Bluebird Day Waterfowl - Clear Sky Calling

Bluebird Day Waterfowl – Clear Sky Calling

You hate staring at a blank sky while in the duck blind. No clouds, very little wind, and usually very few birds. The water looks like glass, and every little movement you make seems to stand out like a sore thumb. But this doesn’t stop you from hunting. No matter how nice the weather, you’ll still be in the blind early, pulling up a little extra brush around you and hoping for the best.

So, how does a “bluebird day” affect the sound of your call? There’s nothing going on with weather, so there should be nothing to affect the sound of the call, right? Well, sort of…

Scientific Breakdown

A clear day allows the sun to shine through unhampered. This can cause major shifts in temperature throughout the day, depending on the nighttime weather pattern.

As the sun rises in the morning, it will warm the air long before the sun rays reach the ground. Therefore, during the early morning hours, follow the guidance laid out in the article How Does Air Temperature Affect Sound? With a clear day, the temperature difference will typically level out more quickly, so by mid-morning the temperature at ground level should match the air temperature, and the sounds from your calls will travel uniformly through the air.

Once the sun begins to warm the ground, you can get evaporation, melting of snow, and even fog. All of these will increase the humidity at ground level. A clear day usually means the humidity is relatively low, so this evaporation will happen quickly. Review the guidance in How Does Humidity Affect Calling, but in general, you can ignore the affects of this change in humidity near the ground.

Adjusting Your Calling Style

In general, bluebird day waterfowl hunting is bad. However, the clear sky has very little affect on the sound coming from your call. Other than the temperature changes early and late in the day, there’s not really anything happening to affect sound at all. So, even though you might not see many birds, the few you do see should be able to hear you loud and clear. Pick out your favorite SBO duck or goose call, and bring your “A” game on these days, you’ll need it.