Can to many decoys hurt Decoying...

mossberg835283514 · 01-29-2003, 07:34 PM

hello i need some help Waterfowl hunters.
I hunt a river.
And would it hurt me to put out like 200 decoys or is this to many deks for a river. Please helme out
Thanks for the help yall

Hothuntndogs · 01-30-2003, 12:44 AM

Well, good question! You must remember that you have to leave some room so the birds can land. I alway like to set up and leave some open room for the birds to land in.

Deleted User · 01-30-2003, 02:06 AM

[Deleted by Admins]

HONKERS · 02-01-2003, 12:56 PM

Hey Room..I do alot of snow goose hunting on the water and Fields..with snow geese you never can have enough..remember snows travel,feed,Roost in big groups sometimes 500 or more..so they feel more comforable with more of their kind..Most guys don't put alot of decoys on the water ,because of weight on their boats and expense..but the rule is..the more the better...when it comes to snow geese...and being sucessful...but..if your in the right spot..and you know the geese are using that part of the water.Nothing uh matter with setting up 4to5 dozen..i just would'nt use any less then that. honkers19001@yahoo.com

Edited by - Honkers on 02/01/2003 13:59:32

stuckinthereeds · 02-09-2003, 05:24 PM

I have to agree with Hothuntndogs. Depending on how big the river is, I would only set 5 or 6 dozen.

duck killer · 02-10-2003, 06:58 PM

If your river is more than 35 feet wide and not rapid water,put all those dekes out. I have seen thousands of ducks crowd into a river 2 feet deep and about 40 feet wide. Just leave them a place to land and you will be ok. I would say,depending on your specific setup, setup 2 large groups with a spot in between the 2 groups as a landing zone.

Without passion.....Why bother?

Bullkllr · 02-21-2003, 07:36 PM

Try it!

I' ve had great shooting on small sloughs using up to 200. Then again I' ve had good luck in the same places with less. Many factors besides #s. I think it helps to give the birds a natural look above all else. Use it if they might see that many real birds. Don' t use it if every other hunter in the area is doing the same.

RICHIE3 · 02-24-2003, 04:57 AM

I hunt the Missouri River quite often for ducks, and it has been my experience this past year that only 3 or 4 decoys did alot better job pulling in ducks, than several dozen. It must be something to the effect of the ducks are getting more and more used to large groups of decoys, or, maybe they think they are a little more secluded when finding a smaller group of ducks. I don' t know really either way, and when the duck tells me straight from his mouth, the secret will be out. But until then, I will have to keep carrying several dozen out to the blind, that way, it is better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them.

Redneck8 · 03-17-2003, 04:27 PM

good question but whenever I hunt I use 1-2 dozen decoys. The best year I ever had, I killed 300 ducks just huntin on the weekends, we used 6 decoys.

mrfishy34 · 03-17-2003, 10:11 PM

i will tell you 200 is alot i think. how many guys you hunting with? the max decoys i have used is about 18. but we also had 20 some goose decoys as well set up. basicaly all that i have been tought is what hothuntndogs said.

Quote:

leave some open room for the birds to land in

i would say got room for em to land and set them up the way they should be and it shouldnt matter.