When Dr. Daniel Raymond loads up for a duck-hunting road trip down Highway 15, he knows what he wants to hunt with — just like the ducks know where they want to go.
He and his hunting buddies use a lot of decoys, so they don’t go for anything special-order. Instead, they use standard Flambeau dekes with a mix of mallards, gadwalls and teal.
But when it comes to calls, Raymonde is a little more picky.
“My standard is a Haydel RL Redleg mallard call,” he said. “I go to it first and use it as long as it works.
“If they aren’t reacting, I have a Challenger call that was made locally but are no longer on the market; I also use a Duck Commander acrylic, at times. For teal, I love the Primos original Wench call and a standard teal whistle.”
Daniel shoots a Beretta Xtrema II, and normally shoots No. 3 or No. 5 Winchester Blind Side shells.
He used to only shoot 3 ½-inch shells, but he shoots 3-inch versions most of the time now because he likes the way they pattern in his gun.
When teal hunting, he downsizes to a Beretta Urika II with No. 6 shot because most of the is within 20 yards.