It all started 8 days ago, a leisurely trip to Cabelas Waterfowl Event. Walking up, there wasn't much commotion but soon it would all start. Here comes the high-balling and rolling feed chuckles of the competition caller. What a craft! Those guys can hit notes only the "fat lady" would be proud of. After watching and listening, it was time to wander inside. Decoys, calls, and new mouse traps everywhere. There were tables of every waterfowl name out there. I walked by the Zink Calls table and heard the sweet sounds of many Canada Geese. Here's a guy behind the table blowing a NBN Naughty by Nature call, it can't be 4 inches long. He was hootin' and hollerin' like he knew what he was doing. Was enough to make me stop and listen. He coaxed me over and I picked it up, cautious of all the people around, the NBN made it's way back into the box. About 15 steps later, the wheels were spinnin' and I had to turn around. Back I go, picked it up again and cautiously whispered into the call. Not sure what I was hoping for but I couldn't even make the damn thing snap. A few steps later, "The Fowl Life" table caught my eye. The Fowl Life is a show on the Sportsman Channel that is a great way to bust out an hour of TV. I watched another caller gently caressing a wooden deep sounding goose call. Could this be the one? It sounded great, then from the corner of my eye I see Chad Belding, star of The Fowl Life putting on a lanyard full of calls. When he started blowing he put the other guys to shame.
As Chad was calling people were starting to gather, he stopped, shook some hands and answered some questions. A guy walked up to him and asked him what he "speaks" or "says" into a call. Whoa, you would've thought the ole boy just killed his favorite hunting dog. "I never teach people to say anything into a call." Here comes the most enlightening thing I've ever heard. Chad begins talking about geese and understanding how they make the sounds. How geese have two nostrils and the sounds are produced from the air coming out and how you have to imagine that your left hand is the left nostril and and your right hand is the right nostril and you have to move and control the sounds with that in mind. Then he started blowing again, WOW! He uses Banded Calls and the one he was blowing was 3 and 3/4 inches long, or something crazy like that. With him in control, you could stand there all day. He is a down-to-earth guy who is "living the dream." Willing to talk to people and answer questions. The fact that he was even there at Cabelas in Nebraska was amazing to me.
I just got down a "fat boy", and by that I mean I'm competent in making it sound somewhat like a goose. And now these jackers are blowing calls less that 4 inches long. Whose got this figured out? The ever changing world of waterfowl hunting, the over-thinking never stops. That's all for now.
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