louisianahunter91986

Hi everybody. i'm new to this site and new to duck hunting. I've heard that it makes a big difference how the decoys in your spread are set up, so if anyone could give me some suggestions on the best decoy spread, i would greatly appreciate it.

bullcan

The important thing to remember is that ducks do not like to fly over decoys and they like to land into the wind. Always make sure you leave an area in your setup that that they can land in. I will either arrange them in the shape of a J or I will arrange my decoys in 2 pods with the landing area in the middle of the pods. Also remember to keep your decoys within gun range. If you have even one decoy out of gun range, that is where the ducks will land, guaranteed. Welcome to duck hunting, you will find it highly addicting!

OneShotWill

First off i would like to say, welcome to the board and into the duck hunting world.

Once you try it, you will either hate it, or like most people, you won't be able to get enough of it. I would like to give you some advice. First things first, DON'T USE 2 3/4 inch shells, i would recommend 3 inch or 3 1/2 inch. Anyway about decoy set-up's. The J and I do work very well, but what i have found with puddlers is that they don't always form a certain letter or way. What we most of the time do, say we take 2-4 dozen decoys..we will take about 2-5 and put them at the edge of the pond and we will do this all around the pond(but leave plenty of room between them) and the rest we will put in the middle but leave a big hole for the ducks to land in. Also, if you have enough decoys, what i would suggest is making to spreads, one large one a little bit further back, and a smaller one closer to you...and make sure the smaller one has a hole to land in(most of the time the ducks will find themselves going to the smaller spread)..also different speices helps too...we don't just take mallards..we take gadwalls, wigeons, and teal. But what really helps is darker and lighter decoys..such as bluebills..since they are white and black..they make good visuals for the ducks...also Canada Goose floater/ fullbody's away from the duck spread is also another effective way. Some people wouldn't recommend this but for more success go with a Robo Duck or an Air Lucky Duck..trust me..they help...now some quick advice....

1. you can never have too many calls
2. the colder, the better
3. A clean gun will never fail
4. Scouting can really come in handy.
5. Watch the birds head movements(when your calling, if they turn and look at you in excitement, whatever you did to make them do that, do it again)
6. You can't beat a well covered ground blind(i like Finisher Blinds)
7. Practice your shooting and calling alot.
8. It's not always about the kill, Have fun, even if it's just you and another hunting buddy or whole group of hunting buddy's.

quackhead04

i wish i had alot to add but oneshotwill pretty well explained it all. but another setup that i like that hasnt been mentioned is a horseshoe setup. i try to make the bend of the horse shoe a little thinner with decoys than the sides. also i set up the bend right in front of me. but make sure the wind is blowin up your back for this setup. adjust the opening according to the wind direction. happy hunting!

louisianahunter91986

Thanks for the suggestions everybody. I'm going to try all of them this year. I have hunted once or twice from someone else's blind last year, but this will be the first time I hunt from my own blind and over my spread of decoys. Any other pointers about blind setup, and/or other tips will be greatly appreciated.Thanks, and good luck to everyone this season.

quackhead04

you can never be too camo! try and try harder to look perfect. spend as much time as you have to cuttin grass and branch's (depending on what type of hunting your doing) to make your blind perfect. ducks and geese have superior sight and this is the sense that you have to fool the most. camoflauge is important in any type of hunting but it is especially important in waterfowl hunting. try to pick a camoflauge that match's your surroundings. for example if your hunting cut corn fields or grassy marshes use max-4 or shadowgrass. if your hunting flooded timber go with break up. hope this info helps you kill lots of ducks this year!

veener88

Being a first year too this helped me out a little. Just wondering for calling how do I learn how to do this for duck and geese? This is when I feel bad that I do not have any close freinds that hunt.

Carpmaster

There are many instuctional calling tapes out there.....that IMO with a lot of practice will help you learn to call. Start simple and work into more complex calling routines.

Pointandshoot

i just started duck hunting last year, and it is the most fun ive ever had. if its one thing i learned from hunting last year, it is DONT BUY CHEAP SHELLS, I know its hard to stomach paying for hevi-shot but it is well worth it. now im not saying you should invest a ton of money into shells when you are just starting but you get what you pay for. all in all i would say for every box of steel you buy, buy one box of hevishot and try to mix them up so on some shots you use steel and on others you use hevishot.