I know everyone has their opinion. Just really getting into this year and want to start practicing. So opinions on a good call to start with?

Rich and tone Daisy cutter. That and a pin tail whistle and your set.

Any of the Zink line up are fairly easy to use and sound very ducky...

I started with the buck garner double nasty. Cheap, sounds good and raspy, and extremely easy to blow.

I have started several guys calling ducks over my 40 years of duck hunting.
The Buck Gardner Double Nasty is what I recommend. BP, Academy and Cabalas all sell it for under 40 bucks. There is a deal also that includes Bucks CD that is great for someone getting started.
Good luck and good hunting

QuackShack

Here's my take. If your trying to figure out if your really going to be a hard line duck hunter or not go ahead and get a cheaper call to practice on. If you KNOW your in it up over your waders fork out the $$ and get a nice call....or two. Lots of good calls out on the market. I'm an Echo dood but RnT, Zink or really any of the major calls will do. How good you call is more you than the call itself. A good caller can be blind folded, put in front of a box mixed with several good calls from all the manufactures, reach in and pick one up and go to town on it. You might be the type that wants to spend your money on the tx call makers. Or go national. Your choice. I chose Echo because I respect Rick Dunn. I've met him, he's old school and he makes a call that will do anything I could make it do. But his calls are not any better than the competition.

I have tried the following:
Quackhead J Frame
Olt
Original Duck Commander (not very loud call)
DU calls for the past 4 years (Buck Gardner calls)
Zink Power Hen 2

All are good calls. my favorites are the last 2 DU calls, the PH2 and the Olt (present from a friend). These are all calls that are $30 or less. I was at Cabela's today and they had a Zink ATM nothing but green in Acryllic. the other ATM calls are $120 but this one was $39... I could not resist so added that to my collection, it sounds great and is easy to blow.

I also still use an old Wingstopper call because I love the whistle...

I keep a Buck Gardner Canada Hammer too, you never know if you will run into some geese during early teal so keep one on your lanyard. It is very easy to learn to blow.

RNT short barrel is what I started on. If you want something cheaper look at the Southern Game Calls in poly.

If you can go up to $60 there is an older gentleman in Arkansannamed Don Cahill. He makes wood calls that I find easy to blow and sound great. His father in law made Dixie Mallard calls that are really expensive when you can find them.

My family and I have used them for 30+ years. PM me if you would like the #. No website amd given his age not sure how much longer he will makemcalls. I bought three last week just to have as back ups and one for my 13 year old

Call Kelly's Kalls in Kansas.

Tell the call maker of your abilities, willingness to practice, average hunting conditions, species most seen.

Listen carefully to the call makers advice.

Ask him to make that call for you.

Buy that call.

If your on a budget Echo has a solid poly call. However remember your going to get what you pay for. $40 calls are mass produced from a mold, they are not tuned and quality can be inconsistent. If you want a hand tuned call that will last you a life time go wit acrylic and I would recommend Fowlaholic.com. We run all of there calls and they are great.

I am sure an angry pack of dogs will be along shortly because I have a completely opposite opinion here, but here you go. 20 bucks Faulks wooden calls. If you continue into the world of duck hunting then great, step up to the $150 dollar calls later and give the Faulks to a kid. Better yet keep it for when you get into the duck calling game and then beyond the game, you will always go back to it as a favorite. I still carry mine and use it to finish birds. Super easy to operate, sounds good, again 20 bucks. The duck call world is all about marketing, not killing ducks.

Your best bet for killing ducks is to put miles on your boat or truck and find the birds. Once you do that you can just use a call to finish them. If you do that you can use any call on the market to kill birds. Don't over think the call's ability to place birds in a shooting zone.

I have a timber hole up north. I use only wooden calls there. Late season mallards don't like calls. I only use soft feed calling and an occasional 3 note cadence when the birds swing wide. It is pretty awesome to see their body language change with very little calling and they bank for a wing set. Nobody will ever convince me I would need anything more than a Faulks call in that situation. I get it, there are other situations. Setting yourself up for a better situation will kill you a heck of a lot more birds than buying a 150 dollar duck call.

http://sureshotgamecalls.com/product/special-mallard-duck-call/

get one of these. doesn't take $100 to own a decent double reed, and these calls sound like a hen.

I'm biased of course since its my site but you can get a great custom made call for around $50 and support small Independent craftsmen at the same time!

HuntCrafted - Custom Duck Calls

so i got a Buck Gardener Double Nasty and it seems easy to work with in changing tones and pitches. I would love a hand crafted call but my issues is looking at a web site like yours DuckBuck i get lost and my brain hurts, haha. I will be mostly hunting the North Texas region and maybe a little east. So all you guys who have been hunting the areas no what birds are in and out of here. So thats what i am after. I am just learning the duck world, been a predator caller for many years so hand calls are not an unknown to me. So i appreciate all the input and wisdom from you guys! I will keep plugging away at this and see how many birds i can scare.

Lots of practice is always good. The best advice I can give is in hunting situations learn to use it sparingly.

Get a teal whistle. Get your kids a teal whistle. Literally takes about 3 minutes to learn.

I may get hammered on here but I still carry this call on my lanyard. Simple, cheap, easy to learn and sounds like a duck. It can't do what a lot of the high end calls can but it's one of the calls I use on super close, shy birds.
Duck Commander Classic

I wouldn't turn my nose to it.

of course not, your a Faulks fan

hayraker wasnt around to say, so I had to fill in

Nothing wrong with the old Faulks calls. Grew up learning on those and Sure Shot calls. Wish I would have kept my old yentzen, that was the easiest call to learn with.

BFord
Good choice for a starter call.
Hope you have a great season.
Get Bucks CD if you can, Listen and practice while your driving.
At least you will get some really funny looks at the stop lights.
Good Luck!