hey guys its me again...im a beginner....so I was going to go down to spirit lake here in iowa and was wondering if it works to put out mallard teal and diver duck decoys or what kind of combinations work? I also would like to know what brands of decoys work best. we have mallards teals and divers around here
decoy advice
- Thread starter jordan
- Start date
Nemont
Well-known member
Scouting, concealment and finding where the birds want to be will make more difference to your success then the brand of decoys.
Nemont
Nemont
RUT JUNKEY
Well-known member
TOM IN TENNESSEE
New member
Yep....
Actually I have found the best brand of decoys to be whatever was on sale....
Actually I have found the best brand of decoys to be whatever was on sale....
MTpubliclander
Member
I always mix my mallards and teal together along with a few other puddle ducks. divers i don't know about but i think that the way you set up your spread will be most important try and adjust it to force them to land where you want, and my decoys have always been the cheapest possible.
TOM IN TENNESSEE
New member
Got a buddy at the dump.....when a long suffering wife or kids who don't hunt inherit "daddy's decoys" and bring them to dump, he salvages them. I give him $10 for whatever he comes up with---got six big foot geese and 4 or 5 dozen ducks this way!
On placement, I always put a hen mallard or two fairly close to my hide or blind....ducks look for the caller.....if all your decoys are 20 to 35 yds away from where the calling is coming from, it ain't natural.....not that my calling sounds all that natural anyway....
On placement, I always put a hen mallard or two fairly close to my hide or blind....ducks look for the caller.....if all your decoys are 20 to 35 yds away from where the calling is coming from, it ain't natural.....not that my calling sounds all that natural anyway....
RUT JUNKEY
Well-known member
. . . .also, if the ducks are way cautious. . .get a Heron decoy. . .works like a champ!
I agree with the previous posters about concealment and scouting being the most important. While you're scouting look at how the ducks are bunched up or spread around. The divers seem to stay closer together and the puddlers spread out more IMO.
A very important aspect to consider is wind direction. On a North Wind most of the ducks will be on the North shoreline and the same goes for a South wind the ducks will be on the South shoreline. Set up your spread with the landing zone so the ducks can land into the wind.
The best advice is to get out and hunt with whatever you got. You'll learns something on every hunt and make sure you scout as much as you can. Good luck.
A very important aspect to consider is wind direction. On a North Wind most of the ducks will be on the North shoreline and the same goes for a South wind the ducks will be on the South shoreline. Set up your spread with the landing zone so the ducks can land into the wind.
The best advice is to get out and hunt with whatever you got. You'll learns something on every hunt and make sure you scout as much as you can. Good luck.
Duck-Slayer
Well-known member
Personally, concealment than a quality decoy, than your calling on ducks, switch calling and decoys for geese.... For ducks I use Don Mintz/body language decoys, fully flocked, for late season and I put them in the kill hole, use any fairly decent plastic for fillers too bulk your spread, I don't goose hunt fields much, but a perfect hide and good calling are a must here, other places that get weather calling probably isn't as important, my buddy kills 8 geese a week with original Hardcores he repainted, but he is the best I've heard for calling geese,
Matt
Matt
