What do you consider essential decoys

[Night goat]

I dont have many decoys, and I always seem to be broke come hunting season so I usually gotta hunt on a budget, and my decoys are getting kinda old but I got a few ones I won't go without,

I have the obligatory huge bag of mallards but I consider my essential decoys my widgeons, greenwing teals and pintails. What do you or what don't you take?

[h2ofowlr]

Dozen decoys, pull string and whipsplash decoy.  That’s all that’s needed in many cases.

[Mfowl]

IMO decoys take a back seat to location. If you are where the birds want to be then you can get them in with just about any decoys.  I've had some of my best field goose hunts over a mixed spread of shells, silos and full bodies. Now a days I have an expensive spread of Avian X full bodies and I won't claim my success rate has gone up. Biggest difference is that I used to spend a lot of time scouting and would get on the X more often then not. Likewise, I grew up hunting over a big mixed spread of Flambeau and various other cheap duck decoys. We killed plenty of birds over those beat up old decoys. Now I have expensive Avian X and GHG floaters, still won't claim the decoys make me more successful. The only real benefit is that I enjoy looking over a realistic spread rather than a beat up old repainted spread. The only time I really care about being species specific is divers vs dabblers. The only common theme between them is I always deploy a Whipsplash or 2. Its one decoy that I would say is essential. Far more effective at attracting birds from distance than loud calling. Deadly effective in dry stubble hunts as well.

[Night goat]

So ditch the mojo wind spinner and go for a pull string?

[vandeman17]

I have killed birds using just my spinning wing decoy alone but lately if I am going light or in a pinch, 4 decoys hooked up to a jerk rig does just fine.

[Mfowl]

So ditch the mojo wind spinner and go for a pull string?

Wind spinners work too but the whipsplash works on calm days and can also be set to create ripples/splashing in your spread much like a jerk string.

[lokidog]

So ditch the mojo wind spinner and go for a pull string?

Wind spinners work too but the whipsplash works on calm days and can also be set to create ripples/splashing in your spread much like a jerk string.

Lots of threads singing the praises of the Whiplash. I'm going to make at least one  after looking at youtube.

[Jpmiller]

The most success I ever had waterfowl hunting was setting up with no decoys on a pond about fifty yards behind where my old man and his buddy would hunt. They'd spread out two dozen of the top of the line decoys, they'd blow their top of the line calls and sit in their top of the line blind with the top of the line dog and all the ducks would come try to land on an empty silent pond in front of a dumb kid hiding in the grass with his 870   

I won't claim to be a waterfowl expert or even any good at it. Now that my dad doesn't get after them anymore I have little to no success the once or twice a year I get out but I don't think the gear matters as much as the spot as has been said before.

[h2ofowlr]

So ditch the mojo wind spinner and go for a pull string?

Pull string allows you to stop the wings.  When the birds pass by you can give it a quick spin and the birds will catch it.  Lots of times spinning them around for another look or they will drop feet down.  Learning when to use them and when not along with timing the pull can make a big difference.

[HaydenHunter]

Scouting is first.  It will get you on an X.  Sometimes for us the X requires a few decoys and at other times, on the banks of a big water lake or river, it takes dozens.  We try to look like the gob of birds we scouted the day before.  If there are some on shore and others in the water, we go full tilt, bringing both floaters and full bodies.  After the divers come down in November we have to add them to our spreads.  Before that we can go out with puddlers only.

[Stein]

If you are where they want to go, anything will work.  If not, that is where decoys can really help.  Trafficking birds to someplace they didn't want to really go is the chore of many public land hunters.

I don't think I could pick a single answer, I hunt areas that range from salt marsh to cut corn field to ponds, sheet water and just about everything in between.  Very rarely do I think more than two dozen decoys are beneficial for ducks.  Last year, I started using higher quality and I do think it helps a bit, but mostly they last longer, are easier to use and the paint doesn't flake after a couple of uses.

If I had 6 full bodies and 6 floaters in a 12 duck bag I would feel pretty good.  If I added a pull string spinner and simple anchor system to use a couple of the 6 floaters as a floating pull string, I would feel very well set up for most areas.

That said, for $40-50 you can get a new dozen cheap floaters rigged.  You can add another $12 for the dollar store paper towel stand field conversions and kill a bunch of ducks under field or water conditions.

[HaydenHunter]

I should add that motion helps especially on flat glass water calm days.  For this, we use jerk strings.  Because I primarily hunt in Idaho where we can use battery-powered decoys we can use shakers and swimmers to create ripples and the illusion of active ducks.  I will throw in my wonderduck splasher but nothing beats the jerk string for hooking birds.

[Special T]

I refurbished my old decoys by only painting White with Titanium oxide in it on all the white spots exaggerating the size some what. Took hot soapy water and a brush to the white areas rinse well with hot water then let dry. the Geese and Drake pin-tail turned out excellent. We will see what improvements they make in addition to slightly wider neck rigs and wing patches on the mallards. Titanium oxide throws off a UV glow that real birds have that most decoys do not. Supposedly most noticeable in that magical hour at the beginning and end of the day.

[johnnyaustin44]

I’d rather have a whipsplash alone than 2 dozen decoys without one. Don’t know how many times I’ve said that but it’s getting up there. Can’t beat a spinning wing in most cases.

[Bill W]

If you know where to look you can get the whiplash decoys in standard or flocked.