Duck Decoys and How They are Used

Duck decoy collecting began in 1918 with Mr. Joel Barber, and I think even he today would be shocked at some of the prices these things fetch at auction.  The record sale price for one item is $856,000.  So far, no one item has broken the million dollar target.   There are collector’s societies all over the nation, if this is something that appeals to you than look one up and get started, one never knows who will have the next million dollar decoy find of a lifetime

Making sure your decoys are effective on the field is a must for any duck sportsmen.  A good spread will help insure the ducks can see your decoy, which, after all is the point.  Use high quality well painted decoys, and keep them in good repair.  This doesn’t mean ultra pricey custom painted mega real ones, just nice ones that won’t get trashed by being rained on.  The experts have concluded that ducks, unlike geese, don’t pay that much attention to detail in most cases.  Some of the decoy shy ones will, but that is a specific situation and most of the time those decoys are going to just sit there and gather dust, and that means they just aren’t worth the money.  On cloudy days, don’t use tons of decoys, use fewer ones.  The ducks can see better on these types of days and less decoys do seem to draw them in.  Some tricks also seem self explanatory, like keeping your decoys clean and free of muck.  Think about it, real ducks don’t swim around covered in any kind of filth; they keep their feathers pristinely clean and shiny.  Also, if they are older and showing wear, get out the paint and touch them up.  Not fancy paint, just Lowes paint from the hardware store is fine.  Keep those decoys looking nice, after all most of them aren’t cheap.  Lastly, throw a coat of WWD-40 over them bad boys.  This keeps them clean, damage free, and makes them shine like real wet duck feathers do in the sun.   These tips will keep your hunting pleasant and successful with decoys.

Working Geese takes lots of decoys, lots and lots of decoys.  I recently read one expert claim you need about a thousand to work a Snow Geese field proper.  Remember while you’re hunting that the point is to not break yourself with your budget, it’s about having a good time.  DO your research and be patient, geese are tricky and keep a crow decoy or two handy, older geese respect the wariness of the birds and it can pay to throw a few into the mix.