ORIGINAL: GordonGekko
gads and bald pates certainly won't hurt anything, but they aren't necessary to kill ducks.... I like using greenwing tealblocks because, for one thing,I like a bit of size variety, and I love it when teal buzz the decoys....
Most puddle ducks will decoy to mallards blocks fairly well.... heck puddlers will decoy to diver decoys pretty well, but the reverse isn't necessarily true...from what I've seen divers are more decoy critical than puddlers....
You know speaking of that, something I have found to hold true, especially in fairly big water and open rivers, is that if you mix duck and goose floaters (yes I know it isn't natural.... but it works and thats the point)... I've found that even mallards seem to prefer landing near the geese even over landing with their own kind.
I agree with you Gordon about divers being super picky. I've also found that pintails, when in larger groups) tend to be fairly picky as well. Same goes for black ducks. Wood ducks are extremely choosy too.... but even at that most of the time they will just buzz you once and be gone... kill them whenever they are in range because you often don't get a second chance.