A Pro Grade Duck Call Think of the definition of “Major League” in its most simplistic terms. It essentially means a league of significant importance. It is an activity where those involved are set apart from others because they excel in their abilities. A participant must have distinguishing factors of extraordinary skills and talent that make them the cream of the crop or the best of the best. An esteemed individual does not simply become distinguished by coincidence; they have practiced and trained to achieve unparalleled excellence in what they do. Their advanced skills make critical tasks possible when a decisive moment arises. Steven Jackson is unique in that he is a major leaguer in both baseball and duck hunting. He can pitch a baseball and blow a duck call with the very best. A native to South Carolina, Steven was born in Eutawville and raised in Summerville, where he developed his passion for baseball. He later played four years of baseball at Clemson University and became a top pitcher for their team. His fastball pitches reached in to the mid 90 mph range which was quickly noticed by major league baseball teams. This talent led to Steven being drafted in 2004 and then making it into the big leagues in 2009. Remarkably, Steven continues to make a career of baseball which is no small feat after numerous seasons and the rigorous physical demands that come with competing at the top. Steven is a power pitching professional baseball player which is remarkable unto itself. Just as remarkable is that he is also superb duck hunter. It only takes one conversation with him to see the intense passion that he has for duck hunting, and it is not just any duck hunting. It is hunting ducks in the flooded timber of Bayou Meto that excites Steven the most. In Bayou Meto, the hunting competition is intense and often starts out with a boat race since the Wildlife Management Area only permits entry at a certain time. Bayou Meto is closed from 1 p.m. to 4 a.m. allowing morning waterfowl hunting only. This provides rest to the resource, but this limited hunting time can leave hunters scrambling to get to a hunting location to get set up and to hunt before regulations require hunters to be back at the boat launch. Imagine lining up with 40 other boats that each have Q‐Beams flashing blinding light into the ink black darkness. At the allowable time, everyone takes off in full throttle to race down a narrow ditch that turns into a winding lane through the trees and leads you through the flooded timber. Everyone is dodging both boats and trees in their scramble to get to the best hunting location. One year, when hunting Bayou Meto, there were three boats in an all out race to get to the best hole. Two of the boats were side by side, with the third boat right behind and its bow dangerously close to each of the lead boats’ motors. The third boat was focusing more on the leading boats and not paying enough attention to any upcoming obstacles. Each of the lead boats approached a tree in the middle of the tight lane and each peeled to their respective side of the tree. When the lead boats detoured around the tree the third boat inevitably t‐
boned the tree and came to a crashing halt. This further created complications since the boat was now an obstacle to the many other boats that were all trying to catch the leaders and get to a good timber hole. The unexpected impediment created a multi‐boat pile up in the early hours of the night. All that could be heard was the crunch of metal and then the yells of frustration over ruined boats and ruined hunts. This illustrates why many of the boats used in hunting flooded timber are dented relics and is a reminder that hunting flooded timber is like no other duck hunt. Luckily there was no bodily harm to the many involved. Thankfully, we slipped on by to have a fabulous morning hunt, and the excitement of the morning’s intense encounter added to the day’s stories that were told of the many ducks that filtered down through the timber. The aforementioned story is not to say that you have to involve yourself in dangerous situations to enjoy hunting flooded timber, but it does highlight the extremes hunters will go through to attempt to be most successful. Timber hunting requires one to know which areas the ducks are using. Even if there are an excess of birds in an area, ducks are going to have a preference to a general area within a unit of flooded timber that could cover several square miles. Once you find the most worthwhile hunting area, you then need to find a hole within the timber that conveniently allows the ducks to get down through the tree limbs. Such a hole could be an old logging deck, or perhaps where a tree fell over leaving an opening. The opening does not have to be overly large, as a duck will nearly backpedal to get down through the branches of the timber. Wind direction and the approach the ducks can make into one hole versus another hole that is relatively close by will factor into which location is best to hunt. A hunter can enjoy good timber hunting success without going to extreme efforts. The better hunter can set themselves up for more memorable hunting that other hunters, who do not put forth the time and effort, only hear about. Imagine setting off in a boat on a three mile trip through a flooded timber forest where everything begins to look the same. There is a limited amount of time to get to a hole and set up before shooting time. All the while you must have a plan and be prepared with an alternate plan in the event a hunter beats you to your preferred hunting spot. Further, imagine standing in knee deep water looking up through a hole in the timber where 200 hundred Mallards come streaming through the tree branches. All you would hear is a loud whistling of wings and the splashing of water as the birds land all around you. The experience is mesmerizing. Then, when someone calls the shot, the birds are just yards away and it is very possible to triple on the volley as the ducks attempt to flush and find a way back out of the timber. To understand why such incredible hunting encounters occur, you have to realize that ducks will have a