Adding motion to the decoy spread

[Designed2Hunt]

What types of motion decoys still work?
Is something like the one linked below worth the price?
Is it robust enough to last a few seasons?

Higdon Outdoors XS Battleship Swimmer Decoy, Mallard Drake 12V
Amazon product ASIN B0773YH5TT


Or maybe something like this jerk rig?
Motionducks Basic Decoy Spreader and Jerk System
Amazon product ASIN B01K8K16E0

 

[WaterDog]

I’m not a fan of floating motion decoys and haven’t used the one you are asking about. I think the only time a floating motion decoy might be of benefit is in small ponds on windless bluebird days. If there is even a hint of breeze then your dekes will have some movement and that’s all you need. The thing is on windless bluebird days there are usually few birds flying anyway so a motion decoy probably won’t be of benefit anyway.
The mojos or dekes with the spinning wings may attract ducks. I know guys that swear by them. I’ve used them but I’m not impressed and not at all sold on the idea they attract more birds. If I was to get some type of motion decoy I’d get the spinning wing type.
Im old school and have been hunting waterfowl for over 50 years. I’ve never used floating swimming or motion decoys but have used the mojos spinning wing dekes but I use them rarely.
I put more effort into my decoys and decoy spread. And as important or maybe more so as good decoy spread is calling. I think developing your calling ability and setting up a good deke spread are the two most important things you can do to to attract ducks. Motion decoys maybe they’ll give you an advantage maybe not. I know a lot of guides use them but I’ve been darn successful without them. Just an old duck hunters 2 cents worth.

 

[Designed2Hunt]

Thanks @WaterDog . Good Advice. Maybe I should replace my old hand-me-down decoys instead or get a better call. I am having trouble getting duck to commit to the static decoys in late season. They typically land just out of range.

 

[WaterDog]

Late season can be the best of times or the worst of times shooting ducks. The best of times in that you often see lots of ducks . But by the end of season the ducks are wary.
, they have been called a zillion times and they have been shot at another zillion Times. They are skittish and cautious. I do a couple of things. Late season I reduce the number of decoys. I start the season with lots of dekes and slowly reduce the number until end of season I have a max of 18 and often less. Do a little research on decoy spreads and setups. Decoy placement is critical. I call less also. They’ve been over called by both great callers and crappy callers. Cut way back on calling..
Put one decoy out at your max shooting point so you can gauge shooting distance. Place the rest close to you or your blind and be sure to leave a large landing lane. Try using a couple of confidence decoys like egrets , herons, even coots. I think they work and they give me confidence. Here’s a little DU article on confidence decoys https://www.ducks.org/hunting/decoys/the-facts-about-confidence-decoys
If I was to use a floating motion decoy , end of season would be the time I would do so , it may be helpful.
One last thing About calling - practice, practice, practice. Before I retired I would practice my calling almost daily in my car while driving to work. That way I didn’t disturb and piss off my wife and neighbors and I improved my calling. I also recorded myself calling so I could hear what I really sounded like.

 

[ilovesprig]

All sound advice above...Hunting late season ducks or geese can be tough...One more tip that has worked for us in years past, is going with dark or black decoys (despite drakes being in full bloom)...I think it's probably about being decoy shy...They're basically only seeing silhouettes with dark decoys...Separation of decoys is important as well.

Back to your motion dilemma...We use shakers, pulsators, swimmers, and jerk strings on calm days...True, ducks don't fly as much on the calm days...Even more reason to use motion to attract them to your blind area...Nothing looks less realistic than motionless decoys...If you don't have motion...Tuck you decoys as close as possible to brush, tule edges, or shore...Ducks in these locations appear to be resting or loafing (we have lots of full bodies for this very reason)...Tucked heads look good too.

Once Dec. 1 rolls around, we use spinners...Our spinners are remote controlled...So like in Canada, where we combo on geese, we can turn them off...Certain ducks like them better than others...Teal and spoonies in our experience don't like them as much as mallards, gadwalls, widgeon, or pintail...So, if one species is the dominate in numbers, we use them (off or on) accordingly...

The size of the pond/lake/area your hunting makes a difference too...The bigger the area, the bigger the spread is a pretty good rule of thumb...The flash of a spinner can be seen from a long distance...We may use as many as 3 or 4 on a place like Henshaw...If the birds are coming up short...We pull the decoys close to shore and have many of the full bodies behind us (along with spinners)...You can also put your decoys where you don't want the ducks to go...For instance, a place like Wister that has wide, long ponds (100 yd.+)...Set your decoys 80-90 yds out from your blind...Make them decoy to your side instead on the big open water side...Lots of situations and scenarios to take into consideration...Blinding up on loafing islands is a good idea too.

