# decoy spread



## adamb (Sep 23, 2007)

what speices of decoys should i put in my spread?


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## 1BandMan (Nov 2, 2007)

The species you would like most to shoot. Ducks land with thier own species for the most part.

Mix it up and have fun.


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## Mallardpin (Sep 8, 2007)

Harry Nutzack said:


> The species you would like most to shoot. Ducks land with thier own species for the most part.
> 
> Mix it up and have fun.


Then adamb should use coot and merganser deeks. :lol:


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## adamb (Sep 23, 2007)

Mallardpin said:


> Harry Nutzack said:
> 
> 
> > The species you would like most to shoot. Ducks land with thier own species for the most part.
> ...


no i'm good

so if i did a dozen mallard then either a dozen or 1/2 doz. pinnies should i do 1/2 GW teal or 1/2 doz. widgeons or 1/2 dozen redheads


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## huntducksordietrying (Sep 21, 2007)

What ever you want to shoot. Just remember that puddlers are set up loose except for teal, and divers are kinda tight in a line. Dont put out divers expecting alot of mallards to come in, and visa versa.


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## mezner1 (Nov 19, 2007)

I do not agree with the thinking of ducks landing with there own.
I say this because, the other day we had 8 dozen deeks out, mostly green heads and were only pulling in teal and red heads.


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## 1BandMan (Nov 2, 2007)

Ducks do land with their own specie.....FOR THE MOST PART. 
Mallards are probably the most common quacker out there and probably the most common decoy sold for the same reason. Ducks are social critters and do mix and land with each other, but for the most part they do land with thier own.


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## huntducksordietrying (Sep 21, 2007)

When I set my spread out. I put my pintails in a group out side of my mallards when I have a pintail sneek in on my it will land with the pintails. Its not to say that if I didnt have the pintails out he wouldnt have landed at all. All Im saying is that I wouldnt go puttin a bunch of Golden eye deks out in october. On the same token I wouldnt put out a bunch of teal in January. It just depends on what you plan on shooting. If you dont care what you shoot, then variety helps, make it big and loose.


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## avidhntr3 (Sep 26, 2007)

huntducksordietrying said:


> On the same token I wouldnt put out a bunch of teal in January. It just depends on what you plan on shooting.


I would...I've had some fun teal shoots in January! :lol: But +1 on your concept here...


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## dunn_gary (Sep 11, 2007)

I have been hunting ducks for over 40 years, if that means anything. I learned from my grandfather who was an avid duck hunter. He bought a 40 acre plot in West Corrine right next to Ducks Unlimited and North and East of the "millionaire" duck club (I can no longer hunt that ground, but that is another story). He said, that in shallow water, you could just take a shovel and turn over some mud and ducks would decoy in. I never tried it, but when it came to hunting ducks, he was always serious. I never saw him use anything other that pintail and mallard decoys. I wouldn't have any idea how many ducks he killed over the years. Actually, I don't have a clue as to how many I have killed. But my success rate has gone down since the lack of use of that private ground. 

I have, guess what, mallard and pintail decoys. This year, I have had wegion, goldeneye, ect. vitually land in my decoys. Over the years, I have had teal, mallard, pintail, red head, canvase back, wegion, goldeneye, shoveler, gadwall, etc. deke in just fine. Sometimes I think we are too suceptible to advertising, or unfounded belief. These days, are ducks more educated? Possibly. So does one have to adapt and/or refine their hunting skills, patterns, etc. Probably. Especially on public ground that gets pounded to death. 

All I can truely say is that you will have good days and bad days regardless of what you do!


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## bugleboy (Sep 25, 2007)

mezner1 said:


> I do not agree with the thinking of ducks landing with there own.
> I say this because, the other day we had 8 dozen deeks out, mostly green heads and were only pulling in teal and red heads.


Omg...lol _(O)_ When do you really see 96 mallards sitting together...

If you are a good hunter you will study the birds you are hunting...how they sit...why they are there...think like a duck...


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## silverkitten73 (Sep 20, 2007)

I run about a two dozen mallards, and half a dozen pintails, plus a baby mojo. I place the mallards in kind of a half circle (not sure how to explain without visual aids), and about 3 pintails on the eend of each side of the half circle. I place the mojo in the direction the birds will be landing in.

The white on the pintails, plus the white from the spinning mojo is what draws the birds in. I think I could have all brown colored decoys in place of the mallards and it wouldn't matter - it is the white that the birds can see from a distance that draws them in.

The other surefire way of drawing ducks into your decoys is to stand up and take a leak - that also seems to be a super duper way of luring ducks in. Not sure why - but everytime I find myself in that situation I turn around and am looking face to face with a flock of ducks.


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## Duurty1 (Sep 10, 2007)

silverkitten73 said:


> The other surefire way of drawing ducks into your decoys is to stand up and take a leak - that also seems to be a super duper way of luring ducks in. Not sure why - but everytime I find myself in that situation I turn around and am looking face to face with a flock of ducks.


Or Go #2


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## dunn_gary (Sep 11, 2007)

+1 on both of those. The other best time, is when you are in the process of picking up the decoys after a long slow day when there has been very little in the air. :?


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## spooner (Sep 25, 2007)

> He said, that in shallow water, you could just take a shovel and turn over some mud and ducks would decoy in.


dunn_gary - I have heard the same thing from some of the older airboaters. They refer to them as Mud Ducks.

Today, we use coraplast silo's - they work great.


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## gooseguts (Nov 9, 2007)

Yes, it's true as a boy and a lucky one. (dad had an airboat)
MUDDOBS were awesome you turn your shovel over a couple hundred times
and it looks like a huge raft of ducks. I'm talking all muddobs no decoys.
Some of my best duck hunts were done this way, and theres no dekes
to pickup.Most airboaters know this it's not quality it's quanity :wink: 
The guy with the biggest spread out on the big lake wins :lol: 
I pesonally think we as hunters give ducks waaaaaaay more credit in
the smarts department than we should. Now I'm talking ducks here geese
are a whole different ball game.

GOOSEGUTS


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## Ryfly (Sep 13, 2007)

I'm no expert by any means but my spread today was on Pintail one Gadwall and 4 Teal. I shot one Greenhead two Goldeneye and a Canvasback. Go figure?

I do agree that if you want to target a certain species then use those deeks.


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## bmj (Sep 22, 2007)

I used to only throw out mallard decoys. Then I added pintail and teal. Having a mixed bag has made a difference in bringing in birds, and the mix attracts all types of puddlers. The mix works great, but it is also very important how you set them up. I see far too many people who just throw their dekes in a big circle. I have found in makes a big difference to set up the dekes in small groups and spread them around. I set some out of range down wind from me and create landing zones. The decoys that are out of range pull the ducks up into the wind and into the landing zones. Ducks like to land in the middle of other ducks if they can, so create lots of space for the birds to land. My decoy mix has made a big difference, but even more important is how the decoys are set up.


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