[birdblaster]

should I spread them out or just keep them close enough so the ducks can land in them

 

[texan68]

It depends on your hunting situation, and species of your decoys. If you are using decoys such as bluebills, or redheads, place them in tight groups. For puddlers I usually keep mine 4-5 feet apart. Puddle ducks don't like flying over other ducks in order to land, so you need to create a landing zone. All this is, is an open spot for the ducks to land in. Wind conditions, and the position of your blind determine where the landing zone should be. Obviously you want the ducks to land in front of you, so create an open area in front of you. So there should be no decoys directly in front of you, except for maybe a pair close to the blind. Also, ducks land into the wind, so if posible, position your blind so the wind is at your back. Very important, I see a lot of hunters make the mistake of placing their decoys to close to land, your closest decoys should be no closer than about 10 yards from the shoreline, and your farthest decoys should be no farther than the range of your shotgun.

 

[donell67]

depends how many we use. right now were putting our puddlers and geese about 5 feet apart too.

 

[duckdog]

:mrgreen: Seem's to me that the local duck's go for spread's that our spaced out a little bit more. As the season get's later I like to tighten them up a bit, and use less decoy's, or throw them out in two seperate group's, with the space being between the blind. I alway's use a J formation, has worked great for me. :thumbsup:

 

[h2ofwlr]

If puddlers are put too close together it tells the incoming ducks something is wrong--closely huddled puddlers are nervous ducks.

I like to put out family groups--especially if multiple species are used.

For divers I use the long lining method with the least being 6 on a cord with as many as 21 on the longest line.