Calling IMO is way overrated...We whistle like crazy to widgeon (they're very vocal)...Mallard calling, when I'm hunting mallards...Most everything else, is soft feeding, greeting, and lonesome hen quacks...Last year, we blind called to mallards a lot (fog & single drakes looking for love).

Experience by trial & error will teach you much, and what works for you...It really is the fun part of waterfowling...Good luck

ps...Wind direction is almost always the most important factor...Play the wind.

.

 

[Designed2Hunt]

Thanks again @WaterDog . More excellent advice. I am largely a self taught waterfowl hunter, so your experienced advice is much appreciated. My calls are on the coffee table year round and wife has had enough of them, so it sounds like you are smarter than me practicing in the car. I do need to record myself more to hear how bad I am on my old cheapo poly carb call.

I usually run 1.5-2 dozen decoys all year around; I will try making some adjustments there as you recommended. I have looked at many of the decoy spread shapes (X, U W, etc) and spreads that other people used for decoys, but I'm sure i could refine that a bit more as well. How many season do you keep your decoys in the rotation for before you buy new ones? Or how bad do you let the paint get? I have tried repainting some of my old decoys, but i am more of a Picasso than a Monet (ie they dont look great).

I need to paint some of my old decoys black to simulate coots. Some other confidence decoys may be of value too.

 

[Designed2Hunt]

@ilovesprig that picture of Henshaw is an A+ for realism. That is an excellent looking spread and the picture speaks 1000 words. Thanks for the advice.
I have heard a lot of mixed reviews on spinners as to whether they still work or not, but it looks like they still have there place.
I wish i had $1000 to buy a killer motion decoy spread for this season, but I am going to have to build it up over time. If you had $200 to spend for the upcoming season, what would you spend it on (ex: 1 swimmers, multiple pulsators or spinners, upgraded static decoys with a jerk rig, etc.)?

I like the idea of placing the dekes where you dont want them to go. I am going to try that next time they are short stopping me.
I also like the idea of tucking the decoys up and using hen/drab dekes.
So much good advice to try. I have a lot of work to do. Thanks again. Looking forward to trying this stuff out this season.

 

[ilovesprig]

The one piece of advice I would give you with a limited cash supply (& I've been there)...Shop, shop, shop...Get the best that you can afford and also be innovative.

You can make your own jerk strings, I found years ago a thing called a Weasel Ball (shaker) at swap meets...I just cut the back out of decoys, placed them inside...Sealed up others that went into the water directly...Paint your own decoys...Lots of stuff that really costs very little....A good thing to learn to do is air brush...You can make any old decoy look great

Back to your original question...Commercially made jerk strings are around $35.00 (Tanglefree)...You can also get baby Mojo's for like 2 for under a 100 bucks...You can make them remote controlled by buying the remotes on line...I think they're under $10.00...Wire them up yourself...Pulsators are good, but pricey...You can make them yourself, but it's a project...And I don't like the big battery packs.

I don't think high dollar decoys are necessary either...Places like Academy sports & Wal-Mart sell their teal for $30.00 a dozen (less on sale)...Widgeon, pintail, mallards a little more.

Heck, if you live in San Diego, I'll give you a bunch of stuff, including spinners...

 

[Designed2Hunt]

The one piece of advice I would give you with a limited cash supply (& I've been there)...Shop, shop, shop...Get the best that you can afford and also be innovative.

You can make your own jerk strings, I found years ago a thing called a Weasel Ball (shaker) at swap meets...I just cut the back out of decoys, placed them inside...Sealed up others that went into the water directly...Paint your own decoys...Lots of stuff that really costs very little....A good thing to learn to do is air brush...You can make any old decoy look great

Back to your original question...Commercially made jerk strings are around $35.00 (Tanglefree)...You can also get baby Mojo's for like 2 for under a 100 bucks...You can make them remote controlled by buying the remotes on line...I think they're under $10.00...Wire them up yourself...Pulsators are good, but pricey...You can make them yourself, but it's a project...And I don't like the big battery packs.

I don't think high dollar decoys are necessary either...Places like Academy sports & Wal-Mart sell their teal for $30.00 a dozen (less on sale)...Widgeon, pintail, mallards a little more.

