DECOY QUESTIONS

[huntinhick]

okay,  So as I have mentioned I intend on getting back into duck hunting so I have been looking at decoys online and I would like to know what I should buy?  do I need puddle ducks, teal, mallards?  I live on the westside but I plan on hunting both sides.  its going to be at least one more season before I can hunt so I have time to build up my gear and would like to pick up several dozen decoys as they go on sale.  also intend to pick up some geese decoys as I go also. 

thanks
carl

[ducksdoom12]

my typical puddler spread for the west side includes
2-3 doz mallard 50-50 drakes to hens, number depends on how far im hiking in.
1 doz pintail mostly drakes with a few hens, and
1/2 doz widgeon drakes for visibality

[Crispy]

For puddlers I like 12 - 24 mallards (closer to 12 if I can manage) with a handful of GWT and wigeon mixed in.. If I owned a 6-12 pintail I would throw them out too, depending on which spot I'm hunting. Just my 

I'm clueless when it comes to diver hunting spreads.

[carpsniperg2]

most times we use about 12-20 deeks when hunting mallards and such always seemed to work good for us.

[Special T]

I would start with a dozen  green head gear hot buys and then ad some other kinds of birds for ralism... 4 pack of teal, a couple of tipper mallards, widgen, Male Pinail (I think hens look just lile mallards with diff colord feet and bills), maybee acouple of coots and or a buel harron/seagull for confidence... or you could sub 3 goose decoys for the confedince deeks.. 

[vandeman17]

For puddlers I like 12 - 24 mallards (closer to 12 if I can manage) with a handful of GWT and wigeon mixed in.. If I owned a 6-12 pintail I would throw them out too, depending on which spot I'm hunting. Just my 

I'm clueless when it comes to diver hunting spreads.

pretty darn close to the same as what we do. It depends on where we hunt mostly because it gets old packing in too many decoys. You really can't go wrong with the suggestion from Crispy.

[Stilly bay]

if I am walking in on public land towards the middle of the season I only pack half a dozen decoys. I got more with less in the areas that really get pounded by other hunters. 

[Special T]

True, do what others are not doing... I have a buddie that hase 5 dozen Coot deeks and only uses 6-8 mallard deeks... he does preety good late season

[terrellwa]

I think that you should have a setup unlike anyone else.  As you noticed everyone said 1-2 doz mallards, usually hotbuys, a couple widgeon, pintail and gwt.  So what if you showed up with 1-2 doz Pintails, 1 doz widgeon and 4 drake mallards, 1 wind decoy, 1 jerk string with 4 decoys attached, and tie your rigging onto different spots on your deeks.  As the ducks fly over your spread will not look like every other plastic flock they see and will come in for a closer look. 

[ellensburgpo]

You can't go wrong with GHG dekes. I've been getting a bunch in and for my money the are the best.

[General Disarray]

Everything will decoy to mallards.  2 dozen good mallard decoys is enough to set you apart from the rest of the crowd.  Buy the best ones you can afford, not the best deal you can find.

[vandeman17]

I think that you should have a setup unlike anyone else.  As you noticed everyone said 1-2 doz mallards, usually hotbuys, a couple widgeon, pintail and gwt.  So what if you showed up with 1-2 doz Pintails, 1 doz widgeon and 4 drake mallards, 1 wind decoy, 1 jerk string with 4 decoys attached, and tie your rigging onto different spots on your deeks.  As the ducks fly over your spread will not look like every other plastic flock they see and will come in for a closer look. 

You are a very wise man!  I agree with this post in that if you can differentiate yourself from all the other spreads that the ducks see then you will have more success. If you can do that, add movement and remain hidden then you will do just fine.

[Special T]

there are 3 componets to killing lots of ducks Location, Presentation, And Concealment.. If you pick any 2 at these you will have sucess... Probably the most heavely weighted is the location...

[Antlerking]

I am fortunate to be able to live in the middle of the flyway and I am able to hunt 3-4 days a week. I have noticed the #1 thing is location, if the birds are not sittin there they are probably not going to be there the next day, u might be able to pull a few, but if can find out were the birds are sitting the day before and they did not get pressured, you will find success. We sit 1 dozen decoys to 15 dozen decoys at times and have had awsome success with both spreads. The other factor is presentation. There have been times that we were not pulling in any birds, so we head and do a decoy shuffle and the light gets switched on and we bang em. It might be as simple as pulling a few mallard decoys or throwing a diver or 2 out as a blocker for the swing out. Its an art that wreally never gets perfected, cause when you think you have it figured out they will throw in a curve ball and you get to start over on the next swing of mig. birds that come in.

[WSU]

Another good thing to do is pick up some movement decoys.  I picked up a spinning wing decoy, and it makes a huge difference.  Same goes for jerk strings.  Another thing to think a lot about is what ducks are in your area.  Also, placement of your decoys is important.  I often find that I have better success placing my pintails on the outside of my spread (especially for shooting pintails).  Another example is later in the season it really helps to pair up your decoys.  All the real ducks are pairing up, so it makes your decoys look more like the real deal. 

[huntinhick]

what kind of spinning wing decoy do you have?  I know they are picky about them here however I looked at a bunch that use the wind to make movement even some that you put on strings like kites, some of them looked so cheezy it was not funny.  I have read over and over again that motion in the decoy is great so I was defiantly thinking about the jerk string.  sounds like I should get a sampling of several types and brands of decoys.  In the midwest they go with hundreds sometimes I am happy to hear that most here don't use that many.  that takes to long to set up and pack up!

thanks for all the inputs

[WSU]

http://www.aerooutdoors.com/products/action_decoys/duck_string.html

I have also seen the wind-duck kind slay them.  If you want, get a hold of me when the season comes around and we can setup a hunt so you can check it out.  I live in Oly, so I'm just down the road.

[General Disarray]

www.knottyduck.com

[h2ofowlr]

I have a few of the Knotty duck decoys.  I don't use them to often.

[Dustin07]

Here you go, almost everything you need in WA for $150. Add a motion decoy and you're good to go.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/spo/1896040900.html

I've hunted over spreads of only 6 decoys with motion, and spreads of over 120 decoys (ducks. with Snows I've hunted anything from 1 doz to 900). Different things work at different times and places. But my biggest consistency I've noticed is the success that comes with motion deeks. (wing flappers)

[AWS]

I hunt places that are hammerred on the weekend, durring the week, I run 5 pintails and 2 teal decoys if I'm carrying in.  If in a boat a dozen goose floaters, half dozen mallards a few teal and if it's moving water a pair of Goldeneye out in mid stream.  There are times that I'll place 5 or six dozen widgeon, pintail and mallards in tidal grass fields, they may only float an hour or two but the action can be crazy for that time.

AWS

[Whitenuckles]

I am fortunate to be able to live in the middle of the flyway and I am able to hunt 3-4 days a week. I have noticed the #1 thing is location, if the birds are not sittin there they are probably not going to be there the next day, u might be able to pull a few, but if can find out were the birds are sitting the day before and they did not get pressured, you will find success. We sit 1 dozen decoys to 15 dozen decoys at times and have had awsome success with both spreads. The other factor is presentation. There have been times that we were not pulling in any birds, so we head and do a decoy shuffle and the light gets switched on and we bang em. It might be as simple as pulling a few mallard decoys or throwing a diver or 2 out as a blocker for the swing out. Its an art that wreally never gets perfected, cause when you think you have it figured out they will throw in a curve ball and you get to start over on the next swing of mig. birds that come in.

Nothing beats pre-scouting. If your on the "X", it doesnt matter what decoys you have.