Over the last twenty years I have hunted over countless duck decoy spreads and had the pleasure of watching how ducks responded and worked them. Through out these years I have learned through trial and error that having and choosing the right tools or decoys in this case is what success and efficiency is all about.
Learning how to adapt a duck decoy spread to a given location along with the type of ducks being hunted is very important. Many hunters will set the same decoys and number of them all season long. Not only can this reduce the effectiveness of the spread on particular days, it can also result in a huge waste of time if large spreads are consistently being setup. If you’re hunting a location where the ducks simply want to be there’s no need for spreads larger than 18 decoys. In this situation I will typically hunt with 9-14 decoys. On the flip side if I am hunting a traffic location that the ducks are only flying over we set up every decoy can get to the spot. What type of ducks being hunted is not a simple reference to specie, but rather if they have become educated or decoy shy. In these situations large spreads can be completely useless. When hunting these birds small very realistic spreads are the key to success. When hunting migrators I typically set out 3 to 5 dozen decoys. These are ducks arriving to new areas that are not sure where they want to land so you want the additional attraction and safety that a larger spread offers. Don’t forget the spinner on these days.
Creating highly visible decoy spreads has always proven more successful when hunting competitive public wildlife management areas. In looking back at the most successful hunts in this given situation I have observed that which ever decoy spread approaching birds locked up on first usually ends up finishing them. Several options exist to increase the visibility of a spread. First consider magnum or super magnum duck decoys. Although super magnum decoys may take up a lot of room they can be seen much further in the distance than standard or magnum decoys. Next use high visibility colors such as black and white. This means of course using more drakes than hens of any decoy along with species of decoys that have black and white. This is why we use black mallard, pintail, and even blue bill decoys in our spread. Having and using the right decoys for the location is also important. In shallow sheet water of flooded fields or river sand bars it’s hard to the beat the visibility that full body duck decoys offer.
Stagnant or motionless duck decoys have always proven to be very inefficient over my years of experience, even when setup exactly where the ducks want to be. Jerk strings or motion duck decoys are critical for success on windless days or when setting up in protected areas such as timber holes or cattail ponds. In these situations I typically downsize my decoy spreads as I would rather have 6 to 8 decoys look alive than the movement of a few motion decoys hidden amongst three dozen decoys sitting still. If hunting by myself I will always use a jerk string and a battery operated motion decoy for extra movement. If hunting with friends set out another jerk string, the more movement the better.
Good luck hunting this season and please remember to hunt safe - Jeff