Duck decoys

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 3, 2009 by JohnGalway

[anser2]

You will find places where decoys are great and other marshes where they are a waste of time. Its a case of trial and error. I shoot a lot of duck over decoys in broad daylight over big tidal creeks.

 

Standard floating decoys are by far the best. Forget about " duck bums " feeding decoys as by the time a duck has got close enough to figure what it is you should have already shot it. Beware about using decoys on the foreshore. You need an area where the foreshore is rather steep or have a creek with banks that are likely to stay above the tide or an island. On a simple shallow sloping foreshore the variation in the tide can be so great that with an offshore wind the tide might not float them or with a onshore wind the tide may make more than its predicted height and flood you back out of range of the decoys. There is nothing worst than to watch duck flying towards you only to shear off and land in your decoys that you have been flooded out of range of.

 

On a pool , lake or small river floating decoys are good , but you need to know your saltmarsh before you attempt to use them there. On a feeding spot a handful decoys will be plenty , but if you shoot the tide in daytime take as many as you can carry.

 

As for making your own I do not think they are worth the effort unless you want to try your hand at some wooden ones for the living room. There are plans in Colin Willocks " Bedside wildfowler ".

 

At dusk or dawn the species of decoy does not matter , mallard are good starters as most duck will decoy into them , but if you mainly shoot the day tides and the main quarry are wigeon or teal then use wigeon or teal decoys. Look on ebay for bargains otherwise a dozen decoys can get a bit pricey. There are lots of good decoys about but sportplast from Italy , decoys must have lured many thousands of duck to their doom.

Edited August 28, 2009 by anser2

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 3, 2009 by JohnGalway

[Ferretboy111]

An interesting read, duck decoys in a pond would be a waste of time i take it? I flight a few on my shoot, and have always thought about decoys.

 

Alex

 

[Suffolk shooter]

An interesting read, duck decoys in a pond would be a waste of time i take it? I flight a few on my shoot, and have always thought about decoys.

 

Alex

 

 

Not at all Alex, in fact dependant on the size of the pond in question and whether or not you are feeding it up, you don't need many at all.

 

For the ones on John's I would suggest no more than 2-4 (1 drake and 1-3 hen mallard), chuck a coot/moorhen/heron decoy in as a confidence decoy and you'll get them in no probs. (but then birds come into yours anyway, don't they )

 

If you're feeding them then there should be no need for decoys, as long as you and Truffle are well hidden and stay still until the last minute then nothing should spook them (apart from 32g of 5's whizzing at/past them).

 

SS

 

PS no maize cover crop this year next to John's

 

John,

 

Check out Mack's prairie wings website to give you a taste of what great decoys look like. The yanks certainly no how to make them look good.

Edited August 27, 2009 by Suffolk shooter

[mikee]

i tried all sorts of duck deeks over the years but now only buy teal, they are less than half the size of a mallard, fowl cant really tell the scale of things, thats why those huge canada goose decoy hides work, where you could only get a dozen mallard in a bag you can get about 30 odd teal and make a much more visible pattern

 

mikee

[henry d]

Agree with most of Anser`s answer (geddit!) however if there is a good flow of water there are some good feeder duck deeks, a duck and drake mallard with outstretched necks and when tethered they move side to side as the beaks act as a rudder in the water and as we all know movement in a pattern of deeks can make or break a good day

 

As for patterns, just have a good gap between two bunches of duck, also early season you can get good results with lots of deeks and later in the season just 2 or 3 will work.

 

Finally, get a good call and practice ! I use THIS and THIS.

 

Welcome to `fowling

[starlight32]

An interesting read, duck decoys in a pond would be a waste of time i take it? I flight a few on my shoot, and have always thought about decoys.

 

Alex

 

 

 

No point normally, the birds in flight are heading to the pond anyway- so having a few decoys is something which can sometimes put them off as they won't pull in if it looks too crowded.

[Ferretboy111]

Not at all Alex, in fact dependant on the size of the pond in question and whether or not you are feeding it up, you don't need many at all.

 

For the ones on John's I would suggest no more than 2-4 (1 drake and 1-3 hen mallard), chuck a coot/moorhen/heron decoy in as a confidence decoy and you'll get them in no probs. (but then birds come into yours anyway, don't they )

 

If you're feeding them then there should be no need for decoys, as long as you and Truffle are well hidden and stay still until the last minute then nothing should spook them (apart from 32g of 5's whizzing at/past them).

 

SS

 

PS no maize cover crop this year next to John's

 

 

Yeah the birds tend to come in no problems anyway, got around 30 odd regulars, but wasnt too sure whether decoys would help. Thanks for the tips; none of johns cover crops are maize anymore as they are under the ELS, so at the moment my covers are low kale, mustard, sun flowers and sorghum, but luckily the weather has been kind and they are growing up slowly.

