This past Saturday me and a buddy limited out on mallards. Cloudy day and the birds (he found them scouting) had been using this area for at least 4 days or a week or so. They worked great and decoyed great. Today, we hunted the same spot. We saw ALOT more mallards today than we saw last Saturday. Cloudy, cold and windy today obviously. Early morning they worked good. But after it was good light birds started flaring.

So here is my question...did these birds not like the setup or...and this is just something I conjured up in my brain....are these fresh birds just not settled...or acclimated to this spot yet? Do new birds need a few days in a area to feel good about just coming on in (like last Sat) or are they suckers for company and like I said they just didn't like the setup.

Cloudy makes it easier for the ducks to see you. That would be my guess.

Some days you eat the bear. Some days the bear eats you. That is the way it has always been. That is the way it will always be.

Sometimes they read the script and sometimes not. Was tough getting them to work today. Wasn't the case Tuesday had birds try land while I was standing in the decoys.

Birds are always easier early in the morning, most likely birds wanting to be in your spot. Birds later in the day werent comfortable and didnt like your setup.

I think wind is a huge factor. Despite moving the decoys it also makes them circle less. The more they circle the more they see.

Just wasn't quite on the X.

First we need your definition of flaring. Were they getting to a certain point and their body language and flight path all of a sudden change? That's my definition of a definate flare. If they circled and just weren't comfortable and kept circling, then I call that wary birds.

Wary birds are just that, you may or may not find a shift in decoys or whatever to make them comfortable, likely not though. If they are flaring then there is something wrong. More than likely your mug is shining, calling too much ect.
I do not call at birds over head. The most I will do is a 3 note cadence, soft, when they are on,a wide swing beyond the trees. In this clip we had a flight drop in and out. They wanted in but just didn't want to commit. They swung way wide and we couldn't see them out front over the sycamore trees. I got the call pretty hard. They eventually circled 9 times and finally committed.

https://youtu.be/ZJ3lFcPShV8

Often times people park the boat thinking it is a long way away. Birds at 200, 300 feet or higher could be looking nearly straight down on a boat. Food for thought.

This. We were in Oklahoma over Thanksgiving and no wind absolutely killed us. Should have shot limits of mallards no problem 3 of the 4 days but every morning and evening it was just dead still and the birds had a hard time committing that last 30 or 40 yards.

there is a legit reason.
I'm thinking wind. When the water is glass they know. I'd make a jerk cord and run a string through your spread. When it's still this can make all the difference.
Or maybe your blind.

Last you have to pay attention to how they respond to your calls. Some days they want aggressive and some days you stick to feed chuckles and whistles.

When the sun came out did you have something that was shining among st you,maybe someones glasses or something laying in the blind they could see?

What sun are you speaking of lol? The forecasters need a new job. We were tucked into some timber...boat well hidden. The only difference between the bad hunt and the good hunt we had in the same spot was...alot more wind and alot more ducks on the bad hunt. They just would not work or finish. My original question was do new ducks in an area need time to acclimate to the "holes"...as we had new ducks it seemed on the bad hunt. I did find out some info on that spot though. Seems ducks do not like that spot in very high wind.

So it was the wind....too much of it!

It's usually the wind. I have several spots that are north wind only. Some are south wind only.

In my scouting/hunting experience it seems they like to key in on a certain spot in a pond, say for example the shallow area on the north end, or just off that island in the middle, etc. If the wind shifts from the south then they can't/won't land in that north end.

But yeah, pretty much all of it goes into where a duck wants to be: wind, location, sun, fog, water level, food source, cover, pressure, etc.

Good luck.

In my experience, ducks are like any other animals I hunt. They always have a preference that they share with all the other ducks. My spot I hunt is pretty big, and more often then not they always occupy the same areas. Once I found the best place for me to setup, the key is making your setup look like it did before you got there.

I'm kind of a jerk when I take people hunting with me, because the slightest mess up in concealment will bust you. Especially when the sun is bright.

I can always tell if the ducks can see me by their body language and at what point they start to fly differently. My advice is to try to notice if there's a particular spot/pattern in the sky where they flare each time, and imagine what they might be seeing from that angle that makes them spook.

I've thought I was covered before and each time birds swung around behind me they'd leave, I walked around the back of my setup to find out that I missed a spot. Once I fixed it, it was all over.

More than a few times, I've watched mallards not commit to other mallards. Just saw it last month in North Dakota. There was several thousand mallards in a field, and about every 9-10th flock would circle 4-5x, then take off. They're wary birds. Sometimes there's nothing you can do to bring em in

If you're well-hidden, confident in your spread and your calling, wind is right and the birds just aren't committing, it's just gonna be one of those frustrating days.