Non-Committing Birds!

[ctwiggs1]

Hey guys,

This weekend we ran into a recurring issue, and I wanted to get some advice from the pro's.

We had birds circle 2,3,4 times even and not committing.  I mean they would even set their wings for a few seconds and drop altitude a bit, then pick up.

What am I doing wrong?  Am I not giving them enough of a landing zone?  Do I need to rebuild my blind??

Curtis

[D-Rock425]

It could be a number of things hard to say what exactly try moving decoys around add some some movement to them

[ducksdoom12]

if they were not flaring, just losing interest, then its probably not your blind, though it never hurts to double check that,  I went out on friday and had that same issue with most of the puddler ducks I saw because the weather was just too nice and they did not want to commit to and single place, id always be tweeking your spread to what ever the birds are responding to that day and once we get some nastier weather you will start seeing some more commited birds

[ctwiggs1]

Sounds good.  One of my thoughts was that the actual LZ was just too small.  It's a field that is partially flooded, and I am taking up half the water with my dekes.  I think if I buy a dozen of those GHG field decoys, that may give them a better option.

[General Disarray]

If it was calm, I'd mix in a jerk cord. 

[Special T]

no wind = no movement   movement = shooting= dead ducks   

[ctwiggs1]

Interesting.  I will try it out this weekend!

Thank you,

Curtis

[banannaclip]

are you hidden ,alittle movement to your spread makes a differnce, bring some exta weights  and fishing line rig a couple jerk strings  use about 10lb test clear. keep it simple just alittle movement and your covered up good  should help ,dont over call its easy todo.

[Dustin07]

I still think if the birds were wingset though then flare, they saw you or something else your spread they did not like. maybe the dog.

If it was calm, I'd mix in a jerk cord. 

thats a good idea.

[ctwiggs1]

Awesome, this week I'm going to add more grass to my blind to conceal us better, and work on a jerk cord setup to add movement to at least three dekes.

[Dustin07]

Awesome, this week I'm going to add more grass to my blind to conceal us better, and work on a jerk cord setup to add movement to at least three dekes.

it can be hard to do multiple things at once, so while you're on the duck call tell your father in law to jerk it

[Special T]

Dutch Rudder 

[jordano]

no wind = no movement   movement = shooting= dead ducks   

always have to have some movement in the spread.. whether it jerk cord or whatever.
also, the landing zone is a big thing... last time I was out birds were half committing until we opened up more of a landing zone in the middle... worked much better....

[NWWABOWHNTR]

It also may have to do with how your spread is layed out... I like to keep a big area open for them to land in,  and arrange the dekes just like you see the birds on the water setting.  There are some good layouts on DU to give you some ideas. 

[terrellwa]

Awesome, this week I'm going to add more grass to my blind to conceal us better, and work on a jerk cord setup to add movement to at least three dekes.

it can be hard to do multiple things at once, so while you're on the duck call tell your father in law to jerk it

It really helps to have a good jerker in the blind. 

[ctwiggs1]

Awesome, this week I'm going to add more grass to my blind to conceal us better, and work on a jerk cord setup to add movement to at least three dekes.

it can be hard to do multiple things at once, so while you're on the duck call tell your father in law to jerk it

It really helps to have a good jerker in the blind. 

That makes me wonder what was really going on when you guys were on the flats the other day ;-)

[terrellwa]

That makes me wonder what was really going on when you guys were on the flats the other day ;-)

We had a good Jerker.   

[jordano]

That makes me wonder what was really going on when you guys were on the flats the other day ;-)

We had a good Jerker.   

hmmmm wonder who that was... 

[Dustin07]

jordan and terrel were up jerkin in and jhaze and I worked the rear.
no wait, we switched.

the jerk cord really does make some cool water movement though. could help some

you gotta learn how to call ducks with no hands though so you can jerk string with one hand and flutter decoy cord another hand. oh then you gotta grab your gun too. wait, how does this all work?

[ctwiggs1]

jordan and terrel were up jerkin in and jhaze and I worked the rear.
no wait, we switched.

the jerk cord really does make some cool water movement though. could help some

you gotta learn how to call ducks with no hands though so you can jerk string with one hand and flutter decoy cord another hand. oh then you gotta grab your gun too. wait, how does this all work?

[jordano]

jordan and terrel were up jerkin in and jhaze and I worked the rear.
no wait, we switched.

the jerk cord really does make some cool water movement though. could help some

you gotta learn how to call ducks with no hands though so you can jerk string with one hand and flutter decoy cord another hand. oh then you gotta grab your gun too. wait, how does this all work?

