Help with deek setup.

[cliffordingles]

So i just got permission to hunt a private field today, My 2 boys who are 6 and 7 came with me. The birds were lovin my decoy spread but just kept circling forever then land outta range in a little kicker pond... Thats was my problem the whole time! Even my boys were getting pissed lol.

The field im hunting has like a large shallow oval pond and then off the main pond at the top right of it there is a smaller swallower pond, every duck there was today wanted to go there... I only bagged 3 mallards outta the 70 or so that came in and outta that small pond.

How should i setup on this pond to bring all the ducks to where i want them?

All i have for decoys right now are 13 mallards, 4 geese floaters and alot of land geese.

Thanks for reading and im looking forward to any suggestions.

[steeleywhopper]

Try using less decoys. If the birds want in less can be more.

[ghosthunter]

Try puttin a lot of decoys where you do not want the ducks and less where you do.

[cliffordingles]

I was only using the 13 mallards and the 4 geese decoys.

[NW-GSP]

Putt most of your decoys in the puddle you are not hunting and only like three in the one you are hunting. They also might have been seeing something they did not like.
Could be a little if your face showing or your sons, I am sure they were moving there heads around watching them fly ( even I have a hard time not doing it  )

[cliffordingles]

lol, I dont think the movment was the issue. The blind we use is a 4 foot fence hidden in grass and the top is covered by tree's, It's a slick setup.

I thought about putting my deek's in the little pond just like you stated NW-GSP, but my concern is having them land over there still lol.

When picking up my deeks i did find a bunch of that orange hay bail twine, I picked all that up to get rid of it.

[lokidog]

Hunt where the birds want to be?      Might be harder to hide there but that is where the birds want to go.

[h2ofowlr]

Set up where the birds want to be that would be a good start.  Use the 12 duck decoys and tie a jerk string to one to add movement.  Make sure your well hidden and they should come in.  With only 12 decoys it is easy to pick them up quickly and move to the spot their going.  If it's to deep, drag in a float tube or small boat to retrieve or use a fishing rod and use light pencil lead for weights for that area.  Good luck.

[JLS]

but my concern is having them land over there still lol.

These guys already hit it, if the ducks want to land in the other pond then that's where you should be hunting them.

[cliffordingles]

I'de try to make a layout blind or something to get to that water but the thing is im getting my boys into duck hunting now...

Thanks for all the input guys!

[Skagit_Hunter]

put the geese in the other pond. and the ducks on the far edge of the pond your hunting. leaving your end open.

[cliffordingles]

Thanks I'll try that!!!

[Spuddieselwwu]

 

put the geese in the other pond. and the ducks on the far edge of the pond your hunting. leaving your end open.

[jplmyers]

I keep having a similar issue on a marsh I hunt and thought the same thing... the birds keep going from my selected site, to another, shallower part on the far side.  Rarely even get closer than 200 yards despite a well-camo'd blind, decent setup, etc.  Didn't make sense to me until I reconnoitered the other side.

My side... about 6-8 feet deep pond surrounded by tule, near a gravel road exposed from overhead.  Other side... 2-4 feet deep flooded small trees, tule, and overhanging oaks with the road concealed by forest.  My reasoning after analyzing the terrain?  All the diver ducks are landing on the huge lake less than 1/4 mile away and thus never considering the marsh.  All the puddle ducks are going on the far side because they can see the submerged food sources and seclusion.  My plan this week?  Move sites, kick up some mud, put out some feeder dekes, ditch the blind and use available cover to hammer them where they are already landing on their own.

It may not be what you're doing other than hanging out where they don't want to be.  I suggest getting on Google Earth or other aerial imagery site to find out what the ducks are seeing, or simply hunt the other pond if you can.

[cliffordingles]

The site im hunting is just a flooded field, no roads, no trees just grass. The edge of the pond touches a hillside and thats where the blind is.

I think the ducks just want to go there because its really shallow... I just bought another dozen deeks so maybe that will help me lol.

[WSU]

99% of killing ducks is being where the ducks want to be.

[Kola16]

That's debatable 

[WSU]

That's debatable 

Is it?

[Kola16]

Yep.

[cliffordingles]

Well there are alot things for me to try lol. I'll be at it on saturday, I'll let you all know what happens. Thanks for all the input!!!

[WSU]

Yep.

My point is that the single most important thing is to be where the ducks want to be.  You can be the best caller and have the best decoys, blinds, whatever but you will not consistently kill a lot of birds unless you are where they want to be.  In the OP's case, he could move his exact setup to where the ducks want to be and kill them.  A few more or less decoys isn't going to do it.  They already know exactly where they want to go.

[Kola16]

Oh jeez...I'm just pullin' your leg. But yes, it is debatable 

[Tealer]

I actually try to never hunt where they want to be, rather intercept them on the way. Example- if you hunt the roost they leave, if you hunt the feed they feed elsewhere. But if you find a loafing spot or a spot they fly over to feed or roost your on the money.

As for the op, I'd have to see it to offer any help. Try more geese, or full body decoys if you got them. If every thing looks good, you should be able to pull birds 200yds of the 'X'. Also try leaving 3 or 4 decoys out all the time.

Also, are you decent on a call? Run a spinner? Jerk string?

[Skagit_Hunter]

I actually try to never hunt where they want to be, rather intercept them on the way. Example- if you hunt the roost they leave, if you hunt the feed they feed elsewhere. But if you find a loafing spot or a spot they fly over to feed or roost your on the money.

