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I tried to post this yesterday but was unable to. So I am sorry if this is a double post and I just don't see it. Last year I took a suprising number of red heads on the eastern colorado ponds that I hunt. First time I have ever even see them but I ended up with 7 of them through out the season. Do any of you ever throw out a few diver deeks with your mallard or puddle duck spreads. I was thinking the large and more whiteish decoys would increase my spreads visablity from greater distances. During the late season I have some mallard deeks that are in full winter breeding plum and they are very white. But this mostly took place in mid october to late november. What are your thoughts. By the way I am a very long ways away from any large bodies of water. This is not the front range we are talking about. I am only 15 miles from the Nebraska state line. So we don't see divers out here almost ever.

I throw all them out, but we regularly get divers.

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I run can deeks with my mallard spread

Tomkat wrote:I run can deeks with my mallard spread

X2

I have found that 6 diver dekes off to the upwind side of your regular spread to be very effective. When divers are buzzing, they will definitely focus on the diver dekes.

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I've often thought about picking up a half dozen buffies to throw out, but just haven't pulled the trigger yet. Thought it'd add some realism and like you mention, visibility with its white patches. Who knows if it'd help me out at all. Also have bills buzz us in the sloughs

Buffie dekes are what I use, on bluebird and migrating days, I think it helps with high flying birds also.

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Buffies usually frequent the area I hunt so I throw out a couple of buffies with the dabbler spread

I use buffie decoys just to add white. I've found that adding some white decoys always helps.

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I bring diver with me and just check the area out as i hunt if I see divers buzzing around the area , and I feel like taking a few if its a slow morning , and the puddle ducks don't feel like dancing , game on I'll throw a half dozen mags out of cans or buffs , for the bigger whites , I also do this if i'm hunting divers and see some puddle ducks fluttering around. I all ways keep them in a bag off to the side I don't all way throw them out. I've had wigeon get very spokey on me when I've had anything other than wigeon deeks out and the same go with pintails. Remeber guys I'm at the end of the flyway And they have seen every trick in the book and they get smart buy the time they get to me.I don't get green heads here where I'm at and I have never shot one in my life.

Olly wrote:I use buffie decoys just to add white. I've found that adding some white decoys always helps.

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I'm the opposite. I like black decoys. I can never really see the white from a distance, but the black sticks out a mile away. My swamp spread is pretty simple. 4 Ringnecks, 2 pintails, 2 gadwall, 2 teal and 2 wigeon...all thrown out randomly. Going on my last hunt of the split right now. I'll try to get a picture but I doubt it, too busy squeezing the trigger

Slingshot wrote:I bring diver with me and just check the area out as i hunt if I see divers buzzing around the area , and I feel like taking a few if its a slow morning , and the puddle ducks don't feel like dancing , game on I'll throw a half dozen mags out of cans or buffs , for the bigger whites , I also do this if i'm hunting divers and see some puddle ducks fluttering around. I all ways keep them in a bag off to the side I don't all way throw them out. I've had wigeon get very spokey on me when I've had anything other than wigeon deeks out and the same go with pintails. Remeber guys I'm at the end of the flyway And they have seen every trick in the book and they get smart buy the time they get to me.I don't get green heads here where I'm at and I have never shot one in my life.

Slingshot, where are you located that you dont get mallards?

Blessings,
Rick

RickC wrote:

Slingshot wrote:I bring diver with me and just check the area out as i hunt if I see divers buzzing around the area , and I feel like taking a few if its a slow morning , and the puddle ducks don't feel like dancing , game on I'll throw a half dozen mags out of cans or buffs , for the bigger whites , I also do this if i'm hunting divers and see some puddle ducks fluttering around. I all ways keep them in a bag off to the side I don't all way throw them out. I've had wigeon get very spokey on me when I've had anything other than wigeon deeks out and the same go with pintails. Remeber guys I'm at the end of the flyway And they have seen every trick in the book and they get smart buy the time they get to me.I don't get green heads here where I'm at and I have never shot one in my life.

Slingshot, where are you located that you dont get mallards?

