Decoy shy ducks...

[Jay]

Hey Guys;

This year, I have hunted beaver ponds ALOT for ducks and had AWESOME success... The hunts are typically shorter and the ducks are not decoy shy... Now... With the freeze up coming on, the ducks are moving to the bigger bodies of water and so have I...

So, today, I was down on the St. John river and saw over 500 ducks early in the morning... ONE of which came close enough to drop!!! All the others stayed WELL away from our spread. We also noticed that the ducks even stayed away from REAL ducks that we saw land in a specific area...

In short, the ducks seem SO shy after the season has been going for 4 weeks, that they even avoid REAL ducks!!!

What a contrast from the beaver pond ducks I hunted in the first of the year!!!

Cheers
Jay

 

[cjcocn]

Jay

How many dekes did you have out? I find that later in the fall when i) the birds are getting gunshy and ii) when they are flocking up in larger numbers, they react better to a larger deke spread.

Also, how does your blind match to the surrounding terrain? Does it cover you well enough? Any little difference and the birds will often flare (although I have had the same experience as you and have watched them flair from even live ducks).

If there is one thing that I know about ducks, it's that you have to go where they want to be - not 100 or even 50 yards from there, but right at that spot. If you cannot get to where they want to be then try placing yourself so that you are in their flight path (although if they are wary they may fly high and not come down until they are right over the spot that they want to land at).

Hope this helps.

PS ..... the birds are all gone here and hunting is over, so I envy your opportunities, as tough as they may be!

 

[Jay]

cjcocn;

Yes, being in the right spot is key...

I put out 24 decoys yesterday, a mix of feeders, sleepers, reg decoys of all manufacturers. I use mostly black duck, female mallard and a couple male mallard decoys.

I am FULLY camo'ed and have found great success by leaning up against a larger tree or under low tree cover or in standing corn... I also have a totally camo'ed 10 foot flat bottom boat that has a camo frame you sit under...

It was NOT windy yesterday, so there was very little movement in the decoys and after a couple swings by, the ducks figured out something was wrong... I need to get some of those feeded decoys that create ripples. I have found that the ducks now shy away from spinning wing decoys as they figure those out with a couple passes too...

Cheers and Thanks for the advice!!!
Jay