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rebelp74 wrote:

Rick wrote:Damba. I do bad work. That last "But I put most of my teal close to big ducks in the belief that their size difference adds to the illusion of life from a distance:" pic shoulda been this one:

Do dakotas start to fade pretty bad after a while or is it just the pic?

No that is a blonde mallard decoy, he picked it up in a combo pack with his Black duck X mallard decoys.

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I was running around 8 to 16 decs most of the season. Mix of mallards gaddys wigeon spoons and sprig. Separating them a good distance apart. Most of the time the birds would work into their own species more times then not. If that says anything.

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I was running around 8 to 16 decs most of the season. Mix of mallards gaddys wigeon spoons and sprig. Separating them a good distance apart. Most of the time the birds would work into their own species more times then not. If that says anything.

Yeah we usually throw our mallards 30 yards to one side of us, and our wigeon 30 yards to the other side. This year we are going to try placing them in groups of 2-4 also. And we're adding sprigs to the spread.

ducks~n~bucks wrote:

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I was running around 8 to 16 decs most of the season. Mix of mallards gaddys wigeon spoons and sprig. Separating them a good distance apart. Most of the time the birds would work into their own species more times then not. If that says anything.

Yeah we usually throw our mallards 30 yards to one side of us, and our wigeon 30 yards to the other side. This year we are going to try placing them in groups of 2-4 also. And we're adding sprigs to the spread.

Honestly, Try and get alot of white out there. I love using spoony decs, it seems to grab the birds attention.

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I was running around 8 to 16 decs most of the season. Mix of mallards gaddys wigeon spoons and sprig. Separating them a good distance apart. Most of the time the birds would work into their own species more times then not. If that says anything.

Yeah we usually throw our mallards 30 yards to one side of us, and our wigeon 30 yards to the other side. This year we are going to try placing them in groups of 2-4 also. And we're adding sprigs to the spread.

Honestly, Try and get alot of white out there. I love using spoony decs, it seems to grab the birds attention.

When were on the lake we run 4 dozen cans and a dozen bluebills, plus the goose decoys.

ducks~n~bucks wrote:

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I was running around 8 to 16 decs most of the season. Mix of mallards gaddys wigeon spoons and sprig. Separating them a good distance apart. Most of the time the birds would work into their own species more times then not. If that says anything.

Yeah we usually throw our mallards 30 yards to one side of us, and our wigeon 30 yards to the other side. This year we are going to try placing them in groups of 2-4 also. And we're adding sprigs to the spread.

Honestly, Try and get alot of white out there. I love using spoony decs, it seems to grab the birds attention.

When were on the lake we run 4 dozen cans and a dozen bluebills, plus the goose decoys.

Yeah. I think that'll do it.lol

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:

GadwallGetter530 wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I was running around 8 to 16 decs most of the season. Mix of mallards gaddys wigeon spoons and sprig. Separating them a good distance apart. Most of the time the birds would work into their own species more times then not. If that says anything.

Yeah we usually throw our mallards 30 yards to one side of us, and our wigeon 30 yards to the other side. This year we are going to try placing them in groups of 2-4 also. And we're adding sprigs to the spread.

Honestly, Try and get alot of white out there. I love using spoony decs, it seems to grab the birds attention.

When were on the lake we run 4 dozen cans and a dozen bluebills, plus the goose decoys.

Yeah. I think that'll do it.lol

We only run that many because the canvasbacks here are stuck up bastards and will only land with a huge group of other canvasbacks. They refuse to land with puddler decoy. It has worked so far. We just run a big V to us, and it sucks 'em right in.

rebelp74 wrote:

Rick wrote:Damba. I do bad work. That last "But I put most of my teal close to big ducks in the belief that their size difference adds to the illusion of life from a distance:" pic shoulda been this one:

Do dakotas start to fade pretty bad after a while or is it just the pic?

They do eventually fade, but I'd not call it "bad" considering that decoy's been left out for four seasons, and this was the first of those it didn't spend an extra month or so in the sun waiting for me to get back in the marsh for pick up. Not until April last year.

Then, too, I'm pretty sure their hen paint scheme was just changed again, because folks complained about that generation being too light (first year's was "too yellow"). Here's what they started out like:






Have owned much worse:

Obviously I know next to nothing about puddlers, but to my eye, that decoy right next to the coyote's head (where he's returning with the bird) looks pretty good to me. Moreso than most new ones I see pictures of.

