As a friend and I were set up on the edge of a flooded field watching literaly thousand of pintails flying and circling we began discussing new options for our decoy spreads. the place we were hunting was about 10:1 pintails to mallards with a decent amount of teal thrown in the mix. Both of us have used the typical Mallard dominated spreads with maybe a a few pintails tossed in. Thinking of mixing it up next season, many more pintail, some teal, and some full body dekes at the waters edge.

anyways, just wondering what some of you guys do and if it has been successful for you?

I freelance hunt river bottoms or river mouths, mostly sloughs and backwaters from a boat.

My decoy spread is small, generally 4-10 mallards, dozen teal, 6 or so magnum scaup out in the open somewhere. 4 pin drakes maybe with a couple mallards. Everything is in it's own group. I will also set some geese out that singles or doubles flying up and down the river will come in.

These are all on diver rigs so I can set up wherever I want. High pressured public birds and we do as good/better as anyone I know who hunts public ground around here.

cool! I have 2 spots I hunt regularly. one is an irrigation pond that floods out this time of year. the other isa flooded field off the tualatin river. I like the idea of them having thier own groups.

what is your thought on various decoy postions? meaning, sleepers, feeders, butts, etc.

Sidenote. I have been using a decoy dancer (pull string flapper) and have been very impressed in this high water, pulling birds down with a little calling that I would have never imaged in the past....

Thanks RR

I never worry about that kind of thing. I hunt about 10 different holes, and for no more than about 3 hours at a time, and never hunt the same hole more than 1x per week. Like I said these are high pressured public birds, and I am hunting small roosting spots.

I hunt by going into the hole, lofting the birds before light, and shoot what comes back. I always sit on the X, and never around any competition. My main focus is not on burning out my little spots. I almost always shoot between 4- and 8 birds for the boat. Never get really nice long consistent shoots.

My main focus areas are:

1- On a spot where the ducks haven't been shot at for a while
2- Well hid
3- Decoy placement is N/A just get them out where the ducks can see them.

#1 is more important than the other two by a lot, but only for the way and places I hunt. As far as decoys, I like the scaup because they are black and white and stand out from a long ways away. I like the teal, because a) they are my favorites to eat, and b) you can fit a whole bunch of them in a cooler. I bring pins and mallards because they are the most common.

Thanks for the tips. I have been hunting for about 15 years but never serously, only when the rivers were not cooperating for steelhead. I just had ultra easy access. This is the first year i am actually paying attention. I keep hearing this "X" does that mean "dashit"?

I've found that a few pintails are enough. Set them away from your main spread by 10 or 15 yards. The pins often will land with the small group of pin decoys. Also, I like to put them somewhere visible because the white/dark contrast stands out well. Other than that, mallard decoys are pretty much fine. Get hidden and movement in the spread can help a ton.

has anyone had success with fullbodies at the waters edge, thinking that might make it look realistic..

Some of the best duck hunts come with a little scouting. Drive around and find where the birds are sitting and when, head back the next day, hide very well and regardless of 2 decoys or 200, you'll pound them. That's where they feel safe and they will go there.

But, there are public spots, especially larger bodies of water that require more decoys to draw attention. Many of our best days have come over 100+ decoys. Last year we had a spot that we collectively shot 5 guys for 5 days and shot limits every day and 90% of those birds were widgeon.

Those pintails you speak of are hard headed, over the years I've noticed they really like big spreads and bigger water. Putting out a dozen or two pintails can't hurt but I don't think you'll find much difference from what you are already using. More of any decoy would likely help.

I don't really feel the species of decoys you use really affects as much as quality of the decoy. JMHO...

Keith

We (my son and myself) really enjoy hunting the diversity of waterfowl species that are available here in Western Washington and have found that the best luck for finishing ducks for in your face shots having decoys of the species you want or expect is a big help. In short I'm a big believer in having some diversity in the spread.

While you can shot everything over a mallard spread most species seem to prefer their own if given a chance. Today 3 of us hunted some sheet water that had been used by the typical array of puddlers over a spread of 2 dozen full body mallards (placed on the shore/water edge, 20 widgeon (placed in open water), 4 teal (off to the side in shallow water, and 4 pintail (more in the center and with some separation from the widgeon). The result was a nice mixture of mallards, pintials, green wing teal and widgeon for full limits (also used both a mallard call and whistles).

10 days ago I had a solo hunt on the salt targeting teal. The spread was 6 widgeon (4 drakes and 2 hens) and 10 teal decoys. The result was a fun shoot on in your face teal (feet down cupped wings) requiring only 10 shells for a 7 bird limit (which for this so-so wing shot on teal is exceptional).

I would think if one wants to expand their spread adding a 1/2 dozen pintail and another 1/2 dozen teal would be a good additional to a basic 2 dozen mallards. If there are many widgeon in the area adding a dozen or two of them can be a plus.

However it should be noted that especially for a late season hunt a small spread (a pair of mallards or 3 or 4 teal) can be deadly. An added plus is that it allows you to be very mobile.

However a word of caution; especially for those of us that in addition to puddlers enjoy chasing various divers, some sea-ducks, snow geese, canadas and brant one can become decoy poor and storage an issue. You will find it helps to have a regular partner to share the decoy burden and you will want to build your collection with high quality dekes over time.

Curt

Thanks guys for the info.

looking to invest in some decoys this off season. might have to prostitute myself out to afford everything.....

Dont worry about the species of decoys. I hardly ever use anything but 2 doz mallards plus a spinner.
Buy a knotty duck or flutter wing.

David,

You are fimiliar with the area i'm hunting. Lots of pintails and teal. Would you consider a few full bodies at the edge of the water? Water has been way up so we had to set up in a less than desirable location.... i could have easily waded out and pass shot a limit in less than an hour but that has not been my focus lately. My goal is to become proficient at decoying birds. Had some good days as well as some frustration... learning every time
Out. I have a decoy dancer spinner. Some days they ignored while other days it was like metal to a magnet...

also a jerk cord is a good thing to run. I dont think species of decoys is going to be the magic ticket for you. Put a couple dozen out with a spinner and motion on the water and you should be able to kill birds.

Lets get out and shoot geese.

Good point. been experimenting with jerk cord as well. geese have been working the field off and on. I'll be in touch

When I hunt areas that have pintails I will run 6 pin dekes on the down wind out side edge of my spread. Pintails are are natorious for being a hard to decoy, good pintail decoys such as GHG will help get them in. I will pick out the longest tail and pass shoot them over the spread, unless they are mixed with mallards I get an itchy trigger.

Dude no [Bleeeeep!]! so true on being out in the decoys! My decoy dancer was a success this year. brought ducks down that would have been a no go before. a friend and I observed a group of ducks near where I hunt but on a private flooded field that was not being hunted. holy $hit! they were going crazy in the water, it looked like whitewater they were splashing like crazy.

2 notes for next season. workable jerk line and get access to that field when the water is up!