Jeez Clint, I never ever said I knew anything about the use of live decoys and even stated this in a thread sometime this morning. I even said I had a stupid question relating to the use of live birds. And your right, I have no clue. I even posted on this site that I know nothing about live ducks. All I know is that they were used and outlawed. A little searching on the web revealed the following
"Live decoys were usually raised from ducklings or purchased for the purpose. The loudest specimens were chosen for the job. Two or three females were set out on the pond or lake out of sight of one another and would begin to call to each other and any ducks flying overhead. A 1932 federal law limited the number of live decoys a hunter could put out to 25, and three years later live decoys and baiting were made illegal."
And this
"By Lowell Washburn
As Iowa waterfowlers anxiously prepare for this year's duck opener, there is one type of decoy that hunters won't be allowed to take into the field. In fact, of all the waterfowl decoys ever devised, it's the only one that has proven so completely effective that its use has been outlawed in every state, province, and territory in North America. That deadliest of decoys is the live English call duck.
Loud mouths of the waterfowl world, English callers are pint-sized descendants of the wild mallard. Developed during the late 1800s in Europe, call ducks have but one purpose --- to make noise and plenty of it. Birds failing to make repeated, high volume attempts at luring wild ducks to within shooting range of their masters quickly found their own way to the hunter's stewpot.
But were live decoys really as effective as legend would claim? Old Time duck hunters who actually used the birds tell the story best. One of those bygone waterfowlers was Clear Lake's, Fred Quant. An early duck hunting mentor to my father, Quant was already too old to go afield by the time we first met. But I loved to hear Fred's stories and, as a curious 7-year-old, was totally fascinated with the boisterous flock of live callers he still maintained in a backyard coop.
According to Quant, old time call ducks were like fine bird dogs --- They simply loved doing what they were bred to do. A good English caller would talk to just about anything in the sky, he recalled. Passing flocks blackbirds, snipe, you name it. Anything with wings would trigger an immediate greeting. But most of all, live decoys loved the sight of other ducks. The closer wild flocks approached, the louder and more excited the clamor became.
Quant's methods were similar to those used by many Iowa hunters. After tossing out his spread of wooden decoys, a single live hen would be tethered to a nearby stake. The duck would begin calling as soon as wild birds were sighted. If the weather was unusually cold, live callers would receive periodic breaks. They knew the game well and eagerly looked forward to recess.
As break time arrived, Quant would carefully row his duck boat into the decoys and extend an oar to the weary bird. The call duck would quickly step onto the paddle. Once the oar was swung back over the gunwale, the bird would jump down and snuggle into the warmth of a small, straw filled compartment located below decks. A replacement caller would be secured, and the hunt would resume.
During the era of muzzleloading black powder shotguns, the skies above timber sheltered backwaters would often become completely obscured by the sulfurous white smoke of fire belching double barrels. Following a flurry of gunfire, the smoke could become so thick that retreating ducks were sometimes lost from view. Undaunted, the live callers would continue their noisy chatter. Upon hearing the siren song, departing flocks of mallards would often turn about and actually fly back through the cloud of smoke in an attempt to rejoin the decoys. Today, it is hard to determine whether this amazing phenomena was simply a stark testament to the live caller's deadly ability, or if it merely portrays how extremely plentiful and naive wild ducks once were.
Waterfowl enthusiast, George VanWyngarden had equally interesting accounts of his days afield with live callers. When we first met during the early 1970s, VanWyngarden still kept a flock of twenty or so callers at his Manson home.
"Of course, they're just pets these days," VanWyngarden explained. "But looking back, I think the call ducks added as much enjoyment to an outing as any other part of the hunt.
"They just seemed to bubble over with excitement, and their enthusiasm was contagious. We often used several ducks at a time, and they kind of fed off the excitement of the others," he added.
But even the best callers weren't necessarily perfect. Sometimes, especially during mild autumn weather, the ducks would develop a bit of a lazy streak.
"If wild ducks suddenly appeared and the callers didn't respond as quickly as we thought they should, we would pull out our duck calls and blow a couple of notes. Usually, that's all it would take to get the live decoys going," he chuckled.
In 1935, the use of all live decoys --- including the beloved English callers --- was forever banned. With hunters suddenly forced to rely on their own calling skills, the ban led to rapid improvements in the manufacture of commercial wooden duck calls.
"By today's standards, our old duck calls were really junk," recalled VanWyngarden. "They were just something we carried to wake up the call ducks. About half of the time, our calls were so clogged with pipe tobacco and weed seeds that they wouldn't even blow. When the live decoys were outlawed, people began to take duck calls more seriously. That's when the quality really began to improve."
I assumed, and have been told second hand (or more) that the reason they were outlawed was because they were so effective. I don't know first hand. I take back my above statement that says "disadvantageous to ducks" as I can't prove it." Sorry I don't have all my facts straight -
Mark W