Heck, if you live in San Diego, I'll give you a bunch of stuff, including spinners...

@ilovesprig that is awfully generous of you. We are acquaintances from NWTF. I will DM you.

 

[duck-boy]

Great advice from WaterDog and Ilovesprig.

Where do you usually hunt ducks?
I second the motion that in calling, less is more.
I DO use whistle calls quite often though.

The Murillo pintail whistle call is great if you can't roll your tongue. Might be a little tough to find though. The Wingsetter 8 in 1 call is versatile and cheap. Going to a park is a good place to listen to birds call. I can use whistle calls for Drake mallards, teal, widgeon, and pintail. That is the majority of ducks I see and I'll use widgeon/pintail calls for spoonies and Gads too.

When calling I find it important to watch the birds reaction to the calls. The ducks can hear the calls from far off so I will start when they are far off. I will continue to call as the birds get closer IF they seem to react. But not excessive calling. Maybe the birds make a pass and after they pass I'll call again. I try not to call when I think the birds are looking directly in my direction as they are keen on picking up movement. If I have some birds coming in like "on a string" I often will continue to soft call until I can't call anymore and it's time to get ready to shoot. All this with whistles. I do use my other calls just not nearly as much as whistles

As trig said,. If the birds are landing outside your spread you should adjust your spread....or if possible and you are lazy like me, maybe adjust where you are sitting if feasible.

All great advice from all. If I repeated others post sorry. Just got out of hernia surgery so I might be rambling.

 

[duck-boy]

I forgot to say that I think that some type of motion is important. Ever notice the birds seem to appear whenever you are walking out in the water to your decoys or whenever your dog gets bored and you let him/her wander around. This happens alot on refuges I hunt.....

 

[WaterDog]

I personally don’t use floating motion decoys but I’m not saying they don’t work. Many of my hunting friends use them and swear by them. I’m just old school in a lot of ways but I’m usually a pretty successful duck hunter. I had the great fortune several years ago to hunt with a guy who had a duck tolling retriever. The dog was amazing. That dogs movements and antics certainly seemed to attract ducks. I can’t explain it but ducks were attracted I guess out of curiosity.

 

[Aeon]

i only hunt the exclusive LCRA but here is my 12cents....

you have your answer in your problem. You are having trouble getting birds to commit and they set down just outside your decoys. Hunt outside your spread, easy and you can move if its not working or the wind is wrong. I have one place where i set decoys 30 yards down range of where the birds come from, it works like magic. If your spinners are pushing ducks out move the spinners outside the spread so they sit down 40 yards or so away.

Next is change up your spread! turns out most guys can pack in 2doz decoys. SO lots of people doing the same thing can make the ducks get spooky. Hunt with one decoy or three, just change it up. Late you either go small or go HUGE! and by huge i mean 5doz or more.

do not spread your decoys out in the j hook or v formation. do something random, its what the ducks do for real!

i use a jerk string but just to rock the ducks when they are quite a ways away. I think with everyone using jerks and doing a straight back and fourth late season ducks are getting wise to it.

Next up! hide better. No matter how amazing you think your blind is the ducks can see you! no camo jacket patern on earth can fool a smart duck. if you are not 100% covered there is room for improvement. It goes with out saying to not move at all. do not look up any more then you need to..... by the way i peep a lot because i love watching them. if i flare a few because i get caught looking so be it.

stop calling, no i mean stop CALLING. Not saying you can turn a duck that's a ways off on a windless day with a quack but for the most part you are not helping. I am a fan of peeps and whistles and ill forever call to widgeon because its fun but the big boooming hail call stops working well somewhere mid Canada. I will say that because the LCRA has limited pressure we get hens quacking their heads off in the flooded brush. its almost fake sounding but they pull drakes in.

did i mention hide better?


ohhh and dont worry to much about new decoys unless you got nothing but green heads or widgeon. Green head spreads do not look natural around here so get some spoons and pins to replace them. also i have found that if i keep my widgeon decoys segregated and away they work better. Damn widgeon are mean and pick on the other ducks and other ducks stay away from them.

 

[ilovesprig]

I forgot to say that I think that some type of motion is important. Ever notice the birds seem to appear whenever you are walking out in the water to your decoys or whenever your dog gets bored and you let him/her wander around. This happens alot on refuges I hunt.....

.
Ron,

Hope you're OK from you surgery...All great advice...Lots of duck hunting experience and success through trial & error

ps...The old wood Murillo calls are great...Just hard to find these days.