# Most critical aspect to a spread



## twoteal (Jul 22, 2001)

Concealment first and foremost. I like variety in duck sizes head styles, I buy only a half dozen dekes at a time from different makers so all mine are way different. 

had a day a few years ago that the birds worked real well and all of a sudden they started to flare, I watched two groups work to about 60yards then flare like some one hit them with a spotlight. looked around and noticed 3 shells floating right in the hole about 3" apart. Got them suckers out of there and the next group worked like the first. They are not dumb and anyone that don't respect that is gonna learn the hard way.


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## FullBody (Nov 4, 2008)

Concealment to me goes without saying. Agreed that its very important in every style of hunting. 

Not really part of the spread per say.


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## Bellyup (Nov 13, 2007)

In my opinion, the most important thing about any spread in any location for any waterfowl is LUCK. 

You have to have some luck to finish birds. It is not all skill. If someone tells you it is all skill, you might want to question where you are hunting. 

I also don't beleive there is one magic spread. It is about what the birds want that day. What worked for you in that morning, might very well flare birds the next. Hope that luck is on your side and it does not. 

I also think what most have said is true to a degree. You need to hide decent, stay still is important, and make sure you don't look up at the birds if you don't wear a facemask... or at least paint your face dark, and I mean Duck Commander dark. 

Now then, may luck be with you !!!


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## Burksee (Jan 15, 2003)

Remnar said:


> Number one decoy spread rule.
> 
> 
> Flat side down.
> ...


Good one, I was gonna say make sure they float! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## smoke (Jun 3, 2006)

1) Movement at the right time in the right place
2) Natural looking set up ie: not to tight, not to wide open loose either

24" apart at times 3'-6' other times. Depends on how the birds are reacting. 

A duck doesn't need a huge open area to land. they can land spot on in a 1' square if they want in bad enough. So can a goose, which is why when I hunt with different people and they tell me oh crap we didn't give em enough room for them to get right! BS even a goose can set down in a 2x2 square if they want to bad enough. 

This question leads me to one of my own which i'm going to post up.
Smoke


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## Wingmaster22 (Oct 29, 2003)

Bellyup said:


> In my opinion, the most important thing about any spread in any location for any waterfowl is LUCK.
> 
> You have to have some luck to finish birds. It is not all skill. If someone tells you it is all skill, you might want to question where you are hunting.
> 
> Now then, may luck be with you !!!


sorry bellyup i've got to disagree. luck certainly plays a part but its a small part. more experienced and knowledgeble hunters almost ALWAYS are more successfull fillin the game bag than newbies. there are times when the newbie gets lucky and is more successfull than the experienced guy but thats not the norm.

one thing i might add is you gotta play the wind correctly, thats pretty high on my list along with some of the other things mentioned here.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

GVSUKUSH said:


> I've had flight mallards during deer season come into 2 beat up 15 year old Flambeau Mallards, and 2 coot dekes. It was all I could fit in the Puddler Kayak I was in.
> 
> But they couldn't see me.


They're probably my beat up ol' flambeau's....it was you I gave some too, right? :lol:

My current dekes are all beaten up, paint chipped, yada, yada, and I still shoot ducks.


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## Mike L (Sep 8, 2003)

I don't believe concealment was one of the options asked ? But anyway getting on to that subject ?...Now ! I'm not going to disagree with anyone about concealment being important.
But higher on that list is "Movement" you can be partially concealed and still kill ducks if you just "Stand Still".....movement flares more ducks than anything.

How many times have you been out in the decoys, changing or leaving and have ducks start working your spread ? Your not concealed then ? So it's just not one particular item per say, it's a total package deal. And ? Some days, no matter what you do it's just wrong......:lol:


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## TSS Caddis (Mar 15, 2002)

I wish I understood it more, but IMO when ducks look at a spread, taking into account cover, wind and decoy placement, there are always spots that they seem to choose in a spread on a given day. Sort of like when you pull into a new Meijer parking lot and have to make a choice to go left or right, there are concious and subconcious factors that play into what decision you make. Is it density of cars? Is it you are there for groceries and think that is to the left? Watching one flock pick a spot in the spread almost inevitably means most flocks will make similar decisions based on many things that are probably well beyond our understanding. The biggest thing we look at is wind and cover they may want to avoid, but lord knows there are probably many things that go into their decision process that we don't understand. Sort of like going to a wedding reception you don't know anyone at and picking a table to sit at.