As for the op, I'd have to see it to offer any help. Try more geese, or full body decoys if you got them. If every thing looks good, you should be able to pull birds 200yds of the 'X'. Also try leaving 3 or 4 decoys out all the time.

Also, are you decent on a call? Run a spinner? Jerk string?

REALLY!!!!! LEAVE DECOYS OUT. That is a GOMER move. Great idea. teach every bird that lands there while your gone. stupid stupid stupid. You leave decoys out there you might as well find a new spot to hunt.

[Sneaky]

You're only allowed to leave decoys out and unattended for 1 hour at a time.

[Kola16]

You're only allowed to leave decoys out and unattended for 1 hour at a time.

I think that is only if you don't want someone to take them 

[Skagit_Hunter]

You're only allowed to leave decoys out and unattended for 1 hour at a time.

That is only on state controlled land. Not private.

[cliffordingles]

As for the op, I'd have to see it to offer any help. Try more geese, or full body decoys if you got them. If every thing looks good, you should be able to pull birds 200yds of the 'X'. Also try leaving 3 or 4 decoys out all the time.

Also, are you decent on a call? Run a spinner? Jerk string?

This is my first year of duck hunting, My calling has gotten good enough to turn birds around and draw them in but im still working on that. I dont have any spinners. I'm working one putting together the stuff to make a jerk rig...

So, I've been trying alot of diff setups this weekend. Even though the rain keeps coming and its making the field more flooded. I ended up adding some Teal, more Mallars and some butt-ups to my collection.

It's still tough to get the birds to land where i want them especially since there are sooo many flooded fields everywhere but im having better luck now then i was last weekend. I ended up putting the Teals by themselfs and had Teal comin almost right away on saturday. I put the mallards in a huge group and was able to make that work a bit.

Still trial and error but thanks for all the help everyone!!!

Any tips on making a jerk rig?

[RadSav]

Three things that have helped me;

#1.  Face paint.  I have quite the white face.  Had a neighbor that took a photo of me in the duck blind from the air as he flew over.  I couldn't believe how much my face glowed.  Started using face paint and success went up.

#2.  Wind at your back.  Ducks like to come into deeks with the wind in their face.  Shoot while they are putting load in their wings coming right at you.  Easier to break them down that way.

#3.  Break your deeks into two groups.  One wide left the other wide right.  Leave a good space just in front of the blind in your best shooting lane.  I place a couple (2) teal deeks or a blue heron next to the shore in that void zone.  Most novice hunters forget that you need to leave a place for the new ducks to land.  If the most inviting place is in your shooting lane with the wind at your back - perfect.

Good luck!

[wraithen]

The rig em right is 30bucks. It's a 5' bungee attached to a small anchor and 100' of black line with 4 clips for dekes. The only mod I made to it was putting a pound of lead in a milk jug and filling said jug with water. Putting the line through the jug handle keeps the line under water so it doesn't flare birds.

[Kola16]

Just buy a little kayak anchor ($6) and some line that they use to mark property, 2 or 3 caribiners, and a bungee, and put that all together: anchor then some string, then bungee, then string and tie loops in the string. Put the caribiners on some ducks, and hook them to the loops. If you have no clue what I said just ask 

[cliffordingles]

LOL, Well i have well over 1000 feet of 550 cord. I've been trying to find the bungy rope but no luck so far...

I get how they go together and how they work its just i cant find the bundie rope lol.

[Kola16]

I have a friend that has an endless supply of bungees   

[cliffordingles]

I have a friend that has an endless supply of bungees   

Does that mean im getting the hook up???  lol

[wraithen]

Look for tent pole repair kits.

[Kola16]

I have a friend that has an endless supply of bungees   

Does that mean im getting the hook up???  lol

Haha  ........and wherever the hell Galvin is 

[Tealer]

I actually try to never hunt where they want to be, rather intercept them on the way. Example- if you hunt the roost they leave, if you hunt the feed they feed elsewhere. But if you find a loafing spot or a spot they fly over to feed or roost your on the money.

As for the op, I'd have to see it to offer any help. Try more geese, or full body decoys if you got them. If every thing looks good, you should be able to pull birds 200yds of the 'X'. Also try leaving 3 or 4 decoys out all the time.

Also, are you decent on a call? Run a spinner? Jerk string?

REALLY!!!!! LEAVE DECOYS OUT. That is a GOMER move. Great idea. teach every bird that lands there while your gone. stupid stupid stupid. You leave decoys out there you might as well find a new spot to hunt.

I've done it for years. Believe it or not the never figure it, as long as you move them around a little. Works excellent on geese too.

[cliffordingles]

I have a friend that has an endless supply of bungees   

Does that mean im getting the hook up???  lol

Haha  ........and wherever the hell Galvin is 

lol, had to ask 

[Odell]

Just use a regular bungee cord on the end with the weight. Cheap and easy

[wraithen]

I have learned a couple techniques for more open water with trial and error. My season is over now so I figured I'd share  The first is due to only having 20 dekes and only having enough line for about 18 of them, we made a curved line with a break in the middle of it. The break was so they could fly directly at us if the wind shifted that way. (The winds are constantly changing where we were.) We set the ends at the end of our shot range and then curved it out so if the ducks were inside of that line they were in range. This worked amazingly well. We had every flock end up coming in directly towards us cupped in. If we were halfway decent shots we would have had 2 limits that day.

The next time that setup didn't work so well so we used two triangles of dekes. It was basically the same concept except it allowed approaches from 3 ways instead of just straight at us. This worked for when the winds weren't favoring them flying straight at us. Using a jerk rig improved both setups immensely.