Noob questions

[Stein]

Hoping someone will continue to help a new guy out - I'm sure others probably have the same questions.

Lately, I have seen quite a few ducks, but they have all been flying pretty high and fast over my spot.  Calls, spinners, jerk lines - nothing turns their attention.  It is like they have autopilot on.  I try heavy calling, light calling, no calling all in combination with much motion or none.  Nothing seems to make a difference.  Saturday I probably had 20 groups of birds go over or nearby and nothing came in for a closer look.

I was pretty well hidden with camo clothes, hat and a face net.  The spots are all WDFW/public hunts that get plenty of pressure.

Am I doing something wrong or is this normal behavior this time of year?  I don't expect it to be like a tv show, but I would have thought I could bring a couple in every once in a while.

[sansocal]

This time of the year most of the birds are locals (should be changing in the next week or so) so they know the area and know where they want to be. This tends to be in a field with hundreds or thousands of other ducks, rafted up in the big water, or on a refuge. What you are seeing is those ducks flying from a field to water, or from water to a field depending on the time of the day.

So, in order to get ducks to come in you don't just have to be set up well, but you also have to be in a place where ducks want to be. Your best bet I would say for this week would be just scout scout scout. Occasionally you will find a pond that the ducks just can't stay out of, get there early and take advantage of it.

In other words, its not you its the ducks! Good luck!

[Whitenuckles]

 
 Be in the place the ducks want to be! If not, try your best to coax dumb migrators into your spread.

[h2ofowlr]

Unfortunately just because there is water and things look good, it isn't always inviting to waterfowl.  They have places they like to go or want to be in and if your not in those areas your just trying to run traffic and hopefully entice them to come in.  It doesn't always works, but if you have wind and movement in the water, larger spreads can help.  No movement the large spreads will spook birds.

Don't know how your spot is laid out, but sometime shifting around and setting up in different spots in your area may yield some birds..

[Stein]

Thanks, this really helps.  When you guys say large spread, how many is that?  I usually hunt over about 30 ducks and one goose decoy, but sometimes only over 18-20 if I can't pack the second bag in.