Cold Day Waterfowl - Calling on Crisp Mornings

Cold Day Waterfowl – Calling on Crisp Mornings

During the offseason, you dream of those frosty mornings in the blind. You bundle up for that blistering boat ride across the lake, then fire up the heater in the blind as quick as possible. For you layout blind hunters, you know you’ll freeze early in the morning, but warm up with the sun. By mid morning, you’ll have trouble staying awake as the sun warms you up and makes that layout blind as cozy as your recliner and blanket at home.

Throughout the waterfowl season, temperatures can swing wildly. During a single hunting day, temperatures can move 30 degrees or more, especially if you’re not hunting near a large body of water. With all these temperature swings, how does the air temperature affect your calls? Calls often “feel” louder on cold mornings, but is there some scientific truth behind it?

Scientific Breakdown

Let’s break down how temperature affects sound propagation. In general, sound refracts towards cooler air. In the morning, as the sun is rising and heating the air, cooler air temperatures will remain closer to the ground. Therefore, sound will tend to stay low instead of rising. Later in the day, when the sun has warmed the ground, the air temperature at ground level will be warmer, and sound will refract upwards.

Also, keep in mind the difference in air temperature over water as opposed to air temperature over land. The air temperature over water will change much more slowly than over land. So, if you’re calling across a big body of cold water, the sound will refract downwards towards the cooler air.

Adjusting Your Calling Style

Now, are these effects significant enough to alter your calling technique? For most of the waterfowl hunting scenarios, the answer is no. Unless you are calling at waterfowl at great distances and with large temperature differentials, the affects on sound are going to be negligible.

So, even though you go from freezing to sweating in between flocks, don’t change your calling technique. Your quacks and hail calls are still reaching the birds the same when it’s 70 degrees as when it’s 0 degrees. Pick out your favorite SBO duck or goose call and cut loose.