Field Mallard Spread

[MORiverman]

We field hunt with about 12 dozen full body mallards and 4 mojos and if geese are in the area we'll put about 3-4 dozen of them in as well. We try lots of different spreads but the most effective seems to have been either a J-hook or u pattern. what your opinions on the field spread and what has been effective for you guys?

[bck1006]

I like to use the small groups in the 1st part of the season in pockets and then late season go to a "V" or a "U" spread.

[timberkiller]

i put my decoys in a in a Q and put the layout blind in the Q

[MORiverman]

I like the Q idea "str8meat" i wouldnt mind seein a picture of that if you have one

[timberkiller]

i dont have a camera

[straitmeatshooter]

Just do what the birds are doing and be near where ever the pocket is. If there bunched tight, then pack decoys all around the blinds and back, hoping they land into the front of them and bang there dead.

[SBE II]

Mimmick how they were sitting the day before.

[ladb57]

Scouting is key here. Like stated above, the best set up is to set up the way the birds were sitting the day before. This will give you a natural look and will make your dekes appear less like decoys. Ducks and geese both see U's, J's, X's, etc, all the way down the flyways. This is why setting up like they were actually sitting in the field will make your spread better. You won't look exactly like the last group of decoys that they got shot over. Just my two cents.

Also, MOriverman, do you really use 144 FB mallards? Geeze, it would take me forever to put that many dekes in a field. We just normally use 3 dozen or so and maybe a dozen FB geese.

[SBE II]

I have to agree with lad, to use that many ducks is nice, but if ducks are using that field, I believe that their pretty easy to kill. We usually use 3 dozen or so and place the ducks in the fronts and on the corners and a mojo near the blinds and they usually want to land on your lap.

[MORiverman]

When we field hunt we usually have a party of 6-8 guys so setup is not a problem and like you stated above you try to be realistic. Well is three dozen ducks in a dry cornfield very realistic Id say no. Atleast not in the area that we hunt. In my opinion the more decoys the better and the results have proven that.

[jrode237]

Last year was the first year my group did any serious field hunting. We used about 36 mallard dekes (2 dozen "hot buys" and 1 dozen regular size). We tended to set them up in a u shape (this was later in the year towards the end of the season). Then put the 2 mojos in the open area of the u. We tended to sit off them about 20 yards in the middle of our geese (about 100 full bodies/shells). When the birds were flying they liked to land in the u and on the closed end side. If we would have tried to do what the birds were doing we would have needed on average another 6 dozen or so decoys with really no pattern as they were spread pretty evenly throughout the field. Had some really good days with that setup :D

[Uno]

Im a minimalist, i figure th educks and geese don't start at 12 dozen early in the morning but they filter in smaller numbers. I have had some of the best days of the season hunting over 14 deeks, have not had many geese in the areas around here though.

[SBE II]

When we field hunt we usually have a party of 6-8 guys so setup is not a problem and like you stated above you try to be realistic. Well is three dozen ducks in a dry cornfield very realistic Id say no. Atleast not in the area that we hunt. In my opinion the more decoys the better and the results have proven that.

I would say that 3 dozen are very realistic, ducks work and feed around here they just don't sit and loaf like geese. You hunt 8 guys, thats a lot in my book and need more deeks to hide in, but to me ducks are dumb when they're hitting a cornfield, I hunt with 6 max. Some will tell you that the more numbers you have in the late season works better, well this season was completely different for us. We hunted over 8-10 full bodies late in the regular and in the late season early. In the late season we found that 2 dozen were more effective. (Geese) For ducks in a field we have limited out taken only a dozen out.

[MORiverman]

SBEII: We've tried smaller spreads of 4 to 5 dozen like that before. But in the area that we hunt we are a couple miles down river from a waterfowl refuge that holds up to 300,000 ducks. When the ducks hit the fields in our bottom they feed in groups of about 5000 ducks at a time so usin more decoys is much more effective for us. When we've had these groups work us with small spreads they take a high look and hit a different part of the field. But when we upgraded our spread we've had no problems at all.

[SBE II]

Well here in MI I don't think our population ever gets that high. At least in a 100 mile radius. 300,000 thats off the chain. Seems like to have 5,000 feed at a time, with good calling you would expect to pull a couple off unless your completely of the X.

[MORiverman]

Yea were very fortunate to be so close to a mass of birds that large. And pullin ducks off of group of 5000 is definetly harder than it looks. I'm no professional caller but a few of the guys I hunt with are exceptional callers.

[timberkiller]

its all about the



Q

[MORiverman]

I'm gonna try that Q out next year

[corybdesign]

Well here in MI I don't think our population ever gets that high. At least in a 100 mile radius. 300,000 thats off the chain. Seems like to have 5,000 feed at a time, with good calling you would expect to pull a couple off unless your completely of the X.

I know the saginaw bay watershed can hold a ton of birds under the right conditions, problem is there's so much food and water there that they aren't as concentrated as some other places, not to mention massive hunting pressure there.

[Quackaddict9]

its all about the



Q

No it's not...I've killed them ducks with goose decoys all around the blinds then duck FB's on the side and further out with the mojo then the other side with less duck FB's, slightly like a J shape or U shape. Whacked em that way. :twisted:

[legband]

i personally dont hunt where there are hundreds of thousands of mallards so i can say for sure..but under normal circumstances...i would rather have 10 dozen honker decoys out and 4 dozen mallards instead of the other way around..mainly for visabilty ..the honkers show up better and the mallards love decoyin to honkers..but if your goose hunting, geese dont like landing with all those mallards..they might fly by ya but chances are they will land out of gun range..ive found that geese dont like mallards especially our big minnesota residents

[corybdesign]

ya just need to provide a landing opening by the geese and one by the ducks.