Whats the best decoy set up

A

Alex F.

New member
Wondering what the best decoy set up was. I was thinking of trying black ducks, mallards, pintails, and wood ducks, any suggestions?
 
It also depends on what you are targeting. Black ducks, mallards, pintails, and wood duck decoys would not be the best choice if you are after divers. The best thing is to mimic the ducks in the area and of the type you are targeting. Adding some white in the form of geese or swans can be good at times too.
 
Wondering what the best decoy set up was. I was thinking of trying black ducks, mallards, pintails, and wood ducks, any suggestions?
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I like to differentiate my rig such that it doesn't look like all the other rigs birds have been skybusted over all season.

Chuck
 
Not often they see a bunch of sewed up pillow cushions from the couch used for decoys! Must shoot the $hit out of 'em. Hehehehehe.

Trip.
 
I don't think I used the same set up two times in a row this year. What does your area have to offer? What kind of ducks are you seeing and do they want to be where you hunt? What time of the day are you hunting and what type of weather conditions do you have? All of this plays a part in the way you set your decoys up. Good luck in the next 40 years of setting up your decoys. Every day you hunt you will most likely learn something that you didn't know before. That is part of the mystique of duck hunting.
Al
 
Fill in your location, so we at least know where you are hunting.
Without more information, it is an impossible questions to answer:

What habitat are you hunting? Coastal bays, potholes, rice fields, flooded timber, etc...?
WHat species are you hunting?
Puddlers, divers, sea ducks?
Do you walkin, hunt from a boat, layout?
 
Sounds like you looked in my decoy bag for our first season, minus the pintail and add three goose floaters... LOL
 
scouting your area will tell you the answer,and then you have the weather which is a roll of the dice,,,as to having birds on the table...
shermie...
 
Sounds like you looked in my decoy bag for our first season, minus the pintail and add three goose floaters... LOL


No teal, Troy? I wouldn't be anyplace I hunt early without a half dozen teal . . . .

As said above, depends on where/where/how you hunt. Also, you should know that there are very definitely decoy "personality traits" you will acquire--and no two are the same.

I'm a big fan of being in the right place through scouting, setting out just a handful of decoys, and being pretty fussy about how and where they are placed relative to wind, blind, current, and the shore.

I have a buddy who hunts the same spot most of the season, and just tosses out 3 or 4 high quality decoys pretty much at random, and then sits down. Another buddy isn't happy without at least 18 decoys out.

We give each other a lot of grief when we hunt together, but if they are flying, we generally take birds no matter who sets the decoys.

Decoys help, and some of us think the details matter a lot, but don't overthink this, especially for puddle ducks.
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Wondering what the best decoy set up was. I was thinking of trying black ducks, mallards, pintails, and wood ducks, any suggestions?
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That's the equivalent of asking what vehicle you should buy. Way more information is necessary to answer...
 
Every day you hunt you will most likely learn something that you didn't know before. That is part of the mystique of duck hunting.
Al
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Mostly Al I have learned i live in the wrong freakin place !
 
Early Season: 3 dzn gadwalls, a couple of wigeon and pintails, 1 dzn bluebills, 1 dzn redheads, 6 cans and 6 buffies.
Late Season 4 dzn coots, 12 gadwalls, 6 redheads, 6 bluebills, a couple of cans and 6 buffies.
Divers on big water: 3 dzn bluebills, 1 dzn redheads, 1 dzn cans, 9 buffies and 3 GEs.
 
Early Season: 3 dzn gadwalls, a couple of wigeon and pintails, 1 dzn bluebills, 1 dzn redheads, 6 cans and 6 buffies.
Late Season 4 dzn coots, 12 gadwalls, 6 redheads, 6 bluebills, a couple of cans and 6 buffies.
Divers on big water: 3 dzn bluebills, 1 dzn redheads, 1 dzn cans, 9 buffies and 3 GEs.


Good grief! I'd need another boat just to haul decoys. These kinds of species and regional differences are exactly why we need to know where/when/what you're hunting to really help.
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Black ducks and wood ducks never work up here. Neither do blue wing teal decoys. For the life of me I can't figure out why.
 
Heck, thats reduction from I used to put out when I was a younger man. 9-10 dzn used to be the norm when my old partner and I hunted together in his 16' boat.
4 dzn coots, 3 dzn puddlers and 3 dzn divers.
Only time I hunt with less than 3 dzn is early teal season, when I use 2 dzn teal.
 
I always have widgeon. Always. We have a lot of widgeon here in the northwest especially on the coast and they mingle with the bluebills so I use them as fillers for the longlines. Other than that it depends on what i am targeting and where I am hunting. I used my Cansvasbacks and pintails only one time this year. I am pretty particuler about where they are set and how many which ranges from 3 to 60 depending on the situation. My main hunting partner is not nearly as anal about it so I catch a bit crap for it. It's taken about 10 years but he is starting see that it does make a difference. He typically hunts only one spot and uses the same thing every time in the same pattern. I have moved the decoys or pulled some in after birds are not responding and it has saved the day. So in answer to the question, everything!
 
I would like to share some sage advise from the decoy maker Tom Restle. When I was younger and asked him about decoys and what use and he told me that if you get Butt wet enough times at Four O'clock in the morning you will either learn something or quit.
 
I live in Southern Indiana.
The reason I'm wondering is because the ducks here are so used to seeing the standard mallards 6 or 12 or whatever it may be once the come off the refuge.
I've killed wood ducks, mallards, hens, shovelers, and a teal. But not to many. I haven't seen any black ducks.
 
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