bevsy Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Evening all, i am a novice wildfowler and am after a bit of help. I want to know what decoys you all find good and how you lay them in the water? What distance between each of them and directions thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiss.tony Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 (edited) ill take a rough guess seeing as iv never ever bin in my life 1st.............. wade out in chest waders or boat chuck them out with the weighty things on 2nd probably face them in too wind as most birds land into wind 3rd 10 too 15 yrds between decoys ish so they have room to land 4 th hide in a wet smelly ditch till the come into range jump up boom boom send dog out 5th goose or duck in bag hows that? Edited October 21, 2012 by swiss.tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 forget facing the wind but you must give approachind duck (normally comming into the wind somewere to land) although you only shoot them in the air you want to channel them into a kill zone. I like a v with a clump in the centre or a J hook. Your often limited via venue and present of current though and have to make do the best you can (sometimes its no more than a simple line along the fret edge in a strong flow). Its primarily important to place deeks were the duck want to be get that wrong by more than 40yds or so and the best you might get is a quick stoop as they pass on thier way to another flash, gutter or flood sort of like they are inviting your deeks to follow rather than asking permision to land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeredup Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 Pluck a duck!! you make it sound oh so easy Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swiss.tony Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 (edited) Pluck a duck!! you make it sound oh so easy Tony was a good effort me thinks seeing as i dont shoots duckys Edited October 21, 2012 by swiss.tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
utectok Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 I put mine on a line 5 separated by 2-3m anchored in a wee tidal burn simply because that's where I shoot. It attracts the ducks enough for a wee look if you call them and you then can have a wee pop!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted October 21, 2012 Report Share Posted October 21, 2012 What decoys and how you set them out will depend on where and what time of day you intend to use them. If its on a river or tidal creek you may need to use a mother line to clip the decoys onto. If it’s a shallow flash in a flooded field individually weighted decoys are best , if its flight pond then half a dozen individual decoys chucked in the middle will do , but you will need some method of retrieving them if the water \ mud is deep. Duck will come to any decoy in the half light of dawn or dusk , but if you are day tide flighting them the species you use can be important. For flighting in poor light use a big that stand out such as a mallard. If wigeon are the main species you expect to see on a tide flight then use mainly wigeon decoys. As Kent has said if you have a big stand of decoys out leave a hole in the pattern as a clear space for the ducks to land in. Treat duck decoying just like pigeon decoying , do not put the decoys in lines , keep the decoys within sensible range , place them where they will be very visiable. Do not try and decoy ducks under a flight line though. Watch the ducks and see where they want to go and use the decoys as fine tuneing to bring the birds in close. Use a 50\50 mix of sexes , but sometimes it will pay to use extra female decoys as they stand out against water better. If you look back through this post you will find a number of tips on this subject. Lastly every marsh and its duck are different so watch the birds and adapt your decoying to the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 confused as the drake is meant to be visible and the duck otherwise by mother nature, why do you feel the reverse? Now the molt is well underway i shall be steadily increasing the drake ratio in my spead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anser2 Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 (edited) Kent i learnt a lesson a few years ago , I had shot a winged wigeon over a mix of wigeon and pintail decoys ( both sexes ) and my dog lost track of the duck 150 yards away so I walked over to redirect her. Looking back at the decoys the dark females stood out against the pale water , but I could hardly see the drakes. The main colour of drake wigeon\ pintails is grey almost the same shade of grey puntgunners paint their punts. Because punters have found that battleship grey is the best camo over water. I sometimes stand in the breakers on a beach that the pinks travel along at evening flight. Wear a normal reed\leaf cammo coat and they see you , but wear a pale grey coat and they often fly right over you. Water reflects the colour of the sky so pale grey does not show like dark brown against it. Female ducks are brown so they have good camo while nesting not for open water. All I can say is next time you are decoying is walk a fair distance away and look at your decoys and see which ones stand out grey drakes or brown ducks. Edited October 22, 2012 by anser2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kent Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 interesting, suppose it depends on light conditions / glare and a load of other stuff like if they are on totally bare water or flooded marsh. I realse some things are not as they appear at times and will take a few longer walks round my spread from time to time and draw a conclusion on your thoughts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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