Buying duck decoys

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Sebaz

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Hey everyone
Just looking for some advice...
If you were to start over and buy new duck decoys what would you buy....

I know like everyone says buy what you can afford ... That's not the problem... no one can afford 8 dozen to start but after buying 6-12 at a time it sure adds up...

For geese I have all bigfoots full bodys I'm thinking of the bigfoot b2 floaters for ducks now?

Anything other yous might recommend?
 
I had crappy decoys for years... A mix of everything cheap...

Recently, I went with Higdon's Magnum foam filled duck decoys. 75% mallards & 25% black ducks in the mix. They look GREAT!

And, I carry them in a decoy bag that keeps them from getting the hell beat out of them! It has individual slots for each decoy.

Cheers
Jay
 
The only problem I see with the cheaper decoys ....

I probably won't be bagging them. I'll get Texas rig them and they will get put into back of truck/in trailer just like that..
Maybe all in one huge bag to transport back home and then hung up in the garage

I know the bigfoot full bodys (geese) take one heck of a beating and always ask for more...

Any brands that will for ducks? So far I have looked online at the bigfoot and the hardcore ones but...
 
I have been duck hunting since I was a tadpole... I am still using all foam Herter's decoys... they have all taken a beating... eaten a pound of shot a piece... been repainted numerous times, into species they were never intended to be... they are very heavy suckers though... a couple years back, I bought some inexpensive Hardcore decoys for throwing in the canoe when dragging into beaver runs... I have beaten the crap out of them and they still look great... I am impressed.
 
I'm surely not an expert on duck hunting, but I got my decoys off kijiji for what I would consider a pretty good price. There was a mix of everything but I was fine with that. I don't get out very often so I couldn't justify the expense of buying quality new ones. However, when the time comes, I will be talking to the other duck hunters in my area and see what they use.
 
I'm running GHG Pro Grades, they aren't the cheapest nor the most expensive. I just toss them in regular mesh decoy bags. I am past the slotted bag stage and worrying about them getting beat up. After 35 years of waterfowling I have come to realize if a duck or goose is close enough to see paint issues with my decoys it has a shot string issue that is much more pressing!! ;)
 
the tanglefree buck gardner series malards that i bought this year have been taking a pretty good beating with no signs of wear so far. if i were to buy more i would continue using them the keel is shaped to be able to wrap the anchor line around it and that saves me so much hassle when im late to the pond and im frantically trying to setup decoys.
 
I have "Carry Lites" that I used for 30+ odd years. Have had no issues with them. As "the spank" indicates if there close enough to see the paint imperfections, there close enough to shoot.
 
The best duck decoy in the world won't do jack if you aren't hunting where the birds want to land.

Focus your efforts on finding the X, not what brand of Made in China duck decoy you think looks the prettiest.

I run FA Hot Buys and I can kill ducks over them.
 
I have GHG, Higdon and Flambeau. All work fine. Flambeau are the cheapest but have taken a pretty good beating over the last five years. However, I do repaint as necessary.

There are often great deals on decoys in the off season. Last year I picked up a dozen Flambeau Storm Fronts for $19.99. Even if I have to paint em every 5 years, I like em.
 
When I first started duck hunting, all I bought was 6 Canadian tire decoys...

Long Story short... A neighbour asked me for a ride to town to go to the dollar store to get some decoys because they were 2$ a piece... Actual Story = we went there and bought 20, 40$. On the way home he asked me to stop at a convince store for cigars... He bought half of them and said thanks for the ride... Now I have 26 decoys... The 67 ducks, and 2 geese did not mind last year! Like everyone else has said if they are close enough to see the paint then you will be eating duck for dinner!

Mind you I was a poor apprentice electrician back then, now I have the means to buy fancy stuff... But I see no need...
 
I'm pretty old-fashioned and haven't bought any of the newer, expensive (but nice looking) brands. I've always preferred Cary-lite; usually aqua-keel (with some weighted keel). They land right-side up when I toss them out, which is nice. Damned Flambeaus (older ones anyway) almost ALWAYS land wrong side up and it's a pain to walk or paddle around & tip them back over. I've avoided them for years....
 
I wouldnt worry too much about what type of decoys to buy. I have a mix of really cheap flambeau decoys that were purchased at Canadian tire 20 years ago and really good decoys purchased recently. I dont find that the ducks care much either way. I believe decoy presentation is most important. Its important to note wind direction and always make sure you give ducks a place to land. When i set up my spread, i never put decoys directly in front of me because i've found that leaving a void in the spread gives incoming ducks a place to attempt a landing. You want to use your decoys to try and control the ducks flight path. It may sound ridiculous, but i can tell you from personal experience that it absolutey works. Also, ducks need to believe your spread is realistic from a distance. If you are seeing small groups of ducks, set up small groups of decoys. Also make sure you match decoys with the species of ducks you're seeing. For example, i no longer set up teal or wood duck decoys, when i know those species are long gone and I'm only seeing mallards flying by. I have also purchased crappy decoys and paint from dollarama and repainted them to look like a totally different species. If a duck is close enough to see imperfections in the paint, it should have already been shot dead. I will say that i invested in a lucky duck spinning wing decoy, and I have had great luck attracting ducks from a distance. I also found that shutting the decoy down with the remote control helps reducing spooking ducks or geese as they get into shooting range.
 
Ultimatly it depends on how often your going to hunt them. if its once or twice a month/season then go with whatever cheapies you can find. However if you hunt as hard as i do or multiple times a week than get something made of quality because you WILL need it . I recomend Avain-x, the quality of the carving and durabilty and flex of the plastic plus the paint job puts these dekes in a class of their own. sure they are expensive but in this day and age you get what you pay for. Personally I have stopped buying duck decoys and only buy goose dekes now. I have no problem killing ducks over an all goose spread but I have a hell of a time trying to get a goose to commit to a duck only spread. at the same time having a few geese off to the side of yer spread might fool the odd loner or pair but those big flocks usually wont commit because its not a realistic looking situation. I say concentrate your efforts on goose decoys both feild and floater with a few ducks off to the side. Ive done goose control for years and in my experiance wherever there are large quanties of geese there are always ducks, I believe that to ducks geese mean saftey and when the geese are in a feild it means an easy meal. Hell at the very least the ducks will be able to see them from a way further distance.
 
I found last weekend, put out my wind powered flapper decoy, never again, slight noise i heard made the ducks flair as they came in and heard the racket, brought it back in and they came right over me.
 
I only duck hunt a couple times a year, I had a dozen old JC Higgins paper mache decoys that I used for years, I treat them rough, throwing them in the Argo and hauling them around in a mesh sack, the beaks started breaking off on a few of them. I sold them off this summer for $30.00 and replaced them with a couple dozen plastic decoys from Canadian Tire, they had them on clearance for a $1.00 each, so how can you go wrong.
 
I've never had an issue with noise using the lucky duck motion decoy. Noise is minimal, almost non existant. I usually have it placed about 20 yards from me, and i struggle to hear if its spinning. If a duck is close enough to hear it, it should already be dead.
 
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