December 16, 2022 The Best Duck Decoy tips and Tricks for Pressured Birds By: Justin Hunold Make sure your decoys are visible but you are well hidden A lot of days when we venture into the marsh we find ourselves in competition. We aren’t just going head to head with Mother Nature and Father Time but also other hunters. And although some of us might be contest winning callers or crack shots there is one aspect of duck hunting that makes a difference time and time again…Decoys. You can call well but normally ducks won’t light into a hole unless you are on the X and shooting doesn’t matter unless they come in. More times than not though decoys are the money maker in the equation that is duck hunting. Here are five of the best duck decoy tips and tactics for hunting wary waterfowl. Keep it Clean- Keep Your Decoys in Working Order When you look at ducks on the water, on the shore or just out in nature what is one tithing they do a lot? Ducks preen, they clean themselves. Waterfowl by nature of both temperament, and anatomy tend to prefer to be clean. So, it stands to reason that muddy, scuffed, and just overall scroungy looking decoys aren’t optimum. Sometimes the ducks will not care, other times they will flare the second they see a mudded mallard drake. You can’t know on which day and which ducks will react in which way. I would venture to say that the realism of the decoy paint, shape and detail matter way less than them being clean and in overall the correct color patterns. I’m not saying a flocked head isn’t better but I think a clean, bargain bin decoy with bright, basic, paint will draw birds just fine in most cases when they are well taken care of and not all crapped up. This is not to say that high end decoys with immaculate paint schemes aren’t worth the money, because they can make a difference. Just make sure if you’re going to spend the extra to get the extra draw. Natural looking decoys are meant to look natural and in nature most ducks prefer to be clean. Keep it Moving- Adding Motion To your Decoy Spread We have covered the idea of motion in the spread in previous blogs, but the principle of movement in the decoys can’t be overstated. When we watch ducks being ducks and duck things what we see is a lot of movement in a natural flock. We need to be thinking about this is our decoy spreads too. Spinning wings are normally step number one in folks’ thoughts of adding motion to the spread, and a lot of times they are a great bet. Keep em clean, keep em charged, use your remote, and make sure to lean towards using them on the outer edges of the spread rather than in the pocket or X you want the birds to touch down in. If there is overhead cover available to mask the spinners, even better. Remember ducks see spinners from opening day to day 60, use some tact and reserve when employing them. Swimming or Feeding decoys are a great addition as well, but again I like these more towards the middle of a group of decoys and more to the outer edge of the overall spread. I want the birds to see the movement but I want them to have an open landing zone. At an airport the runway is always cleared for landings but the taxiways and terminals are always buzzing with aeronautical activity. The same thought applies to decoy spreads. A place where I will apply movement near the X is with a jerk rig. There are lots of ways to skin the cat with building a jerk rig, and all of them can work. Those differences are depth and water dependent. But if I could only have one source of movement it would be a jerk rig. And I don’t hesitate for the dekes on that rig to be close to the landing zone. Two more caveats on motion in the decoys. First, don’t tie off all your decoys from the front tie point. When you have a consistent wind all the decoys will end up facing the same direction. There are two holes for a reason. Secondly, a jerk rig or remote on a motion decoy is a great way to get a new hunter, or bad caller involved in the hunt in a real tangible and important way. That motion can probably lead to as many ducks as your calling. The same motion will definitely lead to more ducks than bad calling or an inexperienced hunter watching the sky because they don’t have anything else to focus on. Spread ‘em – Space Your Decoys Out More This is a great example of naturally spread out ducks . If there is one thing running long lines taught me it’s that spreading the decoys out can make the raft of ducks look much larger than the number of decoys would make you believe it could be. This is true in puddlers too. I generally carry somewhere in the ballpark of a dozen to a dozen and a half duck decoys on a lot of my hunting trips. Shy away from using the typical U shape with your 3 dozen decoys and replace it with a split spread with a few more spread out dekes. The ducks have seen the U and the J, they will work, but the ducks can’t spell and if they can, who knows if they speak english. I have taken to placing two separate pods or groups of ducks with a landing zone in the middle. A few decoys in each group will be very close to each other but the others will be spread out to look like a much more numerous group of birds. This setup has become my goto. I write for a living but I am not using phonetic symbols to dictate my decoy set up. With that more spread out for fewer decoy ideas at play, I normally run a pile of Mallards and then a couple Black Ducks or Shoveler decoys to add some contrast and visibility to my spread. I like to group those ducks a bit closer together and in the middle of the group of mallards. Take Your Time- Place Your Decoys Listen, we