So let's say they want to dump in on the left edge of the spread, you can either move decoys to try to adust what they determine as a good spot to land or you can move yourself to get better gunning at that spot. When hunting flooded corn, we always just move, but if you are tied to a spot, then you have to adjust the spread. Wish I understood more of a ducks decision making process and why it seems every flock pics ths same spot in the spread on a given day, but IMO, most of the time we are just putting together spreads that look good to us.


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## just ducky (Aug 23, 2002)

TSS Caddis said:


> ...Sort of like when you pull into a new Meijer parking lot and have to make a choice to go left or right, there are concious and subconcious factors that play into what decision you make. Is it density of cars? Is it you are there for groceries and think that is to the left?...


Great analogy Gene! Never thought about it, but you're right. Some people turn right, some turn left, some go straight ahead, and all for reasons only they know.

Bottom line to all of this is there is no single right answer to the question "the most critical aspect of a spread". My best answer is it depends :evilsmile


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## GrizzlyBear (Apr 27, 2003)

Lots of good ideas and opinions. Obviously concealment and movement are critical but I was more talking decoys here. I've heard all kinds of opinions on what is the most important, most common being size of decoys and realism. IMO, realism is overrated. They sure do a great job of decoying hunters though. Look how many guys kill piles of ducks over G&H's or Flambeaus, which by most decoys standards today are near the bottom of the list in the realism category.

That being said I would have to say movement and spread placement are probably at the tops for me. In fact, I'm looking at getting some of the keelless Drake decoys for that reason. They probably move better than any other decoy out right now. They are however a little smaller (about 2") than say the GHG oversize so I'll lose a bit of the visibility. Either way, I think I'm going to try and see how they do. 

Ducks are a wary bunch, and everything plays a factor. Only thing to do is to keep tweaking and see what works best!


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## cheeseandquackers (Jun 20, 2007)

Hunting pressure, the hunters around you could make or break your hunt. All the other stuff is secondary. You could conceal, set up, adjust, call good, but if you have a group of guys doing things that arent conducive to quality hunting, it could spoil an otherwise killer day.


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## MCMANN (Jan 13, 2010)

here is my 2 cents after years of guiding 
1.calling is number 1 when to call and when not to call i see it all the time birds are locked up on a spread people are still calling =s birds flaring no need to be calling when they are already coming in decoys
2. is people talking when birds are working here they come get ready get ready take them seen many birds over the years flare because of this.
3.sun glasses sun glasses sun glasses and regular glasses are a huge bird flare
4.IMO decoy placement and decoy quality isnt as big as alot of guys think IMO being in the right place right time and luck has more to do with it then anything ive hunted some clubs down south that prolly 75%of the decoys were black milk jugs 2liters you name it they had it painted black and they kill more birds a season then most of you guys dream about
5. IMO a hide is a hide take fish point or any draw area you can pick out every party everyday guys faces are prolly the easiest thing to pick out and then we just stand out in standing corn not much we can do about that what im getting at is these areas kill a ton of birds every yr with bad hides( IMO key is not to move)bad calling and bad hunters bad decoys BUT this is where the birds want to be 
ive been lucky to hunt many states and many duck clubs over my years and IMHO if you are where the birds want to be you going to pound them and if your not your not going to pound them 
so IMO learn how to call and when to call and stop doing the feeding chuckle and have some luck will get you more birds then high dollar decoys and the hide will .



mike


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## mintgreenwalleyemachine (Jan 18, 2005)

You have to have a drake merganzer mixed in the spread to kill ducks!!!


