Page 82 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2023

SPORTS & OUTDOORS
Taking Note of the Past
Collecting Calls Helps Sportmen Remember the Old Days
story and photos by John N. Felsher
82 | January 2023 www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
Situated at the terminus of the Mississippi Flyway, the most important waterfowl migratory route in North America, the Magnolia State ranks as one of the most important wintering grounds for ducks. Abundant wetlands attract hundreds of
thousands of waterfowl in many different species to Mississippi each winter.
Even in ancient times, many sportsmen enjoyed waterfowling. As far back as ancient Egypt, sportsmen and subsistence hunters sought better ways to bring animals into bow or spear range. Just like today,
early hunters used calls to attract game. Ancient waterfowlers in the Nile Delta of Egypt, parts of China and North America possibly used reed calls or made sounds with their own mouths to imitate the birds they hunted to
lure them closer.
In this country, duck calls became
popular during the market hunting days of the 19th century. Photographs from 1850 show handmade duck calls. Elam Fisher of Detroit, Mich. received the first American patent for a “tongue-pincher” duck call in 1870. As early as 1863, Fred Allen of Monmouth, Ill. became the first person to make and sell duck calls commercially. When people complained about their lips freezing to his metal calls on cold days, Allen switched to using wood.
Duck calls take many forms, but most essentially consist of a sound chamber, sounding board, reed and mouthpiece like a miniature bugle. With lush cane thickets growing abundantly in vast wetlands along major rivers like the Mississippi, Pearl and Pascagoula, many old Louisiana and Mississippi makers used cane to craft their calls. Many callers today still build their calls out of wood, but some prefer durable, water- resistant modern materials like acrylic.
Today, most waterfowlers still use a variety of calls to bring in the birds. Call making and collecting really