Columbia basin

[vandeman17]

Is anybody going out and duck hunting the basin this weekend? My buddy and I are going out on Saturday to give it a go. He was out yesterday by himself and got 5 ducks and two geese. We went out last weekend and saw a lot of birds but had trouble getting them to commit. We tried soft calling, no calling, hard calling, no spinning wing decoy, spinning wing decoy and still struggled. The sneaky little buggars would work our spread but wouldn't finish and they wouldn't flare either. Evidentally we weren't in the X but we almost convinced them it was just as good. 

[gaddy]

# of dekes ?

[vandeman17]

We only put out 8. As the season gets older, I put out less and less decoys. Mostly because it makes for better hunting but also because we get sick of carrying them every weekend. 

[Madison]

I'd be suprised if a jerk cord and some ripples on the water couldnt help you finish more birds.

[GregFowler23]

Ya sadly i need to agree with madison on that one. But also from my what i have seen, larger spreds in the later part of the season help, mostly because of the amount of water that can be present, more birds in one area can possibly help the commitment.

[vandeman17]

I have a jerk cord and a pull string decoy that we use but the tough part is that normally its just the two of us so its tough to run both of those and call and be ready to shoot. Instead of floaters, I am considering bringing out a few full bodies to either put on shore or up on the ice but we will see. Thanks for the input.

[gaddy]

try breaking it up a little, a few full bods on the bank & a few floaters close with a couple out to get thier attention. do something they havent seed a thousand times in the season. Ive set up for geese (with floaters) in some weird patterns at the end of season & ended up getting more ducks than usual with no calling

[vandeman17]

That is something we often talk about but its hard this time of year because there are only so many choices because the limited amount of open water. There is one spot that I might set up that I am pretty sure hasn't been hunted all year. Only problem is that it is surounded by some thick cattails so even with my dog, it could be a tough retrieve if they don't go straight down. 

[CountryslickR]

Try more dek's...usually we go with less dek's at the end of the season, but his year the more decoys weve had out, the better the birds have been finishing in the basin as well as on the columbia..

[woodywsu]

Forget the duck decoys, bring the bigfoots. Geese have poured into the basin over the last week.

[mr.ktm95]

^^^ yes there have been tons of geese flying around.

[BIGINNER]

I WANNA SHOOT A GOOSE!!!!       PROBABLY WON'T HAPPEN SINCE THE SEASON IS NEARLY OVER