Duck Hunting Decoys

Duck decoys are a mainstay of all duck hunters. The reason for them is to entice ducks to take a close look and provide quality shots for the hunters in their blinds. To that end, a good duck hunter attempts to make his duck decoy spread appear as natural as possible to ensure that ducks come in to close range. There are several types and species of decoys available. The majority center around floating decoys meant to mimic a duck resting on the water, but there are also field models as well as motion decoys that attempt to mimic ducks that are feeding in an open field or landing respectively. 

There are several duck decoy patterns that hunters use to enitce ducks to come into close range. Key things to remember when duck hunting in terms of decoy placement is that ducks like to land into the wind. Position your decoys such that the ducks have an open area to land into the wind that provides high quality shots. This one of the most important aspects of duck hunting that many hunters overlook. Two great patterns that are employed widely, but continue to produce year after year is the J and U patterns. The premise with the J pattern is to get the ducks to come screaming down the long shank on the J and land where the cup is formed at the base. This is deadly effective on diving ducks such as bluebills and ring necks, but also works well for puddle ducks. The U pattern is similar in regards to the J pattern, but there is no long shank. The ducks land in the center of the U shape which is designed to be place immediately in front of your duck blind.

One of the biggest changes to the duck decoy market over the past decade is the advent of the motion decoy. Whether it is the spinning winged decoy like the mojo duck decoy or a simple shaker that makes ripples, motion decoys can improve the realism of any spread. Often hunters who utilize motion can bag 2-3 times as many ducks as those that do not.

If there is a species of duck that flies it is generally available to purchase and add to your spread.  The most common duck and therefore also the most common decoy is the mallard.  The shimmering green head of the drake is something that just about every person has seen due to their relative abundance.  They also work well in the field to lure ducks close as the mallard is known to be a wary duck.  Other common species include the green and blue winged teal, gadwalls, pintails, bluebills, ring necks, wood ducks as well as many others.  The key thing to remember in terms of species selection is to match the birds that are likely to be flying in your general region and habitat type.

Duck decoys normally come in two different sizes.  Standard or life like sizes and the larger magnum sizes.  Magnum sizes are designed to stand out better against the water and attract the attention of the ducks better.  Standard sized decoys are less expensive and take up less space in your boat.

While often more is always considered better, the amount of duck decoys is entirely dependent on your situation.  There are times when a couple of decoys work better than a spread of 3 dozen, and vice versa of course.  Try to tailor your spread size to the size of are you are hunting and the way that the birds are congregating in the spot you are hunting.  If you are on a large marsh with a lot of open water it is likely best to have a large spread containing at least 3 dozen decoys.  You are likely to need that large mass of birds to get their attention.  However, if you are hunting a backwater slough or oxbow in a river system it may only require half a dozen decoys.  On top of size of water, pay attention to how the ducks in the area are relating to each other.  If they are in loose groups of 2-10, throwing a huge spread out there is likely to look unnatural and may actual hinder your chances at bagging a limit.  Later in the year when it starts to get cold this may be just the ticket, and putting out only 6 decoys could doom your hunt to mediocrity.