dekes and hi winds

My boys and I have been waiting for the cold and north winds to bring down some fresh birds. We are hunting a long north to south slough thats sits parrallel with a big secondary chute that normally supports big south bound flocks. Set up in the far north end? U shaped
deke pattern ? (4 dozen dekes) We also have 3 mojos, any tips on how to utilize these? Remember, 25-35 mph winds! thanks 4 any help, we appreciate the advice

Hope your shoot went well, im not much of a fowler but i do know i hate the wind and like it at my back, i like when my dog can get in the water and half way to the bird before the drift a half mile away! Had a mallard down and some how its dang wing was flipped up at an angle in it took off like a sail boat, angleing cross wind! That one was lost in action!

Hmm?? Not enough info…. Why the N end? Why a U shape? Divers or puds?

As a general rule, set up where the birds are, then determine wind direction and spread shape. Spinners are great if you have fresh birds. If stale and wise, maybebe pull em all….. Today I had a guide trip on p9. Guys set up 200 yrds down from us. we had 8 opps at cans which were what my clients wanted. killed our bulls, but what i am getting at is the group down from us never pulled the trigger on cans. Horrible spread…. sorry to say but truth…. The birds will tell you what to do by the first fly by, or look by puds….. shift it till you get it right. No matter how many birds in the air or what the case may be, if it aint working, fix it!!!!! Most guys will not, adjust.

Any one have any other thoughts to Jeffs questions??

Sorry, it was a hasty question. We were going that next morning and needed quick in put Puddlers were the quarry, someday I would like to set up for divers but my boys need to get a little more seasoned. There were fresh birds around our ice free slough but when they would bank to have a look see the wind would push them back…..in a nut shell, nice lookin birds but we never fired a shot. Next morning the slough was skimmed and pretty solid, busted ice for the dekes (which I hate to no end). Had a few birds around that made pass after pass, sweet talkin the hell out of them but they would not committ due to the frozen in dekes. Did have a jerk cord puddler but no go! This morning the slough had an open area in the north east corner, dumped my best dekes in the open water and waited for a good shoot, everything looked right except for one thing, the birds were just plain gone. One drake dumped and a hand full of hi flyers that wouldn’t even look down. Exasperating

sounds like you gave it a hell of a go…. Yeah, I have had several reports from buddies all over that birds are gone. us too…. sucks, just trying to make the best of any and every opportunity…

Jer,I have to say you answered this question very well and with good advice based on puddlers. I am not a fancy educated waterfowler but I seem to shoot many more birds than most of the folks I talk to at the boat landing. My advice would be very similar.

I would add just because one day you shot a bunch of birds in the place you plan on going means that you will shoot a bunch everytime you go there. I rarely if ever hunt the same place twice. Watch the birds. If you see the area they appear to be landing in go to it. Sitting all day in a dead spot never gets any better, the time it takes to move will add up in birds. Second I never- ever- use mojo’s or any rotating wing decoys. Occasionally a jerk line if the water is calm, definitely a shaker decoy butt or two just to get some ripples on the water. The rotating decoys are not an advantage, they will bring in a hen or two but never have I seen them work well on flocks (my experience). Good calling and a great decoy set works the best. As far as decoy sets, again look at the birds. I frequently stop at the refuges around my area to see how birds are currently reacting. I look at them and note the conditions, IE calm winds out of the south I observe the birds all spread out and no real assembly to the flock, if that’s the weather I have, that’s how I set my deeks. If I go to the refuge say on a real windy day look at the birds and see they are in tight bunches with little room inbetween, that’s how I set my decoys on a windy day. You can learn more from observing birds in the area you hunt than you will ever learn from a book or TV show.

I promise if you choose a spot based on its looks, prepare for a long day. I was not taught how to hunt, I learned and I was self taught. I spent many days of frustration in 30+ years of hunting because I was in a great looking spot. Study your game and you will be so much more successful. Sunday I hunted a new place I’ve never tried, Saturday I watched 100’s of Mallards land there throughout the day. Me and My partner took 8 Mallards in less than 10 minutes of opening. Never called never did anything special. Put about 24 decoys out just like I saw the birds on Saturday. Every bird we shot was decoying less than 15 feet from the blind and every bird dropped right in our set. At day break we had over 200 birds trying to land in our tiny little set.

Nothing is fool proof but I believe strongly that your experience and future hunts success will improve if you just take some time to watch whatever it is you are after. I’m going out tomorrow morning. I’m going where I saw some birds land and I know its not iced over yet. I’ve never hunted it but I’ve seen birds there. I’m going to use about 18 decoys. I have a good feeling about it. Its going to be a cold one but I have feeling I won’t be out long.