Different decoys for different setups on different days in different states. You know it's..different.

Mingling your scaup, ringers and redheads is fine. Keep your eyes, buffies and cans separate

jehler wrote:Mingling your scaup, ringers and redheads is fine. Keep your eyes, buffies and cans separate

What about mingling cans with scaup? This year was the first my dad has even out out diver decoys, so we are just figuring that part out.

ducks~n~bucks wrote:

jehler wrote:Mingling your scaup, ringers and redheads is fine. Keep your eyes, buffies and cans separate

What about mingling cans with scaup? This year was the first my dad has even out out diver decoys, so we are just figuring that part out.

What did Jehler say? Never mingle those guys! Is TK going to hang out with Jesse Jackson? No!

HAHAHA

jehler wrote:Mingling your scaup, ringers and redheads is fine. Keep your eyes, buffies and cans separate

But my can decoys and buffy decoys all look the same...

moved to timber brakes this year ........do doubt that setting woodies apart from the others makes a difference.

when hunting the marsh.....I like to group teal.....but not really seperate them from the puddlers .....if that makes sense....

by season's end, I usually only have a six pack anyway

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I always separate my decoys by species.
And you can watch the birds land in their kind very regularly.
While it's true that ducks mix in their natural habitat , it's also true that they segregate .
I have come to believe it gives me greater drawing power to the spread to segregate.
We hunt with spreads as big as 25 dozen and as small as a 1/2 dozen.
The 1/2 dozen is always mallards or cans , mallards when hunting puddle ducks and cans when hunting divers.
I set up six to eight blinds a year in various locations from Oregon to central California and use the same system successfully.

Legband wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I always separate my decoys by species.
And you can watch the birds land in their kind very regularly.
While it's true that ducks mix in their natural habitat , it's also true that they segregate .
I have come to believe it gives me greater drawing power to the spread to segregate.
We hunt with spreads as big as 25 dozen and as small as a 1/2 dozen.
The 1/2 dozen is always mallards or cans , mallards when hunting puddle ducks and cans when hunting divers.
I set up six to eight blinds a year in various locations from Oregon to central California and use the same system successfully.

Welcome to WFF Joe!

Legband wrote:

ducks~n~bucks wrote:Do you guys do this? Do ducks segregate themselves? This year we segregated our decoys based on species, wigeon with wigeon, mallards with mallards, divers with divers, and intermingled coots with all. Is this a good idea?

I always separate my decoys by species.
And you can watch the birds land in their kind very regularly.
While it's true that ducks mix in their natural habitat , it's also true that they segregate .
I have come to believe it gives me greater drawing power to the spread to segregate.
We hunt with spreads as big as 25 dozen and as small as a 1/2 dozen.
The 1/2 dozen is always mallards or cans , mallards when hunting puddle ducks and cans when hunting divers.
I set up six to eight blinds a year in various locations from Oregon to central California and use the same system successfully.

welcome legband

Thanks guys

Nice to see a Grasslands Guy telling it like it is , that's the way we work birds too !
It just depends on the time and place in the Grasslands of Central Calif !

If I win the lottery, I'm buying as much CA grassland as I can and planting cashew trees.

Make sure you buy the new waterless cashew trees lol.
the west side water allotments are almost non existent.
Very sad very scary

Legband wrote:Make sure you buy the new waterless cashew trees lol.
the west side water allotments are almost non existent.
Very sad very scary

Trust me 3200 has made that abundantly clear.

assateague wrote:If I win the lottery, I'm buying as much CA grassland as I can and planting cashew trees.

Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!

Wonder how much water they use fighting fires?

I watch birds at our local Refuge and have noticed a few things. There may be six mallards, 12 gadwall, 50 teal, 20 shovelers, and a pair of mottled ducks in one pool feeding...............mixed with coots here and there. If they are all close enough to call similar to a spread, there almost always seems to be one or two mallards close(but not too close) to the gadwall. 12 gadwall may be split up in 8 together, two kinda close to the mallard group, and a lone pair out there away from them all. The mottled ducks are out of sight away from the rest. The shovelers may be in small groups mixed as bad as the coots: everywhere.

When I get lucky and spot a family of cans, they are usually by themselves but don't mind the teal. It would appear the coots and shovelers are taking over. Most all the ringers are in a little deeper water near lily pads, and I see a lot of those: lots of times in different pools with coots and a few teal near the edges where it is more shallow.

Now I have the need for ducks on the water and in the skies. It's always good just to see them.