winter duck Question

[NYhunter]

hey guys,

i hunt in the finger lakes in NY state and when winter comes allwe seem to get is mallards. but when when hunt i see some whistlers or golden eyes abotu 200 yard out we ussally focus on the mallards beacuse they come in easy. i get really frustrated because i wanna kill some winter duck our setup is about 2 1/2 doz blue bills and some redheadsi got some whitler decoys but does it matter what kind thedecoys are like species wise or do u just have to have a lot of decoys to get them to come in plus are u supoosed to call at all and also we have abotu 2 dozenmallard out at the sametimeas the winter duck decoys thanks guys for takingthe time to read this is there anyinformation or suggestions to help me out.

[Cryfowl]

It's been my experience that if you want the Goldeneyes, you need to be in a spot they frequent, not just pass by. Never been able to call them even though I have tried. Mallards are naturally curious and will react to a call even if you are standing in a parking lot. Divers don't! Most the Goldeneyes and Blue Bills we get, are from sitting in my 18' boat anchored out in the middle of the big water or along the flight path of the divers, which is usually at least a 100 yards off shore. We use stringers of Bluebills and about a dozen Goldeneye decoys and do quite well on both, as well as Buffleheads. Good Luck!!!

[Zach Byron]

Hey Cryfowl...so you anchor in the middle of the lake and put decoys around you...and it works? I love hunting divers and was curious about some new techniques...that sounds kinda fun, they dont see you or anything...do you have a blind on your boat?

[Bull Island]

We call them Dippers here but they are the easiest decoying bird I have ever hunted. I am sure you'll see some of those this winter. They come here by the thousands every winter. you don't even need bufflehead deekes they'll decoy to any diver deeke. You got to get out where they are though, Like cryfowl said. you got to put out long lines leading to you're spread on both sides of your shooting lane. Leave a nice size landing zone in the middle and you shouldn't have any problems getting those birds to decoy. Just my opinion. Good luck to you, Shayne.

[jamesmc]

Quackhead,
We hunt in the middle of the lake in a 24ft pontoon boat. As long as your boat is blinded up good and your faces aren't glowing you shouldn't have any problems. We tipically put out around ten dozen bluebills and some cans in either the shape of a J or C and shoot the fire out of them.

[Cryfowl]

Right, sit right out in the open. The areas we hunt have tons of fishermen in their shinny new boats, so the birds are used to seeing boats. My boat is completely camoflauged, but we don't use a blind or anything else. Just sit still with decoys on both sides of the boat. We usually put about three stringers on each side of the boat and do real well. We have both types of Goldeneyes over here, Common and Barrows. The Barrows seem to be a bit more difficult to hunt. They like to sit along the shore, but at the base of steep HIGH banks or cliffs, so for them, we anchor right up along shore and put the decoys out about 40 yards. We pop up a blind for them or sit in any available brush/large rocks. Good Luck!!