preference for where to go and they will follow other ducks to feed. If you can position yourself in the place that the birds want to be then the hunting can best be described as phenomenal. I have witnessed full limits in a matter of minutes and was able to then just stand there and call ducks for the pure enjoyment while hundreds of ducks poured into the hole just mere feet away. A hunter typically has to be very knowledgeable about what they are doing and has to put forth more effort than others to make such hunting a reality. Steven Jackson knows the ins and outs of where to go and what to do when timber hunting. However, Steven most attributes success to the sounds produced when blowing a duck call and the calling techniques that are unique to hunting flooded timber. The reason for this is that flying ducks will key in to sound, rather than sight since the timber makes it difficult for them to spot other ducks. An alluring duck call can better assist in getting birds to commit. The importance of sound and technique is further heightened when oftentimes surrounded by other nearby hunters. The ducks will naturally key in on the callers that have the most attractive sound. Calling in timber is a style and technique that is like no other. It is intensely loud calling that can best be described as commanding the ducks in. When I first heard this style of calling I was hunting with Johnny Mahfouz, who is a Champion of Champions among competition duck callers and someone who knows all there is to know about Bayou Meto. The sound of his feed call could be best attributed to the methodic and intense sound of a machine gun. It was an incredibly loud and rhythmic “tat‐tat‐tat,” and this feed call sequence was much longer than what one is accustomed to. Typically, the ducks go to the timber to gorge themselves on the abundance of acorns. This loud feed call made it sound like there were a thousand ducks sitting on the water and feeding on the most acorn rich spot in the timber. The loudness of the calls is not like the screaming sounds made in competition calling. While being equally as loud, they are much more hoarse, guttural, and raspy. This sound effectively serves to reverberate off the water and trees to make it sound like a large caucus of ducks. The original Olt D‐2 duck call is one that generations of hunters have used with much hunting success. It had a large barrel, a long tone board, and a reed unique only to this call. This achieved the ducky sound that made the call so famous. Hunters learned to further modify or “cut down” both the barrel and tone board to allow additional air through the call, and to obtain an incredibly loud and raspy sound. Most duck hunters do not even have the air capacity to achieve the ideal sound from one of the modified calls. It is not unheard of for a caller to be red in the face and gasping for air when operating one. Over the years, Steven has collected several D‐2’s that he himself has modified. Steven and other hunters treat these old cut down calls with reverence because of their impact on ducks and because the calls are now hard to find. The results from the sound of a modified cut down call
Big Lake Outdoor Products aspired to develop a call to fit the sound requirements for the hunters that used the modified cut down calls. The original D‐2’s continually became harder to find, and if one was able to get their hands on a D‐2, then the modification process could easily turn a rare call into a piece of junk if a minor mistake was made on the tone board. Big Lake’s intent was to provide an out of the box solution so that the call would not have to be modified. So, when Big Lake set out to develop a version of a cut down timber call, we thought about what the existing market was as well as how to make them. Big Lake wanted to create something that had not only the sound qualities of a modified call, but one that was unique unto Big Lake and differentiated in all aspects from modified or cut down style calls that exist today. This included configuring a unique reed, tone board, and call design setup. Older cut down calls achieve their sound mostly by a call structure that allows ample air flow as well as a reed that can withstand significant air pressure while still producing a good sound. This concept is the exact same with a competition call. Competition calls have a much larger exhaust hole on the end of the insert. The larger the exhaust hole makes it easier to force more air through the call. Competition calls are single reeds that produce extremely loud ringing sounds and are therefore not ideal for hunting. With that thought in mind, Big Lake considered which calls produce the duckiest sounds and that is typically a double reed. This led to a concept of blending a competition call frame, to get a high sound volume, with a double reed that can give the call a raspier and ducky sound. Using just standard plastic reeds would not suffice, so after much trial and error we developed a metal reed that produced the sound we sought after. The end result was a metal reed with a smaller plastic reed for a double reed call that was extremely loud but that sounded quite ideal. The D2T2 Pro Grade Double Reed became the Big Lake version of a modified or cut down timber call. Steven Jackson reveres his modified Olt’s as much as someone holding a winning million dollar lottery ticket. The best sounding duck call can determine whether the birds commit or not. For that reason, flooded timber callers have an intense allegiance for the call they choose. Knowing this, Big Lake had to make sure the D2T2 was exceptional. Steven started using Big Lake calls quite awhile ago and this is what he had to say after recently starting to use the D2T2: “I have been blowing the call and have been really impressed. It has a really unique sound. As it compares to my cut down Olt, it is a little raspier than mine. I think the sound is in between what a normal acrylic call sounds like and a cut down Olt. It has a very good duck sound. The call also takes a little less air to blow but you still get good volume out of it. This is good because, for a lot of hunters, the required air volume