Good decoy count to start with

[Roger Meinert]

I'm new to the sport of duck hunting, but have fallen in love since my first hunt last fall. I would like to hear the thoughts from some experienced hunters on how many and what decoys a new hunter should get. Of course, the decoys will all be Greenhead Gear, but home many Mallard, Red Head, Canvasback, etc. a person should invest in who is just starting out.

We have mallards, scaup, wood ducks, redheads, canvasback, pintail, and black ducks in various areas in the state of Michigan. I live in central lower Michigan and will do most of my hunting in this area.

The guys I hunted with last year were not too passionate about hunting and maybe had 1 dozen decoy among the 3 of them. I've found a sport that I can spend time with my dog on and I want to take it seriously. I'm looking to hook up with some guys in my area who are more serious, but I also want to be prepared with my own gear.

Thanks for any input.

Roger

[chrispbrown27]

I would say that for a standard set 3 dozen mallards are what you should start out with. Now if you're going to be hunting big water, then of course divers would be in order. As best I can tell, bluebills are the mallards of the diver world. (I haven't had that much experience in diver hunting) If you're hitting the big water 3 dozen bluebills would be a good start. Canvasbacks and redheads are a favorite of mine just because of the white that shows up so well. When I started out, 10 years ago this season so happy anniversary to me, me and a buddy bought 3 dozen between the two of us and we were, and still would be, on par with just about everyone else. The guys that have been in it for years may have more decoys but most just haul 3 dozen of em out. Then again thats Southern Illinois. It might be completely different in your neck of the woods. If ya wanna get fancy either get out there and see what ducks are in the area or keep an eye out for other peoples spreads. I learned alot just by peeking in someones boat to see what they were tossin out.
Glad you enjoy the sport. But be careful it is very addictive and can cost you a lot. No matter how many you have you'll want more!!

[chrispbrown27]

I would say that for a standard set 3 dozen mallards are what you should start out with. Now if you're going to be hunting big water, then of course divers would be in order. As best I can tell, bluebills are the mallards of the diver world. (I haven't had that much experience in diver hunting) If you're hitting the big water 3 dozen bluebills would be a good start. Canvasbacks and redheads are a favorite of mine just because of the white that shows up so well. When I started out, 10 years ago this season so happy anniversary to me, me and a buddy bought 3 dozen between the two of us and we were, and still would be, on par with just about everyone else. The guys that have been in it for years may have more decoys but most just haul 3 dozen of em out. Then again thats Southern Illinois. It might be completely different in your neck of the woods. If ya wanna get fancy either get out there and see what ducks are in the area or keep an eye out for other peoples spreads. I learned alot just by peeking in someones boat to see what they were tossin out.
Glad you enjoy the sport. But be careful it is very addictive and can cost you a lot. No matter how many you have you'll want more!!
Good luck this season!

[Mike Bard]

Welcome!

I too would start out with a good base of mallards. Depending on what you can afford, I'd get up to 3 dozen. If you have divers in your area, you could add a couple dozen blue bills, as most divers will decoy to them.

For my basic puddle duck rig I like anywhere from 6-80 mallards depending on the size of the water, pressure, the number of birds I've been seeing, etc. Also I like to through out a few other species of puddle ducks to make things look for realistic and for the color (draw more attention) a few pintails, woodies, widgeon, gadwell depenind on what you are seeing in your area could never hurt.

Feel free to pm me if you'd like to discuss specific situations.

[Jay Longhauser]

good to hear you like the sport so well. Start with what you can afford, you cant have too many if you can pay for them and store and haul em.

I would try to find someone who is really into duck hunting and knowledgable in your area, if you can find someone to take you under their wing a little you will learn what you want and need much quicker.

