Home Forums Birds & Dogs Waterfowl Decoy Question?

I wanted to ask opinions on decent duck decoys without spending an arm and leg? I found the DOA decoys looked pretty good and had great reviews? Wondering what would be a goood starter set (how many I should buy)? I was thinking 24 mallards and add 6 teal decoys? Any recommendations? Also if you could provide a decent duck call or two worth purchasing that would be ideal for a beginner? Thanks.

If you need to save money then the timing matters just as much as the brand. It is pretty hard to get a discount on anything now early in the duck season. Around Feb-March you should start seeing sales and deals on lots of different brands.

The more decoys you have the more confidence it seems to instill in ducks. They seem to just bomb-right-in to those large spreads sometimes. Big spreads are also a pain to carry, require maintenance, require setting up much earlier, and so on.

I've got about 120 (10 dozen), various makes including some that I have found. Usually it is impractical for me to put out any more than about 4 dozen.

My brother hunts with one decoy because he likes to pick it up and move around when he wants. He's the only person I've ever heard of to hunt with a single decoy.

I have some old Cabela's foam filled plastic decoys. I use about 18 of them on pond and small reservoir sets and six on river sets. You can get by with a dozen and just add more as you go.

For a beginner (or anybody for that matter) a Faulks WA11 duck call is hard to beat. Easy to blow and sounds like a duck.

Thanks guys, yes definitely new to the whole thing.

Good advice above. Also consider getting a variety pack with with like 3 different pairs of ducks that match your area. Add in a dozen mallards and you're good to go. Get the decoys you can afford and go duck hunting. This is a sport that you can be successful at with a minimum of "tools." As any sport it can be as expensive as you choose it to be. Good luck.

Sounds good. Thinking of a dozen mallards, 6 teal, and possibly 6 coots or black ducks? Still thinking if I want 6-12 Canada decoys for the spread also as confidence?

How important is duck decoy "colors" or details? I hear some say it isn't and others say it is very important?

Thanks.

Where are you located? If you want geese just for confidence 3-4 will work, set them on the fringe of your spread in a small group. Out here we have a huge variety so my spread consists of 12-15 mallards, 2 each gadwall, wigeon and pintail. Early in the year I'll throw out a half dozen green wing teal as well.

They say that a hen mallard decoy(s) will attract any species. They are somewhat the mother of all ducks in that regard in any duck will join them.

As for other species the worst they will do is serve as confidence builders. Most any species (if they look real) will bring them down for a pass an a closer look.

My coot decoys tend to get used because they are so easy to deploy close to shoreline and have look real. I don't really think they attract ducks - just confidence. Same with heron.

My experience is that goose decoys tend to attract geese and not ducks. That said, I use them. I love the look of goose decoys and I like that they can be seen from great distances.

I'm hunting Wyoming. Thanks for the info on the hen mallards that will work. I will be hopefully hunting geese in 3 weeks here. I may skip using geese decoys for the ducks than?

I think 2 dozen decoys and 6 teal would be a good start?

bazil, we shoot just as many ducks over geese decoys as duck decoys and if I'm hunting the river my spread will almost be totally goose decoys.

if I'm hunting divers on big waters I always, always put out 2 dozen coots...the black really grabs passing birds attention.

my other divers tend to be a majority of what we see

bluebills, redheads and Goldeneye.

with a half dozen supermagnum canvas backs


our typical puddle duck spread is made up of mallards, blacks and wood ducks.


in the early season I use solely hen mallards and wood ducks

with some teal depending on location.

wood ducks are always set close to brush/trees, I even have some that have the keels cut off and have a very long screw through them to screw them to fallen logs

I'm gonna be a bit of an odd man out. Our outdoor store here is Academy, well one of them anyway.

In end of Dec/early Jan, they put whatever they have left on sale.

Down at the coast with beat up decoys, at the end of the season, remember we get them after everyone else has shot at them since seems like end of August coming down..., at the coast it takes numbers, 10-12 dozen and not in any kind of special spread or setup, just mix it up and have clumps of birds here and there, no particular j or u or such.

At home, on fresh, it still doesn't seem to make any difference decoy wise, I've hunted over the high dollar ones and my 12-25 buck a dozen dekes and have both flops and great hunts.

All my hunting, well 99 percent is public water FWIW. And we generally limit on most hunts or dang close.

mallards and pintails with about 6-8 dozen teal tossed in at times depending...small, light and quickly add numbers.

I generally carry 2 goose decoys, generally snow geese so they are easy to see... out on the edge of the spread...

YMMV

Cabelas has Herters 6 pack Mallards for $24. Couple boxes of those should get you going in great shape. Walmart also has some 4 packs of Pintails and Wigeons to fill in your spread with. Those are around $20 also. Size of your spread kind of depends on how far you have to carry it. More is almost always better, but a well set up dozen will bring in plenty of birds.

you're spread has a lot to do with what and where you're hunting.


if I'm hunting locally I hardly ever use more than 2 to 2.5 dozen mallard decoys. we simply don't get the numbers

now diver hunting the lakes. no spread is too big


I just bought 3.5 dozen more divers yesterday.

and don't be afraid to use geese decoys when duck hunting


I've killed an untold number of mallards over goose fakes

I used to stick a couple dozen Mallard Decoys in front of my blind. It's a pain to put so many in and take them out. I found a simple solution. I bought two Mallard decoys with a battery and a propellor. I put six decoys to the left and six to the right. I put the motorized decoys in the middle on a cord with a swivel. They swim in a circle. Works like a charm without all the work.

Nice idea, might give that a go! Thanks