No doubt diver hunting is addictive, at least to some! Don't get me wrong, I enjoy seeing decoying ducks and geese period. But after seeing numerous puddle ducks and geese decoy throughout the season. It's nice to be able to get into something a little different when the divers make it down. And who could NOT enjoy seeing the divers scrafing the water, banking and turning towards your spread? I took my brother out on his first diver hunts this year, he LOVED it! He was amazed at how low most birds came in, and how fast they were flying. He was also excited about seeing the various divers that we encountered. He said he had no clue some of the birds even existed, and that the birds looked like they should belong in a foreign land. He had hunted with me in the past a few times, but we always hunted for puddle ducks and geese. So a few days of diver hunting he added some species to his "harvested list". Up until this year neither of us had harvested a Redhead (my brother hadn't even seen one). One mid-morning the majority of the ducks had made their morning flights and we were waiting for the goose action to heat up. As we sat there in the layout blinds along the Ohio river a small flock of birds came dropping out of the sky. As they passed by us I whispered "Divers !! get down !! No sooner as the words left my mouth the birds passed usright out of gun range and headed for the center of the river. I grabbed a mallard call and fluttered my tongue to give some diver calls. They banked hard and turned towards us. The birds decoyed great and as they were in front of us no more than 15 yrds out i called the shot. Three birds dropped and the two remaining birds made their way up river. I looked at him and said " That's awesome, we just killed our first Redheads and they are all drakes!" Looking at him all I could see was wide eyes and a big smile through his facemask. After retrieving the birds he sat and admired their beauty. It wasn't long and a single hen Redhead made it's way to the decoys, my brother finished off his limit of two with her. I wonder if she wasn't one of the two that made it out the first volley. He is getting the pair of Redheads he shot mounted. I believe he is now either addicted to divers, or dang close. He is talking about wanting to make a trip out of state next season to go diver and/or seaduck hunting.
I bought a Mojo Mallard when they first came out, and added a Mallard Machine soon after. They helped somedays, and hurt some others. But to me they were worth the money. These days they sit and collect dust. I havent had them out in quite awhile.
The things I wondered about are ..... if the wing motion of the Mojo wouldn't help catch the low flying divers' eyes, and if one would attach smaller decoys such as Bufflehead to the Mallard Machine if instead of tipping motion, it would cause diving motion, and help in sealing the deal on some "extra" birds.
I have used painted Mallard decoys in the past, and it has worked well on the divers for me. The only problems I see by doing this is that the aqua keels just dont ride the rougher water worth a crap. Have you ever tried adding sand, or lead to the keels to give them a little weight so they ride better?
