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Sea Duck Decoys

3K views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  RedDog 
#1 ·
I finally decided that instead of hunting this year with 6 buffle heads (3M and 3F) that I would paint the three female decoys so they were identical to the males. I picked up this hint on a last hunt last year with a buddy of mine from Jonesport who only makes male buffle head decoys. He believes (as I now do) that the males are much more visible and that visibility (on the ocean) far outweighs the importance of having a 50/50 mix of decoys. Does anyone else use all (or a high number of) male decoys in their sea duck spreads?

Also, I have Golden Eyes, Oldsquaw, Eider, Buffle Head and Black Duck decoys that I would like to use when I go to the ocean this year. Does anyone have any "Specific" direction on how I should plan to set-up my spread? For example, can I put Buffles, Blacks and Oldsquaws on the same long line? I know that Golden Eyes need to have their own separate space in the spread but what about the other species?
 
#2 ·
Duckman.

For the sea duck spread I use all drake eiders 4 to 10 dozen depending on where I hunt and what time of year...I use all Jumbo Quack decoys which I change the heads to drake eider made by E Allen this set up works great because the jombo Quacks ar 23 inches long and very visible... I also use 2 dozen E Allen Scoter decoys all Drakes though not as important because the birds hen and Drake are dark anyway...I do not even carry a hen decoy in my boat,,,
 
#3 ·
I never bother with Bufflehead decoys when seaducking.....but I do use them for Bay hunting or on large rivers.......I only use drakes

as for mixing species.....I do mix scoter and eiders.....in fact one set of sleds I have are painted as scoter on the inside and eider on the outside....but on the full bodies I keep just one specie per line.....I do not use GE decoys since they are not regular enough in our waters to target....although I do have a couple spots where I know they are the target and set up accordingly if I decide to try for them

late in the season when there are long-tails around, I keep a seperate group of them since they tend to only decoy well to their own kind
 
#7 ·
When we set up on the Sheepscot River, we put out a dozen buffs and a dozen whistlers (not too far apart, but distinct groups) and a half dozen magnum blacks right close to shore. Kinda making a triangle. The buffs and whistlers don't really set in the decoys that much, but will buzz them well enough for some good shots.
 
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