Help please

[Colin]

Ok so I have hunted this QH unit a few times all day in the last few weeks. Many of you probably know it if you hunt the Skagit area. So every morning I always get at least one bird to decoy in while its still getting light out.

The last few times that I have been here the wind was going and birds were coming down and working my decoys but for whatever reason they just will not come down into shooting range. I tried everything I could think of this last time and still no birds wanting to come down. They would make 2-4 passes, come in, go away and then come back but never into range.

Here is the gear I have:

18 - Standard Mallard Floaters (repainted by me, they look a little bright so I mostly use the hens and one or two of the drakes)
6 - Full body Magnum Full Bodies (4 drakes, 2 hens, multiple poses)
4 - Full body Pintail Drakes (Multiple poses)
6 - Widgeon Floaters (4 drakes, 2 hens, multiple poses)
1 - Mojo wind duck
1 - Jerk String

Yesterday I started will all the decoys but the wind duck out in the morning. Got a drake Widgeon about 20 mins into shooting hours.

Then pulled my mallard floaters and put the wind duck up. Didn't seem to be working so I pulled the wind duck and moved the spread.
Then pulled my Full Body Mallard Drakes.
Then I re positioned again and put the wind duck in a different spot.
Then I pulled all the full bodies and just used floaters in a new spot with no wind duck.
Tried just 2 floaters and the jerk string with and without the wind duck and then tried no decoys for a bit before I left.

I was trying Calling Loud, Soft, lots of calling and no calling at all.

For whatever reason something I am doing is getting to the birds. Is it my spread? Is it my calling? is it that the birds are educated to this spot? What should I try?

[hollymaster]

Are you still calling when there close? Call less maybe.

[scout/sniper]

Did they pass over you and flare?
They may be seeing something that they don't like about your blind.
Are you well camouflaged, and staying still when they are close?

[scout/sniper]

In this scenario I would use only floaters, no mojo (they are on to that trick).
With the wind direction I would set my decoys as shown.
They will land into the wind and hit the decoys at about 20 yards.
Fully covered camo and no movement.
I call them from a distance with a Haydels DR85 (loud and raspy)
When they get close I change to an HS Red Baron (soft and enticing)
I only call when they are going away from me, or I want them to make a sharp turn.

Just my very humble opinion, but I am able to get ducks to land.

[Colin]

Are you still calling when there close? Call less maybe.

I pretty much have tried every combination of calling. I was told that in general you should only call when you want them to turn or come back.

Usually when they are in bound I just sit still and gently pull my jerk cord.

[Colin]

Did they pass over you and flare?
They may be seeing something that they don't like about your blind.
Are you well camouflaged, and staying still when they are close?

They do pass over the blind but don't flare on it. They just continue to work a few passes and then bail out.

[REHJWA]

When you scout, what are the birds doing, are the bunched, spread out in small groups or paired up. Match the hatch. Keep the pintails 5-10 yards down wind of the others so it looks like they may join up. Also look what everyone else is doing and do something different. Your birds want to be there if they are looking more then twice. Good luck, figuring it all out is part of the fun.

[scout/sniper]

When you scout, what are the birds doing, are the bunched, spread out in small groups or paired up. Match the hatch. Keep the pintails 5-10 yards down wind of the others so it looks like they may join up. Also look what everyone else is doing and do something different. Your birds want to be there if they are looking more then twice. Good luck, figuring it all out is part of the fun.

     It's what makes it a challenge.

When I first started duck hunting I bought a house on the lake that I hunt.
I spent every spare moment on my dock studying the ducks.
I noted everything like:
Where do they like to land, and why?
What pattern do they make while sitting on the water? FYI-It's not random.
What calls do they make and how do other ducks respond?
Endless notes on behavior and habits.
Once I had them figured out it was game on. Now I do what they like and they come right in.
Have fun and don't get frustrated, you'll figure them out.

[trophyhunt]

Usually when they are in bound I just sit still and gently pull my jerk cord.
[/quote]

[scout/sniper]

Usually when they are in bound I just sit still and gently pull my jerk cord.
 

I get excited when they are decoying too 

[hntrspud]

They like it enough to look already, so if your jerk cord is somehow visible while moving it, then I would refrain. Lighten up the amount of decoys on the upwind side and put more out on the down wind side. Get rid of the wind duk. Make another jerk string and save your money for a good quality pull string. Timing of movement in the spread can also be crucial. If you dont know exactly what they are doing, or used to seeing, then less can be better. Try less deeks, especially if they want to be there. I know how frustrating this can be to get them to come and then flare. Keep it up! Youll get it.

[scout/sniper]

Did they pass over you and flare?
They may be seeing something that they don't like about your blind.
Are you well camouflaged, and staying still when they are close?

They do pass over the blind but don't flare on it. They just continue to work a few passes and then bail out.

It sounds like they have been worked pretty hard. It's late in the season.
At least you are trying to learn how to get them close, I can't stand skybusters!!!

[WSU]

Too many variables to tell you what to do without seeing what is going on.  Sometimes a very small adjustment can make all the difference.  Generally, don't make them land on top of or by flying over decoys.  Saturday I moved 2 decoys farther out of my spread and it made all the difference.  In general, just hide better, go with few decoys, and make sure they have room to land.  Also, that situation is tougher because they can't stay out in the open field to land.  Sometimes it doesn't matter, but it generally easier to get birds to finish if they can stay away from cover when coming in.

[scout/sniper]

In general, just hide better, go with few decoys, and make sure they have room to land.

That's it in a nutshell.
Also: It takes discipline to stay hidden and not move or look up at them.

