I don't have any experience with the higdon, but I have a dozen of the dakota mallards. They are nice decoys but not worth the money IMO. The keel is small and you have to loop the cord to put ot less line in shallow water. The GHG "clip" is much better. They might look a touch nicer than several other brands, but when it comes down to the subtle differences movement is more important. I'd take several other dekes with some movement in the water over the dakotas...and if you go with somehting else you can afford it.

 

my hunting partner got a dozen dakotas a few months ago on sale, they do look great. it would be nice if they did have a clip like the ghg. as far as movment in the water goes do you use one of those motion decoys that shoots water or something? ive looked into those but the reviews are always horrible and we usually hunt lakes so even a slight breeze usually makes the dekes move.

 

It depends on the weather and location for me. If it's really calm and I don't have a large spread a couple shakers seem to work. Mind you, it won't pull them in from a long ways off but if the birds are circling I tihnk it helps. Sometimes I'll use a spinner. My favorite is probably some kind of swimmer, and a jerk string will serve the purpose in a pinch. If it's windy I don't worry much about motion dekes other than maybe pulling out a spinner.

With all that said, I'll take being in the spot they already want to be over anything.

 

Check out body language decoys. You can get anything flocked. They also use a flocking process that doesn't wear off near as quick as the others I have seen.

 

those decoys looks legit. only thing that sucks is the more flocked decoys you have the more slotted bags you need and they take up a ton of space compared to the usual decoy bags.

beretta: since a swimmer is your favorite have you used one of those hidgeon swimmers? or is there another brand im not familiar with? i have never really got into motion decoys besides the spinners because usually when we are hunting shallower water its a spot where the ducks want to be already. its the big lakes where you need to compete to draw them in.

 

You might laugh, but I still use an old wonderduck now and then...without the wings. It moves just a little water but the orange feet are noticeable from a little ways away. I've been looking at some other options but haven't pulled the trigger yet. I use shakers on a regular basis when there's no wind, but they don't seen to hold up well without adding some silicon to seal 'em, and might be more of a pain inthe ass than they are worth.

 

hahah thats awesome, i always see those things when im watching old duck commander movies. they would do the trick for calm days im guessing.

 

Shoot, my decoys are older than me or else storm fronts and hot buys. I'll have to tag along with you guys and your fancy decoys, lol

 

i also have storm fronts and hot buys. but now that i have run out of things that i "need" for duck hunting, i have started replacing cheaper stuff with the "better" stuff. guess ill see if at actually makes a difference this year, if not i can just be the guy at duck camp that brags about his expensive decoys.

 

In my area it's rare ta get the ducks ta light in the decoys. With the fully flocked it happens much more often. I'm mainly talking mallards. Widgeon, teal, and woodies are a no brainier when it comes ta decoying.

 

After talkin with the Dakota rep at the gamefair this weekend might lean toward the the new dakota floaters. 130 a dozen, paint is guaranteed, comes with 7 extra heads if you dont like the flocking on them. Definately will look nice mixed in with the G&Hs.

 

just picked up the hidgeons at cabellas, my buddy has the dakota deoys and they look great but these hidgeons are much better due to the fully flocking imo. on the other hand its 100 bucks for just a 6 pack. when we have the dakotas and hidgeons out together this year i dont see how any duck could resist, lol

 

I've got the Dakotas too. Good deeks fer the money but still preferin the fully flocked.

 

does anyone have diver decoys that arent ghg? we have a bunch of ghg and i think they are good decoys just seeing if there is a brand out there im not aware of.

 

does anyone have diver decoys that arent ghg? we have a bunch of ghg and i think they are good decoys just seeing if there is a brand out there im not aware of.

Cabelas has g&h oversized for 130 a dozen cans I believe if you want to spend a lot of money on divers there is a few companies out east that make foam divers but you pay a lot for them big water decoys that has an add on the site has very nice decoys but again pretty expensive and if you can find them online herters are always a good choice

 

I have a couple buddies that run a lot of G&H divers. They've never had a complaint and the paint sems to hold up well.

 

I've always heard you could paint up milk jugs and decoy divers (aka they weren't very picky). Maybe make a foam mold and some rattle cans would be the best since it seems like diver decoys usually get the blunt end of flying BBs more often than not.

 

I have 6 dozen old foam ones I found in my uncles barn, after a little air brushing, those are the best ones I have but they are heavy to carry. x2 on the G&H decoys, have a couple dozen cans and they have held up real nice. Cabelas Real Image Blue bills look nice.

 

I agree that the Cabelas Real Image blue bill decoys look nice. I actually really like them but hard to get because they are always on backorder and a little spendy. Was a great b-day present.

I saw it mentioned in one of the posts and something I'm really learning is that having some sort of movement is crucial.

Anyone ever use quiver magnet h2o's? Have seen good and bad reviews on the internet.

 

never used em, thought about it but most the reviews i read were bad. i think they are better for very shallow water.

 

If you're going to use quier magnets it needs to be dead calm for them to really be noticeable, and the O-ring seals don't last long if you don't put a litle oil or something on them. I think there are better options, but it's hard to beat their price. It's also something that gives birds just a little more confidence when circling (assuming you're well concealed), and isn't going to pull them from a distance. just my 2 cents.

 

If you're going to use quier magnets ...

You hunt in front of the 90s? :yes:

 

Well played, Goldfish!

 

I'm a quiver fan but I hunt mainly back sloughs where there is no water movement. I'm also a huge jerk string fan.

 

Lol, this is getting too easy.

I just got a couple jerk strings last year. Didn't really get to use them. Never was in a situation I think they would have helped out more.