all run on very little sleep during the season. I understand that a lot of times you’re hitting snooze and letting the set up happen however it may. I beg of you, give yourself a few extra minutes to place your spread out rather than toss it our in haste. This is a tip I’ve seen work in action a lot. When everyone else is tossing their blocks out early and getting them soaked so by the time shooting light rolls around they are shining with ice, I have killed ducks over decoys that I painstakingly hand placed so as not to splash them. This gives them a more natural, less plastic and frozen look. Decoys not having ice on them doesn’t always matter. I have seen it matter in very high pressure situations. I’d love to tell you those times it was my calling that made a difference, but in my opinion I’m a slightly better than average caller but my attention to detail in set up tends to be better than slightly better than average. This tip is a lot like keeping your decoys clean. There are times when real ducks are covered in snow and ice, but that’s when it’s snowing and the November gails are blowing, not when they were in clear skies on a frosty morning. So, take a second and gently place your decoys in the water. You may be surprised how much difference this can make. I See You Hiding- Hide Your Boat Use your craft to get you near the spot, then ditch it and hide it well. This tip comes from watching people not shoot ducks that should be landing in their decoy spread, hide your boat. We all generally do a great job of hiding ourselves, our dogs, and our other gear but for some reason folks seem to act like their boat is Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and ducks will never notice it. You’re not Linda Carter or Gal Gadot, hide your boat. A lot of the time folks will choose to hunt from the boat, a little patch of aluminum heaven, dry ish and comfortable ish, but I choose to stash my vessel somewhere else close by. I learned this trick from our mutual friend TJ and I stick with it no matter if it’s a boat, kayak or canoe. I don’t hunt from the boat, I take time and effort to hide it. Picture you’re a duck cupped and coming into a nice group of your friends. As you drop down and begin to focus on the whole you see a green mass where there isn’t normally one. Or you’re circling over and as you make a pass you see a boat on the opposite side of the point from the decoys you were about to land in. They shouldn’t be there! It’s not safe! There’s hunters! I personally like to use a stool or seat and build a nice stick blind, or use a layout or just tuck myself in the natural cover over the timber or vegetation. When I do this I have stashed my watercraft within easy walking distance but it’s covered with grasses, burlap, camo mesh and sticks. It might not be there everyday but I make it look as normally natural as possible to the overhead birds. I believe more birds get saved by boats that look like boats than maybe anything else. Take a second and hide that thing. I promise your friend doesn’t need to hear your story that badly. If you’re alone, what the hell else do you have to do? It’s your job to do stuff right! Closing Time This isn’t to say you can’t kill ducks with a dirty, no motion, tightly packed, J shaped, soaked looking decoy spread from the comfort of your boat. You truly can. But why risk it? Isn’t part of the fun of waterfowl hunting the details, the constant adjustments, and doing your best to fool those flying survival machines? We hope these tips and tactics give you something to think about and maybe bring you a little extra success when the ducks are pressured and don’t want a typical spread.
November 4, 2022 Motion in the Ocean: Adding Movement in Your Decoys While Duck Hunting By: Justin Hunold Go to your local pond, river, lake, reservoir or even street puddle where you regularly see ducks. Lots of things will seem random, the vocalizations, the number of ducks, the mix of sexes, the age structure, the species of birds. One day you might walk out there and see nothing but some Suzy’s with their young ones and other days you might spot a group of drakes with a random spoony in there. They might be chuckling away and hailing other ducks in the air one minute, to being dead silent the next second. There is one thing I can promise that will be the same about all of these scenarios. There will be movement. The what, where, why, and how model lines up with adding motion to your set up. So let’s take a look at a few of the options for each of these principles and help you get more birds in the freezer over the next few months. What are the best ways to add motion into your decoy spreads? This is everyone’s favorite category, gear. These are just some of the options to add into your bag of tricks. This will focus on a few simple options that can be managed by one to three hunters over a modest one to two dozen decoys that will be set up and taken down each hunt. We will also be looking at options that can fit in the decoy bag and be easily hiked, canoeing, kayaked or bought by a relatively small boat to the spot. There are big, intricate, and high production options that we won’t be talking about because these don’t fit this narrow description. Spinning wing Decoys: What are they? Spinning wing decoys are exactly as the name sounds, decoys that are either floating or suspended in the air by a long stake that have spinning wings. The wings can either be activated by wind or battery power. They can be any species of duck and can be either sex. Some popular brands are Avian X, Mojo, Lucky Duck and Higdon. These