Duck Calling Basics: The Grunt

Grunting into a duck call is one of the hardest things I have ever tried to master. It takes a completely different mind-set than just forcing air from your diaphragm to the call. I was always jealous that my brother (who is three years younger than me) could blow any duck call he put his hands on because he could grunt. I was obligated to using an Olt 66 metal reed call. While it sounded decent, I was very limited in the sounds I could make.

Mastering grunt duck calling will open a ton of doors for you. Once you do this, you will notice a lot more control in your calling. It accentuates the diaphragm blowing mentioned in my previous post and gives you more range in your calling. This is not to say that you can't blow a duck call without learning grunt blowing. My father cannot grunt blow and sounds great on his Olt 33 (which is an amazing call, by the way)...it simply makes you a more versatile duck caller.

The easiest way I can put into words how to learn this skill is by practicing basically what was covered in the previous blog, only saying gweeet (like sweet, but with a g and drawn out) into the call. Focus on making this sound very guttural. You want it to be low and forceful, but not to the point that it hurts your throat.

If you want to force yourself to learn this method of duck calling, go to Gander Mountain and buy the Mallard Magic Double Reed (blue). In my opinion, this is one of the sweetest sounding double reed duck calls for the money. The point of buying this call, however, is that if you stick with it, you will have to learn the grunt call to make this call sound good. If you don't grunt into this call, the sounds you produce will be very hollow and too high pitched.

Give this a shot and don't get discouraged...you're going to sound bad for a while. I know I did. But then one night while sitting on my in laws couch, I finally got it...and boy, did they wish I didn't. It was nonstop duck calling for the rest of the day!

Good luck and good hunting!