Thanks guys…….have always known you need to be where the birds are, problems arise when I don’t have enough time in the week to properly scout thus relying on past flights. I’ve never been one to worry about numbers or limits, just a few quality birds reacting to a good spread and calls. My boys have absolutley fallen in love with the sport in which has re energized my love for the sport after taking 3 years off. With all that said we are approaching our last week end of the season, guaranteed we are gonna give it a hell of a go. Thanks again for the advice and send down a few dumb flocks for us

Thanks, You also… Yeah basically your response was to hunt an X. I agree 100%. As a side note it is interesting how guys find field “X” but never mention water , Why is that? IDK why, but it sure pays off. I have pulled out and gone to a diff pool blind the next morn many times and set up after light, found em, stamped a mojo or just a cpl decs or even none and killed em. Majority of fowlers hunt “their spot” day after day, all day and that won’t change, ever, in my opinion. It’s the same as Walleyes, fishing a memory or in this case hunting a memory…. Ive had several guide trips that I have pulled the whole spread, “which clients never want to do” and had great results due to the move, other times it does not work out. Sometimes it doesn’t work, but the alternative is sitting over dead real estate, so why not pull out?? To, pull up and re locate is a good effort that more times than not, will pay off, I promise you. Godevil42 is right in my opinion. Although…. I disagree about spinners. Ive spent over $1,000.00 on spinners this yr for good cause, good results and happy clients!!! All of the best waterfowlers and guides I know use them. Heck even my stubborn [censored] Dad uses them for the last cpl yrs. If you knew him you would know what I mean, old school, but its awesome he keeps an open mind now, we both do, always so much to learn… Some states outlaw spinners like PA I believe, and it is because they murder the ducks!! We have both been caught in amazement of the power spinners can have. That doesn’t mean there aren’t times they do not use them. I run 0 to 8. There are a pile of tricks you can use to make them look different. spin different and get diff results. some days it matters which direction you face them and certainly where you put them in a spread. Prime example, today I had a spread 100 plus decs half diver half pud w/ 2 spinners. Spread was 60 yrds wide as its been every day for2 wks. Let me back up, yest i guided same group I had today. they did not want to put decs 60 yrds wide. 1 guy wldnt listen. He thought puds would short us, which they would have if it werent for the spinners positioned where I wanted to control birds, which worked, spinners took care of that as he quickly saw. So, today, same guy sets spinners in same spot as yest. Trouble was Today the wind was nearly 180 from yest, I moved spinners and had a whole flock finish in the “hole” at 20 yrds shortly after and Continued to place finishing gads and mallards in the whole/ boat opening repeatedly this late in the season directly in front of the blind, thanks to spinners and spinners placed in a part of the spread which makes them “work”. It is easy to fool large flocks in early season or that are “new” with spinners. but this time of yr…. its tough. spinners are a huge key tool in my boat, thanks to them my boat killed just over 100 birds at p9 the last two wks in very very tough conditions, there are no X to hunt. stale birds, South winds. warm weather. heavy pressure. tough, its all about using every bit of know how u have, play the wind, talk to em, convince the birds to come in, and cross your fingers. Used from 0 to 8 mojos. Just depend on situation…. Let me ask you, have you ever given a spinner a shot? If so, a fair chance? OOPS!!! I meant this to go to godevil42, sure as heck not retyping it, HA! Goodnight guys, Good luck the last few days!!!!!

Thanks for the great insight Jer! IMO ,waterfowling is the most strenuous, physicaly demanding sport there is. Most people reading your posts are probablly calling you lucky to be able to dedicate the countless hours you put in for your clients. I’m not one of them, knowing full well the countless hours of lost sleep, freezing digits and dealing with mother nature. This site is lucky to have ya here. Thanks again for the tips and hoping if everything goes right my boys and myself can sit in your blinds next season

Its fun to bs on this site. I wish more people would. Maybe more posts, more pics, more conversation, more agree and disagree, share opinions and experience, share stories.

Jer I hope someday I can meet up with you for a session of idea sharing. I think I may have been out of line on the rotating wing decoys. I bought two of the flambeau skyscrapers the first year they were out. A hen and a drake. My hunting buddy at the time also had a drake. We hunted tremp mud lake in those days and yes we killed them with those things and I agree. Some days one,some days all three;it’s always different.

Since those days as I’m sure you have seen everyone has at least one in their spread at all times. I guess it sort of chapped me and I just saw more birds flinch from them than come in. I kind of gave up on them and resorted to what I know. In pool 4 and 5 which I hunt most often I rely on good sets and some mediocre calling at best to bring them in ( I am worthless on a duck call) As I said a jerk line occasionally and using shakers almost always with a few feeders when it’s right. I’m not too proud I’d love to learn how to use the rotaters effectively. I just don’t know how and that’s likely the cause for the flinches I’ve experienced. I’m not making a living at this just enjoying life and it always seems more enjoyable to me when I fool birds that have brains smaller than the bb’s I shoot at them. My philosophy is the best place to shoot a duck is in the face!

Sorry I didn’t read all the advice above but here are a few tricks I use late season or in the wind.

I grew up hunting ND so I understand how frustrating the wind can be. Funny thing is, extreme wind like you are talking about can do very strange things to ducks. My best advice on wind is to find calm water. Sounds obvious but the ducks (puddlers) want out of that wind and or waves. Even if its just the calm shoreline. If you can find an opening filled with water (kind of like an inside weed line in fishing), these can be golden. Lure the ducks back there by making some of the decoys visible from their flight paths.

Another trick I use since I field hunt alot in ND is to use the field dekes on the ice. Cut open a hole and have a few floaters for sure, but a dozen field dekes up on the ice is something they can’t pass up. Plus it is funnier than heck watching ducks land on ice and the ensuing slide!!

I use field dekes quite often in water settings, either putting silhouettes or full bodies on shore, near the floating dekes. Makes it more lifelike and that the birds are comfortable.

Birds swing in fast in the wind and can come from all angles, but that’s not that different than anyday!!

ET

Windward !!