Wind duck decoy placement

[fishermanjoe]

I am curious at to where some fellow duck hunters like to put their wind ducks. My bud and I had a nice spread with a good breeze with the wind duck in the upper half of the landing zone. Thinking that if a duck were to land it would be in the LZ so we put the flier there. The only problem was that the ducks would flare on it. (at least that is what we are assuming) There was plenty of room for the ducks to land so we are ruling out the fact that we were choking them out. Where is the best place to put one of these decoys in your spread?

[Tealer]

Lots of opinions on this one. I put mine right where I want them to land kinda close to the water. Like 3 feet of the water or so. I have bent some parts up from dead birds falling on it, couple oft buddies have shot them.

[Buschingc]

I usually put mine on the outside edges...

[General Disarray]

I put mine in the garage! The birds will flare on it no matter where you put it in your spread.  Buck up and buy a pull string spinner like a Flutterwing or Knotty Duck.  Spin it when you need it and leave it when they get close.  Your success will improve greatly.

[fishermanjoe]

I am a poor college student with Christmas shopping coming up. I am also borrowing the spinner from my father. soooooo I cant buck up. But you can buy me one... that would be nice

[h2ofowlr]

I would pull it if they are flaring.  The wigeon and pintails seem to suck into them on many occassions, but the mallards will flare at times.  Depends on how much they have been pressured.  Lots of guys use them up here, so the birds get used to them.

[ducksdoom12]

put it on the up wind side of the hole where u want them to land, I find that they will not fly over the top of it to land and flare if they have to do that,  but will not flare ( or will flare less) if the do not have to go over the top of the spinning wing.
I usually end up putting it so it looks like its trying to land in the decoys on the up wind side and the birds will come and try to land behind it.

[Stilly bay]

I have been doing quite a bit experimenting with mine in the last few weeks. here is what I have found.

spray paint half the white off the wings. usually its way to much white except for in the nastiest of weather.

coat the thing in some type of very flat clear coat. make sure there is no chance for the sun to glint off it. rain and sunbursts are a bitch coz the rain (waves do the same thing) will shine it up and then the sun comes out and makes it look like a disco ball.

place it with its tail in the water, or with the wings just above the water and the rest submerged, and stick a couple floaters close to it.

birds committing to the decoys won't fly over the wind duck for fear of crashing into another bird, so they are great for blocking the birds off from a certain spot in your spread if you play the wind right.

never let your wind duck be by itself. I have always had the best luck with mine being lost in a crowd of decoys rather than sticking out like a sore thumb.

and lastly don't put it out if its not windy enough to keep your decoys moving a little and the wings constantly flapping.

[ICEMAN]

Stilly Bay, great pointers. I might have to borrow a few of those... Thanks.

[General Disarray]

I am a poor college student with Christmas shopping coming up. I am also borrowing the spinner from my father. soooooo I cant buck up. But you can buy me one... that would be nice

Lay off some of the 4 Loko's and save for a week! Or put one on your Christmas list. 

If not, just leave the winduck at home and you'll still do better.

[TheHunt]

I put mine in the garage! The birds will flare on it no matter where you put it in your spread.  Buck up and buy a pull string spinner like a Flutterwing or Knotty Duck.  Spin it when you need it and leave it when they get close.  Your success will improve greatly.

The Knotty Duck is much easier to fix in the field when your hands are cold then the flutterwing. 

[General Disarray]

The Knotty Duck is much easier to fix in the field when your hands are cold then the flutterwing. 

Agreed, but my Flutterwing spins easier and I can change my tubing in the field in less than 5 minutes now, even with cold hands! Just takes a little practice.

[fishermanjoe]

I am a poor college student with Christmas shopping coming up. I am also borrowing the spinner from my father. soooooo I cant buck up. But you can buy me one... that would be nice

Lay off some of the 4 Loko's and save for a week! Or put one on your Christmas list. 

If not, just leave the winduck at home and you'll still do better.

I have never had a 4 loco, I will stick to my single barrel. I have a buddy that meet one of the 4 loco girls. She was not the sharpest tool in the shed. Total dits. Leave it to some freshmen that got away from mommy and daddy to give a bad name to CWU.

[fishermanjoe]

coat the thing in some type of very flat clear coat. make sure there is no chance for the sun to glint off it. rain and sunbursts are a bitch coz the rain (waves do the same thing) will shine it up and then the sun comes out and makes it look like a disco ball.

Are you coating the wings or the body or both?

[ducksdoom12]

I am a poor college student with Christmas shopping coming up. I am also borrowing the spinner from my father. soooooo I cant buck up. But you can buy me one... that would be nice

Lay off some of the 4 Loko's and save for a week! Or put one on your Christmas list. 

If not, just leave the winduck at home and you'll still do better.

I have never had a 4 loco, I will stick to my single barrel. I have a buddy that meet one of the 4 loco girls. She was not the sharpest tool in the shed. Total dits. Leave it to some freshmen that got away from mommy and daddy to give a bad name to CWU.

well it is central, it kinda gives itself a bad name

[Stilly bay]

coat the thing in some type of very flat clear coat. make sure there is no chance for the sun to glint off it. rain and sunbursts are a bitch coz the rain (waves do the same thing) will shine it up and then the sun comes out and makes it look like a disco ball.

Are you coating the wings or the body or both?

I coated the wings after sanding them with light sandpaper because they were waaaayyy too shiny for me. and I coated the body just for the heck of it since I have noticed water will run off decoys with a flat/heavy clear coat faster than just the factory flat paint.

 :dunno:wether that was the key to success or not I don't know. but before I painted the wings and clear coated the miserable thing, birds wouldn't come near my spread unless it was super nasty weather. after I painted it up I was having birds land feet away from the wind duck on bluebird days with just enough wind to keep the wings turning.... and thats good enough for me!

[fishermanjoe]

right on i will have to try that. But the wings and body arnt that flashy..... I might have to post a pic for your input. There is a blue sticker on it that is super glossy that i will rip off.

[Stilly bay]

right on i will have to try that. But the wings and body arnt that flashy..... I might have to post a pic for your input. There is a blue sticker on it that is super glossy that i will rip off.

what I have been using is a mojo wind duck decoy ( full body) it sounds like you have a winduk. use your own judgement when modifying that one. just ask yourself if it looks like a duck flapping its wings trying to land or does it look like a big azz pinwheel from the fair?  as far as the mojo is concerned it was too white and too shiny. I just figured if birds will flare off my sunglasses flashing in the sun then shiny decoys are bad news.

[fishermanjoe]

Yeah I have the winduk. I have the old school one before they did the photo graphics on the body. The paint job on it looks super cheap. I will be blacking out half of the white on the wings.