  

[h2ofowlr]

That makes me wonder what was really going on when you guys were on the flats the other day ;-)

We had a good Jerker.   

If you come home with a circle jerker from Queen Ann, you have picked up the wrong Jerker.   
Next time in the blind, change something up.  They were obviously not liking or seeing something.

[ducksdoom12]

I still think if the birds were wingset though then flare, they saw you or something else your spread they did not like. maybe the dog.

If it was calm, I'd mix in a jerk cord. 

thats a good idea.

ive never had a bird flare on be because of the dog before, ive called ducks in with the dog running around out in the spread, for whatever reason dogs dont bother the birds all that much.   my grandpa was actually researching a type of dog a while back where they actually train them to run around out infront of the blind....cant remember where that was though, it was a while ago.

[Crispy]

I still think if the birds were wingset though then flare, they saw you or something else your spread they did not like. maybe the dog.

If it was calm, I'd mix in a jerk cord. 

thats a good idea.

ive never had a bird flare on be because of the dog before, ive called ducks in with the dog running around out in the spread, for whatever reason dogs dont bother the birds all that much.   my grandpa was actually researching a type of dog a while back where they actually train them to run around out infront of the blind....cant remember where that was though, it was a while ago.

Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. Awesome dogs - I'm planning on getting one whenever I can convince myself I'm competent enough at basic obedience training with our corgi. 

[Glockster]

~They are seeing something that just isn't quite right to them so they go around again.  They are stupid so they don't remember exactly what it was they didn't like so they go around again and again and again.  (Widgeon are famous for this).

My guess is you're too close to your spread and they're seeing the blind.  Most people build blinds from the level point of view, ie what you see when you stand in front of it and look.  But the birds don't see it from that angle they see it from straight down or almost so.  Therefore you need to spend more time on concealing the top from them.

Most blinds look like a box of death from their angle....a square of brush and a dark shadow in the middle.  After getting shot at every time they see a "flock of birds" and this box of death, they won't go near any situation that looks like this....that is just a couple weeks away.  The other common problem is setting the blind so that the birds are looking right at it when they make their final approach.  When I used to hunt ducks my favorite set up was across and 30yds down wind of the spread that way they would never be looking at us in the blind and if they were less than finishing with feet down, you were close enough to be in range anyway.

I am also not a big fan of the dog sitting outside the bliind.  I've seen them respond to the dog many times when the dog is swimming or retrieving, but i never seen them finish with a dog sitting out in front.  Would you land in a field with a coyote or K9 predator sitting there?  It is often very tough to convince dog owners of this as they want their dogs to be able to 'see' the birds.  IMHO opinion dogs are the second most common cause of not finishing ducks because they whine and fidgit or are just sitting there in plain sight.   

Do you wear a face mask or face paint?  If you want to kill lots of ducks conceal your face and stop calling, get a jerk string and I'll bet you kill 50% more ducks than the other guy who insists on blowing the kazoo does.

[krbyers84]

My biggest recommendation would be to relax your spread, you said most of the water is taken up by your decoys but did not mention how many you put out, I would use less decoys. More decoys aren't always better, it's early in the season and birds are still pretty sparse i would use about 1 to 1.5 doz decoys in a very relaxed spread. I agree with what other people on here have said about making sure you are well concealed and if you have ??'s on whether you were not you were you probably weren't well concealed. A jerk cord and/or a pull string are both probably more valuable than a call however they should be used like a call, if the birds aren't responding then do something different.

[RileyTDF]

I would say this, Take everyone idea's here and put them all into play it really to hard to say it was just one thing, If 2 or 3 groups all do the same thing then its a sure thing that there is something that needs to be changed. With that being said. next time try little things, move or pull some decoys, just because you bring 3dz doesnt mean they all need to get wet. good luck man, and if all else fails dress up like a duck and fly around...always works for me.  lol

[Dustin07]

I still say concealment. 

[addicted]

i pinned an orange clothe to the back of my buddies jacket once and sent him to the next pond over. check your back next time 

[zzander]

i find some times its just the birds but more oftin then not i get a dipper going and that seams to help or some times it s the cause of my deaks being to close together so they look like they are on edge try getting more motion and getting the ducks off each other that should help

[Balladeer]

Make sure nobody threw a beer can on top of your blind.