DUCK SPREADS

[Crappie_ Kid]

What do you people put in your decoy spread in the early season,and what pattern for the decoys????

[carpshooterdeluxe]

scouting plays a pretty important role for me...if i know that im hunting a slough that has a bunch of resident ducks, but there are no other sloughs in the area, or no other hunters in the area, it takes very few decoys to get the birds that frequent the slough to lock up. half dozen, dozen at most. if im hunting in an area with many sloughs and the ducks are moving around due to hunting pressure, we set up three to four groups of 6-8 decoys of mixed species, mostly hen mallards, green wings, and wood duck decoys. something that i do that may or may not contribute to early season success is using more hen mallard decoys, as a lot of drakes dont have full plumage yet and the resident birds are not used to seeing colorfull drake mallards on the water yet.

[IceHawk]

Carpshooter pretty much hit it on the head. I use alot of hen mallard decoys and some of my older less colored drakes early in the season. Most ducks early in the season haven't reached full plumage and your spread will look more natural with less colored decoys. I also incorporate a few wood duck,teal and coot(confidence decoys)decoys.

As far as setting them I change it up alot but usally stick to what I see on the water that I intend to hunt. Scouting the area you plan on hunting prior will definately up your odds to a good hunt. By watching the birds they will usally let me know the area and how they prefer to sit on the water. By matching what I see I will make my set more natural thus allowing for a more successfull hunt!

[eyepatrol]

Yeah, what the previous 2 guys said!

I hunt a 1000ac lake and will set out a couple dozen mals, a dozen teals, a few woodies and then we also set out 3doz goose deeks. Keep a gap between each group....makes for landing areas for the various hunters to set up in front of.