Jay

[Honkers45]

i started with 2 dozen....then before i knew it..i had 6 dozen...as my hunting spots grew meaning my water spots...so did my decoys..i've killed ducks with as few as 1 dozen..and as many as 100...now i'm hunting bigger water...and i put out close to 150+ including my divers and also. put some canadas floaters also..guess i turned into a duckaholic.....but i would'nt wanna being doing anything else!!!!!Honkers45

[Pintail55]

Bass before you know it you will have more decoys than you'll know what to do with. If it were me and I didn't have a lot of money to spend, I would get me a dozen hotbuys (I just love these decoys) and one box of canada floaters. If you have more money than that to spend get more geese. You will be pleasntly supprised how well ducks will finish into goose decoys. Plus It wont hurt for geese either. Hope this helps and good luck on the upcoming season.

[Swamp Duck]

Roger,

Good to see another waterfowling adiction forming to a neighbor here in South central Michigan. I live in Jackson county and have been chasing birds around these parts for going on nine years now. My advice: start like everyone else said, with the best you can afford and grow from there adding a few new dekes to the spread each year. I would definately look into the mallard hot buys. 2 dozen of these from a cabelas sale will get you started for around $50. I hunt mostly small lakes and marshes here so other than mallards I will compliment my spread early in the season with some green wings and woodies, but usually only a half dozen or less of each. Now goose hunting is a whole different subject in my opinion. You need field decoys and floaters in some situations and the possibilities are endless from there. Shoot me an e-mail sometime and I can go over some finer details with you. Maybe we can set up a hunt or two this season and shoot a few birds. We are always looking to help a new addict out in our group. Well good luck and again don't hesitate to fire me an email. (rileyti1@msu.edu)

Tim Riley

[Montauker]

I would say go with a dozen mallards, 2 dozen bluebills and 1/2 geese. If you can afford it add more geese or a 1/2 Canvasbacks.

[Paul Cupka]

Bass,
Welcome to this wonderful and addicting sport! I find your question intresting so I'll put my .02 in here. Based on the info you have provided:

PUDDLERS
-one dozen HotBuy Mallards
-one dozen Life Size (LS) Mallards
-half dozen Over-Size (OS) Mallards
-half dozen LS Wood Ducks
-half dozen OS Black Ducks
-half dozen LS Pintails
-one dozen Teal or Wigeon
-four OS Mallard Butt-up Feeders

DIVER RIG
-two dozen LS Bluebills
-one dozen OS Bluebills
-one dozen LS Ringnecks
-one dozen OS Canvasbacks

You did not mention Canadas in your post so I did not touch on these. This set-up would cover pretty much all your bases for a good long while, in my opinion. You will have moderate numbers, lots of poses, and color with each set, along with the ability to change up as needed. You also didn't say if $ was a factor! Good luck this year and like others said, try to get with some veterans (sounds like you've had some really nice offers) and see what works for them. Thanks for choosing GreenHead Gear and Avery to outfit your new passion, you will not be disappoointed! Keep us posted on your success.

[jamesmc]

I started out with a dozen hotbuys last year, now I have the original dozen hotbuys, 1/2 dozen bluewing teal, 1/2 dozen pintails, 1/2 dozen ringnecks, 4 buffleheads, 3 dozen bluebills, 1 widgen drake and a dozen goose shells with flocked heads. I'm adding a dozen goldeneyes, 1/2 dozen cans, 1/2 dozen redheads and another dozen bluebills in the next couple of months. All of my dekes are GHG except for the goose shells (sorry guys, got a great deal). I love the spred I have and can't wait to add the others. With the price of GHG so cheap and the quality so great you can afford to have a large spred.

[Mark Brendemuehl]

bass- I would start with a good base of Mallards and mix in some different ducks to the spread. Alot of ducks will decoy to mallards in general, so they are a good foundation.
For divers, add lots of white. Bluebills and the Oversize Canvasbacks would be a great base, and you can add in things like the ringers as you go.
Thanks for choosing GHG!
Mark

[Lloyd]

A lot of good advice above: my two cents is to stick to oversized (magnum or super magnum) decoys if possible. I bought the requisite few dozen standard mallards when I started and they were the first thing I upgraded the next season.