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Variety

3K views 12 replies 5 participants last post by  wingnutty 
#1 ·
I was wondering what types of decoys you guys like to throw in with your mallards to add a little "pop" to em. do you need to stick to other puddlers if you are after only puddlers, or can you throw in some divers for contrast and still consistently get the puddlers to work your spread? Thanks
 
#2 ·
For puddlers we will mix mallards, widgeon, pintail and sometimes GWT. For divers, it's bluebills, redheads, goldeneye and sometimes ringnecks. What we put out depends on time of season and where we hunt, i.e., what birds we are expecting to see on any given day.

If I am looking at only mallards, I will usually put out only mallards.
 
#4 ·
for puddlers, I use mallards...I don't think adding diversity up here makes much difference, they all decoy to mallards just as well as anything, imo. I used to use teal, pintail and others, but it never made any difference to me. Hell, I've shot 25 widgeon and 10 gaddys over mallards this year so far and they all decoyed well. There are more important things to add to your spread than different species...
 
#9 ·
With 40 yrs of duck hunting I've found birds prefer their own.
Take teal for example, many say they are tough targets but they are like shooting buterflys if you do 2 things.Be where they want to be and have a spread of teal decoys for them to set to.Teal will buzz anything you put out but if you want them hanging in the air feet down at 10 yrds put out some teal blocks.

I've killed species of ducks that others have never seen in areas because I have had a decoy or two of that bird out.
I believe your spread should look natural to your area. Many times a flock of birds that won't give you a look is because they didnt see their kind there.
 
#11 ·
erminator said:
Makes sense, i might try to get a couple of the more commonly seen species out so that most of whatever flies by will work my spread. Then you just need to know which species move through at different times as adjust your spread as the birds dictate?
Yes if all your teal are gone in Dec, then leave them home .
If you have pintails in your area then have them in your spread
 
#12 ·
erminator said:
Makes sense, i might try to get a couple of the more commonly seen species out so that most of whatever flies by will work my spread. Then you just need to know which species move through at different times as adjust your spread as the birds dictate?
Bingo. I have a half dozen wood duck decoys that never leave my garage after opening weekend. The teal get shelved not long after that. Then it's various puddler decoys until the small water is frozen up and the northern divers come down. I then mix in some diver species. It's going with the flow and movement of various birds through your neck of the woods, with some situational / spot awareness thrown in. I take different decoys with me when am hunting a mallardy place on the big lake than I would take late season on the big river.

With respect to those who say that any blocks will land birds, I say that if you can stack the deck a bit by tailoring your spread to the birds that will actually be where you are on a given day, why not?
 
#13 ·
With respect to those who say that any blocks will land birds, I say that if you can stack the deck a bit by tailoring your spread to the birds that will actually be where you are on a given day, why not?
I guess i don't disagree, but i think it really also depends on where you are hunting and which species you are targeting. If I am hunting an area that has divers, I will throw divers. Generally though, if I am shooting widgeon, gadwall, mallards and teal, I've never noticed much of a difference and I have used decoys of all of those species in the past, hell i have a garage full of decoys that are gathering dust now. But obviously others have had a different experience.

I will say that I used to try all kinds of stuff (high quality dekes, flocking, variety, numbers, confidence decoys such as swans, geese, great blue herons, ...) to improve my odds and in the end I've realized that the single biggest things I can do to improve my chances is to spend a little extra time making sure my concealment is excellent and add motion to my spread. Those are the things that help me kill birds and now I hunt over the same decoys I've been using for 10 years now with some chipped paint, dents and dings.

To each his own though and if using different techniques and stuff works for you then go for it...that is what makes hunting fun!
 
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