Duck Decoy head position- Comparing notes

[bigbuckdown]

comparing notes
How many different head positions do you usually throw out on your duck floaters ? as i am standing back looking at my inventory this year i noticed it has become a lot of active and rester over the years lol

What does your mixed bag look like ? Mine is mostly mallards with a couple miscellaneous others here and there I think i would like to add maybe some different sizes and more of a mixed species over the off season

also if you are running a jerk cord what decoy positions do you prefer hooking to it

 i have my wing spinners, jerk cord, and butt ups in there also 

any input would be nice on what to add 

[EWUeagles]

None of that matters. The only way it matters is to the hunter. If you go I like more feeders and butt ups and you have a great hunt then you will think that is the ticket and be more confident in it. Do I have what I prefer in my spread? Of course but that is only because it looks good to me. Like I don't like seeing all my decoys facing the same direction so I use different tie spots on. Does it matter? Nope not one bit. The only thing that I honestly think that helps is try making your spread look different. Is the guy next to you running 4 dozen mallards, maybe you run just 6 mallards or maybe you use all wigeon. I think looking different than every spread around you really does help.

I like feeders on my jerk cord only because I feel like they are longer so it might help move more water.

If there was a magic formal then everyone would know it and use it but there isn't. Decoys are just for fun and you should put out what looks good to you. The jerk cord and pull string will do more work than the decoys.

[Buckewe]

  like he said it does not matter. Setting up where the birds want to be is much more important.just try and mimic what birds you are seeing and you will be fine

[h2ofowlr]

Head positions on Duck decoys are meant to attract the hunter!    I have shot thousands of ducks over the standard up right head position.  I could buy and spend the additional money on various head positions, but still can only shoot  7 ducks. 

[AL WORRELLS KID]

Heads Up! 
Doug

[HikerHunter]

If you are worried about head position, hopefully you already have integrated the more important things like location, concealment, and brand of coffee your drinking...

[bigbuckdown]

If you are worried about head position, hopefully you already have integrated the more important things like location, concealment, and brand of coffee your drinking...

Yep but those are just minor details lol . other then the coffee got that down to a science now that is the first thing you learn in hunter safety if i remember correctly 

[outdooraddict]

to add to the conversation, whats the thought on flocking? crucial or not. I have a buddy that got into waterfowl heavy, and he sold all his decoys that were not flocked to buy flocked ones, they sure look awesome and the price tag was wy up there, but is the flocking important? and has anyone flocked their own

[bigbuckdown]

for duck i don't bother with flocking as my decoys can get kind of beat up while hiking in and throwing them in the water sometimes bumping into ice. seems like my duck floaters take a hell of a beating

[h2ofowlr]

to add to the conversation, whats the thought on flocking? crucial or not. I have a buddy that got into waterfowl heavy, and he sold all his decoys that were not flocked to buy flocked ones, they sure look awesome and the price tag was wy up there, but is the flocking important? and has anyone flocked their own

Will never buy a flocked duck decoy again.  They wear poorly unless you individually bag them.  I don't notice a difference on how they react to them.  I have a few hundred hunts over flocked ones and I probably harvest equal amounts over both.  Hide and set-up location trump flocked, unflocked or head position.

And a majority of my hunts over floating decoys I have been using a bag of hotbuys that I purchased from GI Joes.  They look like hell, but I am going to keep hunting over them until the birds just won't decoy to them anymore.  I will let you guys know when that happens.  So far I have 10 seasons on them.  I will say it again, duck decoys are marketed to the hunter.  Geese are significantly smarter.

[EWUeagles]

to add to the conversation, whats the thought on flocking? crucial or not. I have a buddy that got into waterfowl heavy, and he sold all his decoys that were not flocked to buy flocked ones, they sure look awesome and the price tag was wy up there, but is the flocking important? and has anyone flocked their own

I have seen ducks react differently to flocked decoys. I hunted the same spot on opening day 5 years in a row and the birds acted differently to the flocked decoys the two years we hunted them there. Of course there are so many factors that could of changed why the ducks decoyed better but it did feel like the decoys helped. That being said I sold all my flocked decoys. You have to baby them so much that is adds extra time to the hunt and after that it made it not worth it to me anymore.

I did start flocking my own decoys about 6 years ago so when I get a chance to only use 6-8 decoys I throw out only flocked decoys. I run 8 fully flocked Goldeneye decoys that they really seem to love. Flocked head only doesn't do anything in my opinion.