Decoys

[JJD]

I have found hunting with a multiple species spread almost always works better.
No bind study to prove that, pun intended .
I'd pick up some wigeon to add to the spread.

[duckkillerclyde]

I've been a fan of pintail, cans, and spoons in the spread.  I feel the bright white attracts attention......which can be good and bad.   I've had more success with this the later the season gets.   I'm not talking half the spread but a dozen or two.

[aaronoto]

I'll be mixing it up by buying some Widgeon or Teal during the off season.  I have 2 dozen Mallards and when they're all out on a puddle something just doesn't look natural to me.  I think if I mix in 6 or so of something else it'll look a lot better, who knows if it'll work better though

[quackattack90]

I've been a fan of pintail, cans, and spoons in the spread.  I feel the bright white attracts attention......which can be good and bad.   I've had more success with this the later the season gets.   I'm not talking half the spread but a dozen or two.

I agreeI have noticed better results with a dozen pins or so added to the spread.  More visibility

[sakoshooter]

You don't need any other species.
That's all crap.
Realistically....  think of this way:
What duck call do you use? hmm... A hen Mallard call?
Then you should have Mallard decoys.
Mallards being the main species in the wild, and being large ducks, all other species of Puddle ducks will decoy to them naturally. Smaller ducks will flock with mallards for protection. Even weirdo ducks like Mergansers will decoy to Mallard Dekes simply because they look like duck shapes from the air.

The only time you would even consider using NON-Mallard decoys would be in a hunt specific location.
I.E. a diver hunt on Puget Sonud like for Golden Eyes you would want Black and white decoys, or if you use a Wigeon Call a lot (like I do) It's nice having a couple (2-6) of those dekes out at the edge of the spread.

But all in all, the decoys don't dictate what flys into range for you.
For instance, if you only use 12 Pintail decoys, you won't just shoot Pintails.
Also take into account the Migration of certain Duck species.
For instance I wouldn't use any Teal decoys this time of year, because it would look unnatural, as they have pretty much all migrated out a long while ago.

Hope this all made sense.

This is almost funny. The OP is asking a serious question. I hope you're just trying to make a joke. Otherwise you obviously don't have too much waterfowl experience.

[liljozie495]

You don't need any other species.
That's all crap.
Realistically....  think of this way:
What duck call do you use? hmm... A hen Mallard call?
Then you should have Mallard decoys.
Mallards being the main species in the wild, and being large ducks, all other species of Puddle ducks will decoy to them naturally. Smaller ducks will flock with mallards for protection. Even weirdo ducks like Mergansers will decoy to Mallard Dekes simply because they look like duck shapes from the air.

The only time you would even consider using NON-Mallard decoys would be in a hunt specific location.
I.E. a diver hunt on Puget Sonud like for Golden Eyes you would want Black and white decoys, or if you use a Wigeon Call a lot (like I do) It's nice having a couple (2-6) of those dekes out at the edge of the spread.

But all in all, the decoys don't dictate what flys into range for you.
For instance, if you only use 12 Pintail decoys, you won't just shoot Pintails.
Also take into account the Migration of certain Duck species.
For instance I wouldn't use any Teal decoys this time of year, because it would look unnatural, as they have pretty much all migrated out a long while ago.

Hope this all made sense.

im sorry but i laughed my a** off reading that... i like what ned said about throwing a pread out and go away and watch it, you will learn alot about what lands where and in between sets... mix in lots of widgeon and teal and later in the season when you see your first pin tail of the year get the pintails intermixed with the mallards or on the edge of the mallards.... maybe put the spread so you can get a few full bodies in shallow shallow water, if you get a tid bit of wind with the full bodies swiveling back and forth birds will like that alot alot... we usually go 4-7 dozen all floaters early in the season then slowly mix mallards on the fringe of field and water mid season, then end of season its 2-3 dozen floaters and 3 or so dozen full bodies in the grass strung out from the water deeks ( thats the way it seems like the birds do it thru our season in our spot... early there nothing but water, mid they start using the field more, late there 90% in the field and field only).... just ideas man right now is a legit time to test spreads out no calls no nothing, throw birds out and sit away and watch....   

[liljozie495]

another thing i found worked really well is have different sizes of mallards we used 2 different sizes when the northerns were starting to come in and also the more smaller local birds were coming in.... made a world of difference we think but hey thats just us haha