Mike McLemore works his calling magic on passing ducks to lure them in. He started hunting and calling at an early age -- and what he learned has taken him to three world duck-calling championships! Photo by Gerald Almy.

Mike McLemore is a living legend in the world of waterfowling. He lives and breathes ducks, duck hunting and duck calling. Over the years he has turned that passion into skills that have established him as one of the most knowledgeable experts alive on the subject of waterfowl hunting -- and as a bonus, into a world-champion duck caller.

The infatuation with ducks began early for Mike. He was just 7 years old when he started hunting with his father in the marshes and flooded timber near his home.

Mike had a natural talent for calling, but he also worked hard to build on that base and take it to the highest possible level that he could attain. By the time he was a teenager in high school, everyone wanted to hunt with him, because they knew his calling could really bring in the ducks.

Decades later, McLemore's as active as ever in the world of waterfowl -- giving seminars about ducks and how to call them, writing about them, shooting them, cooking them, eating them. Some say that when Mike waddles into a blind, he looks like a duck!

Though he might take exception to that, one thing is for sure: McLemore can make with the duck talk like few other human beings. After participating in some small contests, Mike won the ultimate event, the World Championship of Duck Calling in Stuttgart, Ark., in 1973, at the age of 28. He came back and recaptured first place the following year, then in 1977 he won the award again. With three wins under his belt, McLemore was no longer eligible to compete in the World Championship.

One more possibility existed, though. Every five years the Championship of Champions is held. In 1980, he captured that final honor by belting out highballs, comebacks, feed chatter and lonesome hen calls so realistic that he sounded better, some say, than the real birds.

You can only win the ultimate event once, so Mike's contest days were over, but not his duck calling, duck hunting and teaching others about the sport. Today, he gives talks, emcees events and sells his own line of calls. That's in the spring and summer. In fall and winter, Mike mostly does one thing: calling and hunting ducks. Some contest callers may not know much about hunting ducks in the real world, but Mike knows how to put his talent to work on the water.

I was fortunate to join McLemore for a hunt a while back to see his calling skills firsthand. It was a so-so day for waterfowling, the weather warm and the sky clear, but we were determined to give it our best shot.

We rose well before dawn and, after a hearty breakfast, eased out through white shrouds of fog in the flooded timber to see what day would bring. I was avid to see how this legend's calling would stack up against the tough conditions we faced.

With help from a friend, Mike arranged the decoys carefully, so the birds would feel comfortable setting in close with the direction the wind was blowing. He made sure to leave a nice opening in which they could try to land within good shotgun range if his calling could draw them in.