 

Many thanks

 

Alex

[ziplex]

Agree with most of Anser`s answer (geddit!) however if there is a good flow of water there are some good feeder duck deeks, a duck and drake mallard with outstretched necks and when tethered they move side to side as the beaks act as a rudder in the water and as we all know movement in a pattern of deeks can make or break a good day

 

As for patterns, just have a good gap between two bunches of duck, also early season you can get good results with lots of deeks and later in the season just 2 or 3 will work.

 

Finally, get a good call and practice ! I use THIS and THIS.

 

Welcome to `fowling

 

I've just bought a Buck Gardner acrylic call......damn difficult to blow well so this bit about practice is right for sure. This and Anser 2's post was really informative, third season for me and still learning

[grasshopper]

Just walk around snapping Kit Kats..worked on the advert!

[Suffolk shooter]

Finally, get a good call and practice ! I use THIS and THIS.

 

Barnie Calef's calls are extremely good, well how can you argue with someone who has won the Duck calling world championship 3 times. He is a genuine man who I have had quite a few chats with and managed to pick some good calling tips up from.

 

Check out some of Rod Haydels calls and the website will give you some tips as well. Try youtube for some calling vids from Haydel, Calef on duck and Tim or Hunter grounds for Geese. Scott Therien is current World champion Goose caller makes the most valid point ever regarding calls. "You can have a $200 dollar call, but if you have $2 hands, you only have a $2 call".

 

It is all about practise, practise, practise. Recently I was sent gratis a Haydels SC-04 short reed Canada goose call by a guy on an american forum after I asked for some advice on a goose call. I've had it for about three months now and have learnt 4 calls solidly enough to try in the field this year. Its all about the back pressure you create with your hands and the sounds you make whilst blowing.

 

Don't go waving your hands at the end of the call, it serves no purpose other than to increase/decrease back pressure and volume. If you're going to move your hands do it in between notes. Goose calls I have no problem with, but other than the hail, comeback and greeting call for duck, I can't get a feed chatter going at all despite plenty of practise at it. The yanks will tell you that feed chatter is useless over there and is only used to fill in sections of their calling betwen hail, call back, hen cluck, greeting etc.

 

Try sounds like dugga, digga, tugga, tigga when calling for duck and Haupta or Tauha for goose. Place lips on calls as if you were drinking from a glass coke bottle (not the 2L sort). Its also important to realise that it is the hen Mallard that makes all the noise, not the drake and for that reason I suggested to FB111 that he go with more hen than drakes.

 

Remember hand movement doesn't make the call sounds!!!!! For back pressure on Short reed goose calls, place the call so the exit hole sits betwen thumb and forefinger, curl hand over to form fist but not tightly, so fingers touch your palm. Take your other index finger and raise the middle finger next to exit hole so that a gap of about the size of your index finger is formed. This is where the back pressure is created and the sound chamber formed. next take your free hand and cup your other hand so that the fingers are curled around by the little finger. this enlarges the sound chamber and also adds back pressure.

 

Remember each call is different and all take different pressures to operate, some are louder than others to aid calling in tight places such as flooded timber, where as others are quiet where loud noise isn't necessary such as wide open areas, where sound gets out easily. You don't have to blow their eardrums off, their sense of hearing is far better than ours.

 

At the end of the day with calling practise is everything, but nothing beats finding a pond somewhere with duck or geese on and listening to the sounds they make and why they make those sounds. I've done it, got funny looks from fisherman or dog walkers, but I have got the Canada calling down to a T, because of it.

[JohnGalway]

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Edited September 3, 2009 by JohnGalway

[Suffolk shooter]

Suffolk Shooter aka "The Duck Whisperer"

 

John,

 

I think Funky would disagree on that one (Now he can certainly call) and say something about me sounding like a duck on acid. Donald Duck on E. You get the picture Goose not bad, but still not likely to be featuring at the world championships

 

 

Did you take a look at Macks Prairie wings :yp:

[Pinkfooty]

Back on the decoys question, one of the most successful decoyers I ever knew used washing-up liquid bottles painted either matt grey or matt brown. He laughed when he heard the sort of daft money that I'd paid for "lifelike" decoys (which were about 7/6d at the time.) For his goose decoying he used old RAF blankets cut into rough ovals and laid over the stubbles. He used smaller ones for woodpigeons.

 

Probably the most important factor for any decoys is that they must be completely matt and not shine at all.

[anser2]

Henry , I have never used the type of feeding decoys you describe and can imagin their potential. I was talking about the upending feeding decoys ( duck bums ) with just the tail sticking out of the water. I still recon that beyond 40 yards a duck would not have a clue what they were .

[henry d]

Henry , I have never used the type of feeding decoys you describe and can imagin their potential. I was talking about the upending feeding decoys ( duck bums ) with just the tail sticking out of the water. I still recon that beyond 40 yards a duck would not have a clue what they were .

 

Yup. I agree, that`s why I sold most of mine ! Here`s a pic of the feeder drake......

 

[motty]

I use the avery greenhead gear mallard decoys. They are very realistic and seem to do the job well. I also use the Haydel dr85 double reed mallard call. This has turned many ( green) heads.

[codling99]

i find crow decoys work great