been looking to do a little sea duck hunting soon to mix it up. just painted up some decoys and got a good boat. i've gone out on invited hunts on floating blinds in padilla bay and samish bay for brant with a few sea ducks mixed in.
i was wondering if any of you that had some experience sea duck hunting to share ways and what you look for when scouting out a place to set up? i know the guys with the blinds and could just set up next to those but would like to start looking for spots on my own but don't really know what to look for. i know on the floating blinds, it seems like they were set up along the path of the birds as they flew from one area to another and would fly close enough for a shoot but weren't decoying.
i would assume i would need some binoculars, look for the flight paths the ducks take and set up in the path close to a food or resting spot. do they generally take the same path and feed in the same areas everyday or does it vary? is it better to set up closer to shore or where they feed or along a flight path out farther from shore? how many and what formation are best for decoys? i'm not trying to target any specific species, just trying to get a bunch of shooting in. these are questions i'm sure i will get answered after time, but thought it couldn't hurt to get some experienced insight from anyone willing to share to speed up the process. thanks