Quinte Fishing

Still getting the hang of hunting waterfowl as well as the set up and decoy spreads. Wondering if anyone is able to help me out with some good tips.

Its to my knowledge that waterfowl generally land into the wind correct?
Do you folks find a huge difference in results when experimenting with different decoy spreads? ( I generally hunt water )
Any input on mixing duck and goose decoys in the same spread?

Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks all!

D

When I put out a water spread with mixed birds I keep similar birds grouped together. I'll set my geese off to one side, usually the upwind side. Puddle ducks will go in front of the blind, leaving a landing zone open. I will extend a leg of diver decoys out into open water from the upwind side, giving the birds a lane to follow in. I set my mojo up close to sure in the puddle duck spread. Hope this helps.

Ducks and geese generally land into the wind, but in nature there are no rules. So make their choice easier by supplying a landing area or areas in your spread. Popular spreads desgins include an L, J,X,V or double O. You can mix decoys in a spread but cluster similar dekes together, keeping goose decoys up wind.
I usually start with an average size flock than add or subtract dekes depending on the migration. If you are hunting local birds smaller flocks can be more effective even 2-4 dekes becasue birds are educated. When the migration is on the more dekes the better, new birds are looking for areas to rest, feed and find migration buddies. So if your the first mass of birds they see they think buffet.
Check out popular outdoor sites like http://www.ofah.org/ often they have articles on decoy basics.
Good Luck, Looks like its going to be a good year!

With my experience I find that puddle ducks tend to land short or before their group of dekes and that divers will land long or glide in over top of their kind if this makes sense to you.

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puddlers generally land at the back of the spread and divers will go to the front of the spread. some days i have found the best spread for puddlers is open the bag and just start chucking them out lol.

Dave

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A bad day fishing is better than a good day at work