is the big drawback of the cut down call. It is very hard for somebody to learn to blow a cut down call if they have only blown traditional calls because it takes a totally different type of air to blow it. That is why I am glad dad started me out blowing the cut down from the start. I never had to retrain myself. I believe volume is really important when you are shooting in the timber. That's one reason I believe the cut down Olt is effective. It is very loud but it still keeps its duck sound. The D2T2 is the same way. You can blow it very aggressively and still keep a good duck sound. I think a lot of calls will allow you to get loud, but you lose the duck sound the more the volume increases. The D2T2 will also allow you to get soft when it is needed.” Steven further comments on flooded timber hunting strategy: “I believe volume is important because you want to call ducks to you and also sound like a big group of ducks. When ducks come to the timber they aren't going to one certain spot. As in most duck hunting situations, you have to be on the X and just kind of coax them in because that is exactly where they want to be. When shooting in the timber most people get caught up in being in a certain hole. The ducks aren't going to a certain hole, they are coming to the woods and looking for other ducks. So, if you just get in the area they are using and can sound like a bunch of ducks, the birds will come to you. It is not about what hole you are in, but about calling them to you. We have shot ducks plenty of times without even being in a hole. I believe if I can get in the area the ducks are using, I am going to be able to call them to me. Calling is the key to consistently shooting ducks in the timber. If you can have multiple callers that know how to blow, you are going to be able to shoot ducks. I have, on multiple occasions, called in big groups of mallards with no decoys. That just proves that ducks are responding to the sound, and that is what they are honing in on. I think most of the time they probably don’t even see the decoys.” Here Steven speaks to calling techniques: “When I blow, I think about saying the word "back". Everything is based off of that single quack. It's about putting seven to eight quacks together and being able to do it quickly. You can then emphasize every third quack to sound like multiple ducks. One of the most effective calling techniques in the timber is the rolling chuckle. When I have birds working, and they are anywhere close, I am staying totally with the rolling chuckle. As long as the birds are circling tight, I will just keep up the rolling chuckle till they are on the water. I will never quack while the birds are close, or especially when they are right over top of me. This makes it is very easy for them to realize that I am not a real duck so using the rolling chuckle allows you to keep the ducks locked in on you. I think this really separates a lot of people when it comes to shooting ducks in the timber.” A Log Full of Ducks can be the Result of Great Calling
Big Lake has been exceptionally pleased that hunters using the D2T2 Pro Grade Double Reed have found versatility in many uses for the call. It is not a one use call. Most cut down calls take so much air that it is difficult to obtain quality variances in sound, and most callers regard these calls as just being useful in the flooded timber. The D2T2 enables a caller to range from a very loud volume to very soft calling for when birds are working close. This makes the call not just useful in timber but also for other situations, such as hunting over open water lakes. One such situation was an open water hunt where the fog was incredibly thick. The birds keyed into loud calling as they tried to locate the other ducks and find where to land. Once they broke the fog and could see, the D2T2 allowed a change to very soft calling. Applying variance to the D2T2 sound volume worked incredibly well. The results on the Mallards, Pintails, Widgeon, and Gadwall were incredible. Another hunter bought a D2T2 for hunting the large sounds of the Outer Banks, where a call is needed to reach out to ducks that are a considerable distance away. It became this hunter’s go to call, so much so that he took the call to field hunt in Canada only to have their guide wanting a D2T2 by the hunt’s end. For a third hunter, that hunts public timber in Arkansas every day, the D2T2 became his call of choice. With the amount time spent hunting this devoted hunter knows what call is needed and what sound the ducks best respond to. So, whether hunting open lakes, rivers, marshes, fields or the timber, the D2T2 offers the ability to range from both Foggy, open water use of the D2T2 soft and loud while incorporating that signature “cut down” tone. Duck hunting is mostly about encountering memorable moments afield. Flooded timber can be one of the most enjoyable duck hunting experiences. Other memorable hunts include big water where the wave of the migration can best be viewed, the hunts where a kid is wide eyed with beginner’s excitement or when the dog makes another epic retrieve after everything came together just perfectly. All of those situations are about placing yourself in a probable location. Equipment and the skill of using that equipment take over from that point forward, to assist in determining incremental results with whatever opportunities are presented. The standard may suffice, but do legends and pros that are notable in whatever they do rely on just the standard? Not so much. They exceed the typical. This is where the D2T2 Pro Grade Double Reed comes into play. It is a duck call that requires practice. That practice can lead to expertise. This can then lead to experiences in the field that may just put you in a situation where you are the one that gets to share the story of the flock of several hundred birds that sat down in the decoys, or, where limits were tough but your calling allowed you to be the admired hunting party back at the boat landing. Does the equipment on your lanyard simply suffice for your valuable time in the field, or could Big Lake duck calls be an added aspect of significance for your hunt?