Targeting Pintails?

Dave Diefenderfer

Dave Diefenderfer

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We have pintails that migrate through this time of year... is there a way to target them? Preferred decoy spread, type of habitat? Seems guys get them in this area by chance, and we see them loafing but are looking for suggestions on how to entice them? I have some pintail decoys and take them but have no clue how to use them in the spread, and what to compliment with? Do you hunt them mixed in with other puddle ducks? Separate? Geese? Suggestions (constructive!) appreciated....

Dave
 
Suggestions (constructive!) appreciated....
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Dave,

Given the limited parameters you have set forth,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I'll set my Pintail decoys as a group but immediately adjacent to the Mallard decoys I have out. We often get Pintails coming in with Mallards during the course of the season.
 
They have always come into mallards for me. If we have pintail decoys along they are mixed right in with other puddlers. They show up well so it is nice to have a few. Pintails around here seem comfortable with very shallow water and even being close to or on shore but I'm dealling with pretty early birds. They may have different habits by this time of year.
Early in the season they like a lot of calling (hen mallard) but I hear as they go south they learn to be a little more leery of calls. Might want to have a pintail whistle, but I've never had much luck whistling to them like I have with wigeons.

Tim
 
Dave

I can't speak much for this coast, but where I hunt in Washington and Oregon, I find that you want to consistently kill them that you need a spread made up with a high proportion of pintails and to hunt shallow, temporarily flood flats with lots of seeds.
 
We use lots of coots around our pintails when we hunt our rice fields. We keep then seperate from the main spread and give them lots of landing room.
 
I always target Pintails. Use Pintail decoys, Hunt wide open places, Use the pintail whistle. They like to circle and circle and circle. My Favorite duck to hunt. From the last three weeks.

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you are getting good advice on here.
I would focus on areas where there is less than 24 inches of water

They will decoy readily to Mallard and Wigeon set ups.


And will come to a call of any of the above.


We get a lot of them out here on the left side, since they winter in our area. Neat birds.
 
Dave,
There is some great advice here. I had to comment on Rob's reply of "circle and circle and circle"! He is right on. I find that after the third circle they are about ready to go look for another place to settle in on. Good luck to you.
Al
 
Thank you all for you comments here and the PMs I received.... will be out on Saturday and give these suggestions a try... I have a dozen pintail decoys and we will be adjacent to shallow water so I will place them in a group a little separated from the mallards and blacks.

Thanks again...

Dave
 
We get a lot of pins on the coast here that stay close to freshwater stock tanks but like to come out to the salt water to loaf for the day and eat. I usually try to pattern there movements as best as I can. I find its easier to bring divers to you than bring the pins to where they dont normally go. I use a flag for the divers. I put out my normal redhead rig out in front and then on either one end of the boat blind or the other within gun range I put out my pintail spread. I use 6 butt up pintail feeder deeks about 15 feet from shore in a very tight circle. From what I have seen while out on the water pins will tip and feed in very close groups and they have sentry's close by, they just kind of work through the rotation. I then put about 12-15 pintail floaters spread out pretty well around the feeder deeks. If the birds are very spooky I use about 3-4 full body pintails decoys on the closest open bank. This spread works for me very well. The pintails this far south seem to find there wintering groups by mid December and basically stay in them. The trick is to mimic the size of the flocks around the area and pull in like sized flocks. Just my 2 cents.
John
 
The spots we usually see pintails is in very shallow water, 6" to 1' deep. They seen to be feeding on green stems & shoots of the submerged grass we have. So, I think the go shallow advice you have gotten is right on target. I would also agreee with putting your pintail decoys in a small seperate group.
Good luck!
 
I agree with the all pintail spread..where we hunt on the south shore I find pintails will stool much better to a full rig of pintails..and yes they do circle for what seems like hours..I applaud those G&H pintails...I feel they are the best decoy on the market.This season we passed alot of hunters on the way back to the dock...I pointed out to my son the different blocks we saw setup around the marsh.Those Greenhead gear decoys look good in the magazine pics but somehow dont look as good on the water and in bright natural sunlight.G&H has a higher profile and more vivid paint...just a personal opinion..
 
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I second the G&H pintail dekes, I have about 8 that are 25 years old and the paint still looks brand new. They look great on the water too.
 
We kill a lot more pintails off of turn rows (i.e. the bank) than we do from a pit with water all around it (ricefields in arkansas). 90% of the pins we killl out of our pit are on west winds... they like to work in big ovals instead of tight circles, and we always figgered the west turn row was so close to our pit (80 yards to dirt that way, 150 the other 2 ways, 450 to the east) that a west wind gave it that bank effect. I remember one day in the thaw last year, we killed 11 bull pins in 45 minutes, but couldnt get the last one when the wind shifted to the south...

sometimes you think they left, and they are just swinging wide. I mean real wide.

pintail whistles work for us. primos hi roller. the hens make a rapid raspy crackle of a feed call. usually for big flights of pins some of us will do both. travis
 
Thanks man... Ive always read occasionally, but have to log in to post, and have puter issues... yada yada. Not but a couple of places i get on the net internet at work now, so heck I guess Ill be round more! travis
 
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