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## dpossum (Jul 19, 2006)

My opinion - I would use caution with keel less decoys. I used to use some water keel pintail decoys in my spread but invariably, when the wind kicked up they would end up on their sides. I hate to think of how many opportunities I lost when those stupid decoys flared good working birds. They are all gone now. 

I would think the keel less decoys would work in a VERY light wind. Any decent wind and they will look like sailboats tacking to make a turn. 

Just my thoughts.


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## LumberJ (Mar 9, 2009)

Scent control


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## mintgreenwalleyemachine (Jan 18, 2005)

LumberJ said:


> Scent control


I use dead down wind scent free soap and fall blend cover scent! This always works mallards!!! When hunting divers I usually store my cloths in a rubermaid bin with sea weed and fish guts!!! Hope this helps Grizzly bear. Lol!


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## lreigler (Dec 23, 2009)

@ the discussion of the red bottle cap;

any of you guys believe geese flare at the brass on shotgun shells?


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## Water_Hazard (Aug 16, 2006)

lreigler said:


> @ the discussion of the red bottle cap;
> 
> any of you guys believe geese flare at the brass on shotgun shells?


Not as much as they would to some of the calls and lanyards that people use.


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## smoke (Jun 3, 2006)

My vote goes for realistic spread with inviting landing zone and motion in the blocks. ie: jerk cord, higdon water squirters etc. Anything to make natural ripples like feeding birds. 

Smoke


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## earlfriend (Oct 21, 2010)

smoke said:


> My vote goes for realistic spread with inviting landing zone and motion in the blocks. ie: jerk cord, higdon water squirters etc. Anything to make natural ripples like feeding birds.
> 
> Smoke


Agreed. A jerk rig helped me decoy tons more last season. They love to see movement like that. I leave the mojo at home now. 

Oh and I painted my acrylic goose call that was neon yellow with a chrome center piece (what were they thinking???).


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## waxico (Jan 21, 2008)

Placement of the bait


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## Duckdropper (Sep 3, 2008)

I would have to say concealment and movement as well. Has anyone ever wore a ghillie suit for waterfowl? I hate grass huts, they never seem to hold up over my head!
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## GrizzlyBear (Apr 27, 2003)

mintgreenwalleyemachine said:


> You have to have a drake merganzer mixed in the spread to kill ducks!!!
> 
> 
> _OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors._


You brought up a year old thread to make a lawn dart joke? Plumbing biz must be a little slow eh?:evil:


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## GrizzlyBear (Apr 27, 2003)

waxico said:


> Placement of the bait


Separate thread maybe???


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## kwcharne (Jan 8, 2008)

Mike L said:


> How many times have you been out in the decoys, changing or leaving and have ducks start working your spread ? Your not concealed then ? So it's just not one particular item per say, it's a total package deal. And ? Some days, no matter what you do it's just wrong......:lol:
> 
> I could not agree more. Its always a joke between me and my duck hunting buddys "Im going to start pulling decoys, get ready". We have killed alot of ducks while one of use is standing in the middle of our spread. If you want to see ducks, put your gun down and walk around.
> 
> ...


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## mintgreenwalleyemachine (Jan 18, 2005)

GrizzlyBear said:


> You brought up a year old thread to make a lawn dart joke? Plumbing biz must be a little slow eh?:evil:


I just am so proud of you old man!!!


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## cornfieldbill (Jun 6, 2009)

ar34 said:


> i was hopeing you were talking field spread for geese... For this i would say numbers and placement. For water and ducks???? I want to know myself :lol: . I would like to just see ducks when i hunt them. For god sakes its like hunting deer for me trying to get a beed on a duck or two. Go out sit and never fire a shot...


 ######################### ers


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## hunting man (Mar 2, 2005)

If 200 full body decoys doesn't seem to be working good enough. I keep bringing out more till it works for me.

Nothing like a 6-8 hundred decoy spread to make the geese commit from a half mile away.


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