refining my decoy spread

[heronblu]

I've been lugging around about 30 old floater decoys for the past few years and they seem to be less and less effective. I'd love to be the guy who repaints them and gives them new life but I'm also realistic about my time so I can't see that ever happening. My question is can I get away with less decoys if they are good quality?  I'm thinking like 12 mallards and  maybe 6 goose decoys.  Is that enough of a spread to bring birds down? I'm trying not to break the bank and still get done birds this year.

[grousetracker]

12 ducks and 6 geese are fine, hopefully not any real big spreads around you from other hunters. where I hunt 6 ducks and 3 goose floaters is all I use, 4 of the ducks are a jerk rig and I do pretty well most hunts. dont over call.

[Tealer]

I certain situations that should work. In high pressure areas you will probably struggle.


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[jgoetz]

It isn't necessarily the quality of the decoy as it is location and decoy placement.  Yesterday we had 5 other groups within a 1/2 mile (some as close as 300 yds) of us.  We were the only ones shooting.  We were using a spread of 30.  Over half of those were old Hot Buy 2 decoys. 

Same story today.  Only guys getting ducks to finish.  The guys 250 yds. from us on private land got fed up and packed it in at 8 am after watching flock after flock finish into our spread.   

[Stein]

It isn't necessarily the quality of the decoy as it is location and decoy placement.  Yesterday we had 5 other groups within a 1/2 mile (some as close as 300 yds) of us.  We were the only ones shooting.  We were using a spread of 30.  Over half of those were old Hot Buy 2 decoys. 

Same story today.  Only guys getting ducks to finish.  The guys 250 yds. from us on private land got fed up and packed it in at 8 am after watching flock after flock finish into our spread.

I'll bite, any tips?

[heronblu]

It isn't necessarily the quality of the decoy as it is location and decoy placement.  Yesterday we had 5 other groups within a 1/2 mile (some as close as 300 yds) of us.  We were the only ones shooting.  We were using a spread of 30.  Over half of those were old Hot Buy 2 decoys. 

Same story today.  Only guys getting ducks to finish.  The guys 250 yds. from us on private land got fed up and packed it in at 8 am after watching flock after flock finish into our spread.

I'll bite, any tips?

[h2ofowlr]

It isn't necessarily the quality of the decoy as it is location and decoy placement.  Yesterday we had 5 other groups within a 1/2 mile (some as close as 300 yds) of us.  We were the only ones shooting.  We were using a spread of 30.  Over half of those were old Hot Buy 2 decoys. 

Same story today.  Only guys getting ducks to finish.  The guys 250 yds. from us on private land got fed up and packed it in at 8 am after watching flock after flock finish into our spread.

I'll bite, any tips?

If your on the "X" the spot they want to be, black Clorox bottles will work.  Scouting is a big bonus, you can see where the birds are going in.  If you can set up in those locations, your odds go way up.  You still need to be concealed as the birds have very good site.

[jgoetz]

Like H20 said, it is all about location.  I was on a public land spot.  So location kind of goes out the window at that point.  But there are things you can do to make your spread look better/more enticing to the ducks.  I invested in one of the pull string decoys.  That seems to help quite a bit.  But then you have to take into effect which direction the wind is blowing.  We had a slight wind blowing in our face.  Not ideal duck finishing wind by any means.  So instead of doing our normal two groups of decoys with a landing zone we decided to make a 9 out of them.  We put one big chunk of decoys up wind of the blind and then trailed the tail of the 9 out past the blind.

We also had scouted and hunted this spot and knew which directions the birds wanted to come in from.  So while not an ideal wind we were able to get ducks to finish into the spread.  My best advice is to scout ducks and spend time watching how they sit on the water.  And then work to make your spreads mimic that activity.  Ducks will not just sit all haphazardly on the water.  They tend to sit in tight groups of threes or fours.  When they are swimming they usually swim in a bit of a line. 

My point is that you don't have to have the nicest shiniest most life like decoys to finish birds.  We fail to think about it in the light of how a duck sees our spreads.  Does a $30 block look any differently than a $2 Hot Buy II from 40 feet above?  The answer is not really.  Does it matter, maybe a little, but only to the smart ducks. 

A lot of it is about being able to read what ducks want on that particular day and being able to change to their needs.  Some days the pull string is the friggin ticket.  Others it is flare city.  Some days calling works great.  Other days I am wasting my breath. 

And sometimes it is simply about being on the X. 

[JJD]

If what you have is not working, change it!
Most of what has already been posted is spot on.
But don't be stubborn, If the ducks are not landing in your spread get out and change it.  It does not matter if you are out in the open making a change with ducks in the air if they are not even giving your spread a look.  Experiment with different patterns and sets.  Keeping a log of spreads and conditions will help, patterns will emerge allowing you to be more effective down the road.