Looking for decoys, but don't want to break the bank. Any recommendations? Will probably get a Mojo Mallard, but wanted opinions on floaters. Your thoughts?

this one has some serious potential. lol For me, it would entirely depend on the types of hunting situations and species of ducks in the areas youll be hunting...tell us more

I am hunting in east Central Texas (Freestone/Leon counties). Mostly be hunting on a creek and tanks (stock ponds). Mainly mallards, teal, and canvasbacks.

Best bang for the buck are Flambeau storm fronts in my opinion. They make mallards, Pintail, wigeon, teal and woodies. All very reasonably priced and they last forever. They don't have the realism of some expensive decoys like Dakotas or avian x, but If you're wanting budget decoys those can't be beat. They're super thick plastic, never have I had one leak. Usually around 29-49$ per 6 pack. Rogers usually has really good prices on them.

I think most people will agree that when it comes to plastic decoys, the G&H brand is the most solidly built and will last the longest. There are other brands that offer more realism if that's what you need. The G&H are kind of like a fishing lure designed to imitate a certain bait, they kind of have the right colors and field marks, but they aren't as detailed. Ducks don't notice.

As far as species, if you really mainly see those three, then you'll want mallards and canvasback decoys, whichever you see the most of purchased first. You can build your spread slowly but stick with what you usually see first. Teal will decoy to just about any ducks, nothing wrong with teal decoys, but they wouldn't be my first or only pick.

Anything that floats and looks somewhat like a duck.

Says it all right there. Unfortunately, decoys have become a fashion statement for the $400 Cabelas jacket wearing, 3 hunt a year DU banquet groupies and impressionable folks that assume high cost=more ducks, that a high dollar decoy possesses some special, magical quality that gives them an edge when hunting and that less expensive dekes don't have.

When it comes to build quality and ability to pull birds Storm Fronts are the absolute best value in the decoy market. They're extremely durable even in sub-freezing temps, have exceptionally (UV) tough paint, look good, are readily available from a ton of retailers, and are very inexpensive.

Tastes in decoys are analogous to tastes in watches. $50 Timex versus $14k Rolex Daytona. If the brand of decoys you use is less about practicality and more about materialism, knock yourself out. But if practicality and function are the only requirement, Storm Fronts offer a heck of a lot of value and get the job done just as well as high dollar dekes.

Keep in mind that if you hunt on foot, light weight is good. Hauling solid foam, lead keeled, bolted head dekes is fortunately a relic of the past. Storm Fronts are light, you could easily carry 2 dozen dekes.

If u want some Flambeau hit me up I acquired more than I need thru a few deals, il let em go cheap.

PM inbound

As I replace decoys I buy nothing but
G and H. Tough, swivel head, good paint and will be the last decoys I have to purchase.

Well, I just bought some after reading this. A 12-pack of mallards for the cost of two 30 packs is a great deal on dekes.

That swivel head feature is the shiznit, but I don't play with my decoys enough to pay a premium for decoy action figures with articulating body parts. The exception would be GI Joes. I don't play with dolls but I can see the value in paying a premium for movable body parts.

EXACTLY.. I have mallards in my spread and I hunt the coast exclusively.. we dont shoot mallards here.. Well, it is super rare. I kill my fair share of ducks. I throw around 80 deeks and I mix them all together. I used to put all the pintails together and then all the red heads together and the pintails rarely landed wityh the other pintail deeks and the redheads didnt give a crap who they landed next to. Just get something out there and hang on. As for durability, I dont care what you buy if you shoot it they will sink. lol. I DO like to throw deeks with white in them (just my theory) but they can be seen from further away.

I prefer Avian X.

They have multiple positions in every pack and are top quality. My cousin shot one of my pintails last year because he thought it was real. The real ducks landed a few feet from it. Haven't had a single issue in the 3 years I've used them and the material they're made of is still pliable at temps in the negatives.

G&H guys, do you prefer them based on the company? I've heard great things about the people that make them but, I just don't see them on the same level as AvianX.

If you're hunting smart mallards, you (typically) don't need 250+ floaters, so you can splurge a little and buy some real nice higher quality dekes. Now-a-days, I'm strictly a diver & pintail hunter for 99% of the year, so I buy cheaper dekes. I need a lot of blocks to draw in those big ol' rafts of divers over big water. The best hunts I've had so far have been shooting over 30 dozen. Which, in perspective, isn't that many. It was nothing to set out 150 dozen snow goose decoys. Anyways, my point is, buy what your budget allows. I use some ghg but mostly game winner. When I was in mallard paradise, I used Higdon Battleships for my field spread and foam filled Higdons for my water spread & I LOVED em. Now that I mention it, I don't hear much about Higdon down here. Are they a Yankee brand?

G&H rule.

Not sure about Higdons being a Yankee brand or not but I use the Magnum(battleship)foam filled Higdons also. They are good decoys, heavy though, I would not want to have to carry them very far though. I haul my gear in a boat so weight is not an issue on most of my hunts.
Higdon makes a good product IMO. No matter how many people sit on/fall on or shoot them they are indestructible since they are foam filled.

If u only need 12, buy dakotas.
Most realistic

I am looking at maybe 2 dozen decoys.

250+ decoys would leave no room for the ducks to land where I am at.

Its going to depend on how you take care of them and how many times a year you hunt. If you just hunt a few times a year and you take care of your equipment then go for the Flambeau. However you are going to get what you pay for in regards to life of the decoy and durability. If you hunt hard all season and you want something that will last you several years spend a little more money and get some Higdon Decoys. Not much more than your storm fronts but will last you twice as long and the paint won't chip.

I've got a few of the Higdon goose decoys, and they are pretty durable. I really want a couple dozen of their full body goose sleepers.

Another fan of G&H.

I do all my duck hunting with 5 dozen or less decoys. The difference in money between the good ones and cheap ones means nothing to me. If it did I would not be in the duck hunting business. Not that I don't watch my money cause I do but a couple hundred bucks over 5 years or so.....if that hurts you might want to take up charades at home.

I found some very nice decoys at Academy. Their private brand are comparable if not better than most out there in the same price range. A buddy knows a guy who works there and designs all of their models for them in-house.

Are those the Game Winner brand decoys?