how to place decoys

use this diagram to place your decoys,,, use GIANT decoys,,, NOT small ones. The type of decoy ( malard, widgeon, etc) makes very little if any difference. Using this diagram they will land in front of your blind, you can pet them before you shoot them if you like. Notice on the long leg I only use 12 decoys --------- YOu DONT need dozens and dozens of decoys.
Anyone who criticizes this is probably a skeet shooter, NOT a duck hunter.

What if the wind is in your face and you have to hunt that particular blind. Can you help me with some advice on that situation. My Uncle lets me hunt a pond and there is only one blind and that is the only spot available to hunt. The wind comes right straight up the lake and in our faces. How on earth should we handle that? I can't get them to land there. I use 12 dozen decoys and they still won't land there. I thought about putting a fourth Mojo in the spread.

Try 5 fully flocked decoys placed no closer than 33.492 yrds apart. Then put 36 shiny plastic decoys where you can't hunt and the birds want to land.

Stay away from using increments of 6 in your landing area as these are the typical numbers in a box of decoys.

I like the insight.
being a new duck hunter, it helps to see what you seasoned guys do. Im going to revive a habit from when i was in the Corps, we made sector card which were a crude drawing of our machine gun emplacement. complete with terrain features, ranges if known, weather condition, lateral limits of fire...etc.
im plan on adopting that for duck season and making a log with a rough drawing of the feature we are hunting on, land features, wind direction, decoy placement. i figure eventually i can see patterns of success with what works and what doesnt

I knew it!!! I have been placing 24 groups of 6 out in front. This year is a slam for sure.

Not to rock the boat but if they are not landing near the blind it could be because they are afraid of it MOVE to where they are landing or as close as you can get..Just because there's a blind dosen't mean you should be married to it

dune2218, do you mean put a group of decoys 70-80 yards away from the blind on the left; 50 yards away on the right? What if I put them more closer to the blind, i.e. 20-30 yards, does decoy scare birds away?

I usually walk into the spot on lake bank, no help from boat and dog. So, I am limited by how far I can walk in the water. I have the similar decoy pattern as you drew. One side 5 with a mojo, another is 7. Birds do come in, sometimes they will land in, most solo bird. But, most flocks just fly over and lots of time they turn around and leave 5-15 yards from my decoys. That is another reason I keep decoys close to me, so that I can shoot most birds at 25-40 yards distance. Should I put decoy further, so give a flock more space in front of blind, then they may be more willing to land in?

Not enough. Make it more like this. Lots of decoys = lots of ducks.

Be different- numbers setup etc- they see Vs and J hooks over and over and over again

So why 80 yards on the left and 50 yards on the right? I'm guessing someone drew that up for you and you do not even understand it, lol.

This. Some of the best hunts I've had have been over a spread of 2 or 3 dozen in a random raft like pattern no bigger than 20-30 ft in diameter. No rhyme or reason just toss em out and see what happens. To be honest, sometimes I'll let the birds come in and land, just to watch them to see what they do. Have yet to have a group work into a shape and had other birds drop into their pattern because of an organized shape.

not sure why people complicate simple things. I always figured that you could never go wrong matching exactly what you see numbers, species, and exact location wise when scouting....don't see how it could get any more realistic to the ducks than that. We even use a couple white crane decoys about 150 yds away. and that's under perfect conditions, may have to do something a little different if the wind ends up being a crosser or in your face. I don't think ducks know the alphabet...have yet to see them arrange themselves in letters like a college band at halftime.

My preferred blind position is a cross wind, ducks have a harder time seeing you. Wind to your back, ducks come strait in and spot you more easily.

Used to hunt a spot with a old abandoned, beached pontoon that had been stripped. Deck was rotted but we'd find the spots that would still support us, throw a camo net over our legs and shoot birds. No elaborate blinds, no planned decoy setups. I think some people put way to much thought into it.

Dang that's about a football field. Thought objective was to get them within reasonable shooting range? Have ducks landing everywhere

Personally I don't want them coming straight at me. I've had better luck setting up so they come in at a slight angle. This keeps them from looking right at you when they come in.

The "V" pattern would be what I would go with if I had wind directly at my back but I'd much rather throw a hook out to the left with a left to right wind or a hook out to the right with a right to left wind.

Agree 100%

All my blinds on east bank. NE or SE. West wind- basically sucks- use lay downs or hide in natural cover- put in pits this year at one place-Should be smackdown

Matching what u see is key in layout and species. I use More motion- jerk rigs, bubblers,robot dove and mallard machines under different situations/ cloudy vs sunny days- SIGNIFICANLY less decoys than most- and always 3-6 floating geese or socks. Different is always better IMO

I prefer the decoys in a 200 yard M pattern or an O with me in the middle and the wind in my face. That way I can sky blast them in the butt 50 yards up and the wind brings them back to me. Too old to run after dux floating away from me and hoping I don't go over my waders.

And everyone knows 11 decoys is the key...

Are you suggesting hunting outside the blind? That's nuts, everybody knows the ducks will see you.

In 56yrs Duck Hunting I found put the boat in the middle of a circle of decoys 30yds out and about 4 Mojo's and 6-8 Pulsators and a Vortex in the middle and it Drives them Wild!!

This is awesome. I love hunting public land where every spread is a V, J-Hook, circle of decoys with brush pile in middle, etc.


Just throw out your decoys and leave a couple holes for them to land.

Add decoys as season progresses. Bigger the water, the more decoys I use. Have never seen too many decoys flare birds, unless it is dead calm.

Then in January, I start using smaller spreads with really small tight groups spread out. They might not land exactly where I want them to every time, but they tend to finish easier.

I don't typically set up according to the wind, I setup with the sun to my back. Can't shoot what you can't see.

""" The wind comes right straight up the lake and in our faces. How on earth should we handle that? I can't get them to land there"""
ducks land into the wind, just like an airplane------ if you cant move your hunt across the pond you're probably not gonna get any shots that day.

"""dune2218, do you mean put a group of decoys 70-80 yards away from the blind on the left; 50 yards away on the right?"""
Each line I drew is a decoy,,, so 10 or 12 decoys strung out in a line 80 yards long,,, 6 or 8 yards between each decoy. If you are 1/2 way serious, you can buy a kayak for $100 to put out your decoys. Ducks will land in the 'hole' that you make for them, so make the hole in front of the blind. People make the mistake of putting the decoys too close to the blind.

Guy --------- how'd you do at the skeet range last weekend????

I face the blind and chuck them over my head behind me (not looking) and leave them alone.