decoying duck

[TJ91]

i have never bothered with decoys but after being offered some at a very good price i thought i would give it a go this coming season, i have decoyed pigeons and crows but never wildfowl, so...

when decoying ducks on the foreshore and on lochs/big lakes do you put more male or more female decoys out??

 

how many in a group and how far apart?

 

Thanks

 

TJ

[poontang]

Try using a Heron

[Spaniel]

There was a great write up in the BASC mag May/June addition "Sex is the secret of success"

Later in the season a spread of spaced pairs or trios perhaps with 6 to 8 males surrounding a female stimulating a coutship is natural looking.

If you can get your hands on a copy its good reading and something i will try this season

[anser2]

I usualy use a 50\50 ratio of sexes in duck decoys. Its only during the daytime when the sex of a decoy might have some bearing on their efectivness as at flight time all the bird sees is a dark outline. As for using them over open water. Use as many decoys as you can carry , at least a dozen , but 30 + would eb better.

[Spaniel]

I normally put out 12 as that about the max i can get in the bag, but i go with another guy so we may have 24 out in a splash behind us, mainly in pairs ( 1 male & female) or if in a trio it would be 1 male to 2 females,

I have the UV painted ones not sure if that makes any difference but there you go.

 

Last season I think i had 5 ducks in total so it isnt large numbers like you could get when decoying pigeons

[scolopax]

On the foreshore shooting a tide I tend to use a dozen or so pretty much 50/50 male female, with the strong tide we have I usually used three fixed lines each with four decoys attached.

 

I find decoys are most effective when combined with a decent duck call, I mainly use a conventional mallard call but have also had some success with a teal call. My wigeon calling sounds good to me but the ducks themselves seem pretty ambivalent about it.

[Pinkfooty]

Sex (and species) of the decoys does not matter very much at all.

 

Lack of "shine" and realistic movement are far more important. If your decoys are in the least bit shiny, paint them all matt brown, using Fullers Earth in the paint to make it even more matt.

 

The number to be used will depend upon the location and whether the wild ducks are in any way "decoy shy". 50 is good, 100 is better but you will be limited by the number you can transport to the location. If you are trudging a mile over sticky mud, then a dozen may be all you can realistically carry.

 

The thing to remember is that, just like fishing flies, commercially produced decoys are made to attract the user rather than the quarry. The best decoyer I ever knew used old "Squeezy" bottles painted matt brown. The same guy also decoyed geese using goose shapes cut from old grey RAF blankets and laid out on the ground.

 

 

 

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Edited July 14, 2010 by Pinkfooty

[TJ91]

Thanks for the replys.

I have 12male and 12 female mallard deeks, 4 male and 7 female teal.

I have got plenty of weights as i do abit of sea fishing and have a good lot of 40lb line that i will use for motherline as it is too hefty for the sea fishing i do

[MC]

Try using a Heron

 

 

Funnily enough I was only talking to someone yesterday about using a heron decoy on the marsh close to where your decoys are. I must admit I haven't laughed so much in ages but will love to know if it works.

 

My own opinion on decoying ducks is the only thing that matters is that the decoys are large so they can be seen. The sex of them is irrelevant, some of mine do not have hardly any paint on them yet they still work.

 

One of the best days on shooting my flight pond was when there was a few duck laying dead on the water, the others just seemed to pour in to them. Even after we had finished shooting and were picking up they were still dropping in.

 

Most wildfowling that I do is morning or evening flights so at some point it will be getting dark.

[TJ91]

i have heard of using a heron, i mite try it as my uncle has a plastic heron over the pond i his garden (i have used it for crow shooting before).

it will just be a bit of an awkward thing to be walking across the marsh with!!

 

most of my wildfowling is done by dawn or dusk, but there will be the odd daytime spent relaxing on the marsh with the decoys out (just to get away from the mrs more than anything else!)

[washman]

TJ91 where abouts in malton are you i live in leavening.[jolly farmers pub]