aren’t the only options but just a few of the more popular ones. Where to use them? Most folks will say that spinning wing decoys are great to use over dry fields. When we are talking about picked corn or other such food sources spinning wings are a must have. They are also great for hunting Diver Ducks, where motion is the main attractor. The other place they are commonly used is to compliment a standard spread in the whole or pocket that you want the ducks landing into. Why use them? You should think of spinners as attractors not closers. They grab attention, like some sort of car ad. Hey come look at this new truck. That got you in the door, then they got you with someone to actually sell you the truck or “Close” you. Same principle applies here. Spinners get the birds attention and oftentimes can get them to swing towards you. They are not the finishing touch though. How to use them? I personally like a floating spinner on a remote. This allows me to control what looks like a duck stretching its wings, as opposed to a duck just flapping away suspended in the air. This is a decoy I use near the X but often adjust depending on the reaction of the ducks. The same idea applies to suspended spinners, hanging there in the air. They are big time attractors. If budget allows I like remote models so I can decide when to kill the motion. This is generally done when the ducks seem to commit to the spread. Spinners cover mistakes and I think that it’s a great investment for newer hunters. Swimming, Splashing, Feeding, Quivering Decoys: What are they? Yes, we turned this into one category. Essentially, we are looking at any single decoy that adds motion in a non wing spinning way. They can swim, spit, sputter, pulse, quiver or splash and they do this by a battery actuated operation. Sometimes this is done by a spinning magnet, or a water pump or even a propeller of some sort. They add a natural motion of a single duck swimming, stretching, feeding, dabbling or any other imitation. Popular types are active swimmers, quivering single decoys , or duck butts that have action. Where to use them? In my opinion there is no wrong time to use these decoys when on the water. You cannot use them on dry land so, if that’s your game don’t bother buying any. I find even a couple of quivering duck butts can add a ton of reality to my spread. Smaller early season ducks like Teal and Woodies really key in on these. I cannot tell you how many woodies I’ve taken using a simple gray quiver magnet…it’s a pile though. Why use them? Simple to carry, simple to set up, and pretty natural movement, this style of decoy is the easiest way to add realistic motion into your spread. A lot of the time they can be a replacement not an addition to some of your other decoys making them great on space saving and set up times. How to use them ? I like to use these often, basically in every spread. Place them in the middle of a cluster of your other decoys to add motion to all. It’s a simple game for every dozen or so decoys. I like one of them to be this style, more if I can afford it. How often do you see a bunch of ducks completely still on the water? Never is the answer, which is why these are so great. The Jerk Rig: What is it? Simply put a Jerk Rig is a decoy(s) anchored on one end, with a piece of elastic material tied directly to that anchor, then a line from that elastic material to the decoy, then a line from the decoy to the hunter. Jerk the line and the decoy will swim and move naturally wrong under tension of the elastic material. There are probably hundreds of ways to make a Jerk Rig. Look it up on the internet, you can use weight, stakes, or a premade kit. In my opinion this is the most cost effective way to add motion to your spread and the Granddaddy of them all, the OG motion set up. Where to use them? My first instinct is to say everywhere there is water and ducks. This application is great in any spread and a lot of folks won’t hunt without them. Some folks will even choose a jerk rig over calling. They tend to be used in shallower water, and in some places with really deep water would be almost impossible(Think Diver Ducks here). If you’re hunting puddle ducks you can’t go wrong with having a jerk rig. Why use them? This is fairly self explanatory. Jerk Rigs are one of the easiest, fastest, cheapest, most practical way to add motion to your spread. You can likely make a jerk rig from stuff you have in your garage. How to use them? I one time had an old timer tell me” Start jerking as soon as you set it out and stop when you pick it up.” and that’s sound advice. Yet, I think just like the other decoys in this article you should probably start the action upon visual acquisition of the ducks and stop when they seem like they are committed to the spread and ready to be finished. There isn’t really a wrong way to use them or a bad place to put them in your spread…..Just use one. So, now you know some easy, fairly inexpensive and deadly options that any duck hunter can add into their arsenal. These are small scale, easily portable and highly effective decoys and tactics to use them in. I will say this, ducks might love motion in the decoys but they hate it in the blind. Keep you and your companions still, and covered. Doesn’t matter if they are two legged or four. If you guys are moving and easy to be seen, no decoy in the world will make those ducks finish. In the end there is no magic bullet and hunting is hunting. Do your job and put in the effort and sometimes you’ll be rewarded for that with duck, but all the time you’ll be rewarded by just being out there.