Blessings,
Rick

West central florida , the onlt thing we get here is the Mottle duck and you can only shoot one. No true greenheads here , if you see a greenhead it came from the feed store that some old lady brought home and turned loose , but I've never seen one while I have been hunting. A true greenhead that migrates is on my bucket list.

In fields I would not hesitate to throw out some bluebill decoys.
Mixed bags are possible. Plus, ducks are curious.
The black and white on a bluebill is visible much further away than standard mallard decoys.


For many years Cabelas sold a ¨puddler package" that included 12 mallards, 12 bluebills, a feeder butt, a bag, weights, and string.
I always wondered why they put the bluebills in that package but after I painted some of my old hen mallards to look like bluebills and put them out in my spread off to the side in a line...I started attracting more ducks period. Some were divers, like canvasbacks.

I would strongly suggest and hunter who targets puddlers in fields to use some diver decoys. NOT IN TIMBER!

aunt betty wrote:In fields I would not hesitate to throw out some bluebill decoys.
Mixed bags are possible. Plus, ducks are curious.
The black and white on a bluebill is visible much further away than standard mallard decoys.


For many years Cabelas sold a ¨puddler package" that included 12 mallards, 12 bluebills, a feeder butt, a bag, weights, and string.
I always wondered why they put the bluebills in that package but after I painted some of my old hen mallards to look like bluebills and put them out in my spread off to the side in a line...I started attracting more ducks period. Some were divers, like canvasbacks.

I would strongly suggest and hunter who targets puddlers in fields to use some diver decoys. NOT IN TIMBER!

In fields? They dive in the dirt, when'd they start making full body divers?

I use calling more than the decoys, themselves, to get puddle duck's attention and have seen no advantage to white for attracting them. In fact, I've eliminated the pintails and ringnecks from my spread. (Do use a lot of black poule d'eau/coot decoys, but those are for confidence, rather than visual effect.)

Don't see much advantage to adding diver decoys to a puddler spread to draw what divers come by, either, as scaup, redheads and cans are generally stupid as sticks and can't leave any kind of decoy alone.

rebelp74 wrote:

aunt betty wrote:In fields I would not hesitate to throw out some bluebill decoys.
Mixed bags are possible. Plus, ducks are curious.
The black and white on a bluebill is visible much further away than standard mallard decoys.


For many years Cabelas sold a ¨puddler package" that included 12 mallards, 12 bluebills, a feeder butt, a bag, weights, and string.
I always wondered why they put the bluebills in that package but after I painted some of my old hen mallards to look like bluebills and put them out in my spread off to the side in a line...I started attracting more ducks period. Some were divers, like canvasbacks.

I would strongly suggest and hunter who targets puddlers in fields to use some diver decoys. NOT IN TIMBER!

In fields? They dive in the dirt, when'd they start making full body divers?

By fields I meant flooded rice, corn, or soybeans.
I have never hunted ducks where there was no water. I know people do it. I just like wading and hunting over water.

Different areas are different and guys target different ducks using different methods. I had success using diver decoys until I gave up big water and flooded fields to strictly hunt greenheads.

aunt betty wrote:

rebelp74 wrote:

aunt betty wrote:In fields I would not hesitate to throw out some bluebill decoys.
Mixed bags are possible. Plus, ducks are curious.
The black and white on a bluebill is visible much further away than standard mallard decoys.


For many years Cabelas sold a ¨puddler package" that included 12 mallards, 12 bluebills, a feeder butt, a bag, weights, and string.
I always wondered why they put the bluebills in that package but after I painted some of my old hen mallards to look like bluebills and put them out in my spread off to the side in a line...I started attracting more ducks period. Some were divers, like canvasbacks.

I would strongly suggest and hunter who targets puddlers in fields to use some diver decoys. NOT IN TIMBER!

In fields? They dive in the dirt, when'd they start making full body divers?

By fields I meant flooded rice, corn, or soybeans.
I have never hunted ducks where there was no water. I know people do it. I just like wading and hunting over water.

Different areas are different and guys target different ducks using different methods. I had success using diver decoys until I gave up big water and flooded fields to strictly hunt greenheads.

It was funnier that way