[h2ofowlr]

Based on your diagram, the spot you are hunting always has a rig there.  If your there, there's someone after you after you leave.  They become wise.  I used to hunt this spot prior to the QH fields and it was good if you hunted it once or twice a week and I would normally only hunt it a max of 2 hours.  If you get fresh birds, you may have a great shoot.  If it's the same birds that hang out in the area, they are keen on the blind and the results of flying to close to it.  Fresh birds, wind and heavy traffic will make it shoot better.  Otherwise, you are witnessing the results.  If some of the blinds could be shifted mid season it may help.  Make the QH fields layout blind locations within a given shooting area they would also hunt better.

[WSU]

When I was in Eugene the local hunting area had hunting hours.  You had to be done hunting at noon and gone by 1.  That really helped the hunting and WDFW should look at doing similar things here.

[BIGDOG253]

What I have noticed lately is that the Mojo's tend to make the birds flare late in the season. Early season, they have a lot more success. Also, I like to call less as the season goes on. I still use a jerk cord late in the season to get some movement in the water and bunch up the decoys a lot more but separate the pintails from the mallards.

[Brad Harshman]

Your movement will be your demise. Use way less decoys maybe one lone hen mallard on string to wiggle her.  Don't call at them. Just feed chatter if anything.  See what happens...

[Come Get Some]

The field I hunt is very fickle. If I have new birds they will decoy well. Birds that have been here a while are very leary. I have hunted it 3 times this year with no decoys. I know they want to land there. The day before I watch to see how they are bunced up to determine whether I will use decoys. I usually start with about a dozen. No flutter wing this time of year. If they fly by a couple of times but will commit I pull the decoys and sit very still. Alot of overhead cover. This weekend I set up 5 DZ decoys. I started them in a U. Getting thicker as they went out. The ducks were flying to the side of the decoys. I kept moving the U wider until they would fly over the decoys. I was surprised how large a landing zone they wanted. It was a great day. Hundreds of birds, Mallards,widgeon and Pintails.

[270Shooter]

It sounds to me that you are just hunting some very educated birds. It happens down here in the Yakima valley as well and generally you just have to take them on what you think is the last pass. You just aren't going to get very many birds to fully commit unless you have new birds in the area. It may sound like sky busting to some guys but I think if they make a pass at the 40 yard mark you had better jump up and start shooting. Make sure you can shoot farther than that and you have a load that patterns well in your gun.

[jason4429]

The field I hunt is very fickle. If I have new birds they will decoy well. Birds that have been here a while are very leary. I have hunted it 3 times this year with no decoys. I know they want to land there. The day before I watch to see how they are bunced up to determine whether I will use decoys. I usually start with about a dozen. No flutter wing this time of year. If they fly by a couple of times but will commit I pull the decoys and sit very still. Alot of overhead cover. This weekend I set up 5 DZ decoys. I started them in a U. Getting thicker as they went out. The ducks were flying to the side of the decoys. I kept moving the U wider until they would fly over the decoys. I was surprised how large a landing zone they wanted. It was a great day. Hundreds of birds, Mallards,widgeon and Pintails.

I know where your blind is I drive past it all the time. I always wondered how the hunting was there.

[Colin]

Usually when they are in bound I just sit still and gently pull my jerk cord.

[/quote]

LOL you got me there.

[Colin]

Based on your diagram, the spot you are hunting always has a rig there.  If your there, there's someone after you after you leave. 

This exact thing happened last Sunday when I was hunting.

[Colin]

Thanks for all the ideas and input guys!!! As a first gen hunter I really appreciate it. I should really be out scouting for new places outside of the QH areas. I'm hoping to get into some new areas next year and invest in a layout blind for the QH areas you can move around in. Seems like I haven't seen too many birds in those fields when I'm scouting though.

[duckmen1]

Great hunt come get some.

Keep it up Colin you will do alright with the effort your putting in.

[moocher97]

Calling too much is no bueno. all you need is a few quacks maybe a chuckle or two and usually around Washington educated birds have seen hundreds of blinds and skybusters mess up alot of birds so mix things up a bit like instead of setting up a blind use camo burlap with just some surrounding bush to break up the pattern or less decoys like Ive never seen a flock of thirty ducks  land with another flock of thirty it just looks weird but you see lots 6-7 birds per flock flying around. If they flared, they saw something, and it wasn't the wind duck I use a wind duck and ducks never flare its usally the calling or something looks funny. to show im not pulling your string we just stood in some reeds along a bank with 8 dekes not even calling ... somebody forgot them  but any way hope you have some luck in the next couple weeks. I know I look thrilled in this picture.

[h2ofowlr]

Based on your diagram, the spot you are hunting always has a rig there.  If your there, there's someone after you after you leave. 

This exact thing happened last Sunday when I was hunting.

Sometimes the most visible QH fields are the most visible and highly used.  Find one of the beaten path and you may do better.  Some of the fields I see the same rig in them each day.  And many of these spots are burned due to over use, so pick days with weather.  Wind over rain.  If it snow's hit it.  As it get's cold, the bird move more.

[BiggLuke]

A lot of the times this late in the year, you can be much more successfull in a well hunted area simply by looking different.
Just try 3-5 decoys. in the wind shaded area.... no wind.

And don't call. This works, because a flock of ducks will fly over, see just a couple birds sitting quietly and think, "hey, that looks like a good spot to rest."
 Try it out.
Also, with the man-made blinds, you should always drag in some branches or vegetation to help brush it out.

[REHJWA]

Maybe just put out your widgeon and hit a whistle to get their attention as they are going away.