I'm not the best duck caller I'll admit it. I can't quite figure out why I'm so bad. I mean, what's so hard about it? You blow into a piece of wood and it makes a sound like a duck quacking. I've got a couple of decent calls (supposedly) and I've watched videos and listened to tapes on what I'm supposed to do and how it's supposed to sound. I think I sound like that. But the ducks say differently. There's a river that runs near my house, and a landing where several mallards like to hang out. When I've tried to call these ducks, they generally just swim away, and I swear they throw me a look that says, "pleasssseee....you're clearly not one of us." Then there are the black scoters that sit on a submerged log a few hundred feet from me. When I start calling, they typically fly at high speed in the opposite direction. I try to tell myself that my calls are just made for mallards and that the black scoter must have a completely different quack. At least I hope that's the case.

But this morning I have a new lease on my duck-calling life. Two mallards, a drake and hen, were flying high up-river. I spotted them and gave my best "greeting" call. At first they didn't flinch. I gave them one more quick hello and then stopped. Just when I was about to chuck the call into the river, they started to turn. I quickly got the call back up to my mouth and gave them another greeting. They kept coming. And they flew by. No, they didn't come in low and no, they didn't present with wings set, but hey they turned! That made it all worth it. Seeing as how I'm supposed to go duck hunting this weekend, it's nice to know that I'm not ruin the whole trip with my chortles.