# Duck Decoys



## MallardFlew (Feb 22, 2012)

I have 5-7 dozen mallard duck decoys and a spread of mallard (and some teal) seems like it gets overlooked by ducks because it is so common. I am diversifying my spread by adding pudler and big duck (buffs, canvas, goldeneye) along with the mallard and teal. 

What do y'all use?

If anyone is interested in picking up a couple dozen mallard decoys let me know... they all have tangle free weights...


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## LETTER-RIP (Sep 14, 2007)

I would be interested in a couple dozen for a good deal. I dont need the weights if that will help knock the price down. I was thinking around 30$ for 2 dozen. Let me know if you can do that.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

MallardFlew said:


> I have 5-7 dozen mallard duck decoys and a spread of mallard (and some teal) seems like it gets overlooked by ducks because it is so common. I am diversifying my spread by adding pudler and big duck (buffs, canvas, goldeneye) along with the mallard and teal.
> 
> What do y'all use?
> 
> If anyone is interested in picking up a couple dozen mallard decoys let me know... they all have tangle free weights...


Mallard, Teal, Pintail and Wigeon decoys seem to work fine for me this time of year. Early season, it's a lot of diver decoys with Pintails mixed in. 
*ALWAYS* use a few decoys with a lot of white on them mixed in your spread. Canvasbacks, Buffleheads, Ringnecks, Pintails.......;-)


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

your spread sounds fine, a jerk cord or any sort of motion in those decoys will kill ya more ducks than anything.


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## Sawbillslayer (Oct 24, 2013)

I use pintail, green wing teal, gadwall, wigeon, and mallards, I do pretty well. I take my jerk string all the time and I use it quite a bit. I don't like using spinners that much some birds do great with them and others don't like them. I always vary the size of my spread to where I am hunting and what I want to focus on.


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## BlackCloud (Oct 12, 2012)

Keep your mallard decoys and just repaint them for a fraction of the cost and it only takes a short amount of time. Here are some old mallards that I turned into redheads and buffleheads.


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## bug doc (Apr 19, 2008)

I agree that a few diver dekes add visibility to your spread. I always have a few bufflehead dekes deployed, as the black-n-white combination really stands out. I also always carry a few teal decoys. They add numbers without adding a lot of extra weight in your bag, and they provide very realistic movement even in light current when river hunting.


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

utahgolf said:


> your spread sounds fine, a jerk cord or any sort of motion in those decoys will kill ya more ducks than anything.


Jerk strings can bring them in like crazy. I always used to have at least 6-8 on a jerk string when using dekes. Saw a little gizmo at Sportsmans that sits on the water and wobbles to make ripples when there's no wind. Supposed to make it more lifelike. Fairly cheap but have no idea if it was worth the 20$ or not.


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## MallardFlew (Feb 22, 2012)

BlackCloud said:


> Keep your mallard decoys and just repaint them for a fraction of the cost and it only takes a short amount of time. Here are some old mallards that I turned into redheads and buffleheads.


That is a great Idea! I have also seen the gizmo thing that makes the water ripple at sportsmans. I have a bunch of quiver magnets and ducks and they work well it is just a hassle to replace batteries all the time. I have never used a jerk cord I will definitely do that... Do y'all make your own jerk cords or do you pay for them? if so which one(s) should I buy?


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## LostLouisianian (Oct 11, 2010)

Make em. Paracord and cheap bungy cords


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## MallardFlew (Feb 22, 2012)

If you can send me a picture of your jerk cords. I tried making one in the past it just got badly tangled the first two times I tried to use it... and I didn't want to deal with it anymore


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## utahgolf (Sep 8, 2007)

for small pothole setups, I take small eye bolts and attach them to stakes to stick under the water, and thread my cord through a couple of them,,, that way the cord isn't visible as you're pulling on the jerk string. you can then just attach the cord to one decoy and have it dive down like it's feeding, it only takes one or two of those to make it look really good on a small pothole. for bigger water and bigger setups you can go with different bungee cord style setups.


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## hunting777 (May 3, 2009)

For me anymore it seems like the less decoy I use the better we do. I have done some bigger spreads and it seems to veer the ducks off. But I have been using 6 -12 decoys and it seem to bring them in. A good friend once told me, " all you got to do is make to ducks fell safe. Use a few ducks and make sure you have some motion". Plus it is a heck a lot easier to pack in and out with fewer decoys.


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## Whiskey Hound (Sep 30, 2013)

hunting777 said:


> For me anymore it seems like the less decoy I use the better we do. I have done some bigger spreads and it seems to veer the ducks off. But I have been using 6 -12 decoys and it seem to bring them in. A good friend once told me, " all you got to do is make to ducks fell safe. Use a few ducks and make sure you have some motion". Plus it is a heck a lot easier to pack in and out with fewer decoys.


A lot of truth to this. I went from three dozen old beat up decoys last year to a dozen flocked relatively nice decoys this year. Mostly hunted Turpin at FB and did pretty good. Need to make me one of those jerk cords for next year though.


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