these “masters of the craft” are intended to encourage further advancement in this “enduring American folk art”, as Howard L. Harlan and W. Crew Anderson so aptly put in the title of their excellent book on collecting duck calls.

Turning Custom Duck and Game Calls, the complete guide for craftsmen, collectors and outdoorsmen is possibly the first book devoted exclusively to the art and science of turning custom game calls.  While this is not intended as a how to project book with hard and fast patterns, that element is certainly included.  The primary intention is to suggest, inspire and promote innovation and development of the art of custom call making.

The authors have made every effort to gather all of the latest information, methods, materials and techniques currently available on the subject.  While you will find specific instruction on one or more ways to accomplish a particular part of the process, you are encouraged to modify the methods shown in this book in order to suit your own style, skill and taste.  There are many ways to the same –or better-end, some of which may be instantly apparent to you.  Other methods may occur to you as you develop your own manner of work.  This book is to encourage you to become an artist, not a mechanic.

Whether you are a woodworker, hunter, nature lover, collector, folk art enthusiast or simply curious, you will find the contents of this book interesting and informative.  Ultimately this book contributes to the endurance of the art and science of game call making.  Hopefully the readers will come to appreciate the skill and craftsmanship of a custom game call maker.

Turning Custom Duck & Game Calls, the complete guide for craftsmen, collectors and outdoorsman

Authors:  Ed Glenn & Greg Keats