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Originally Posted by Fitzy1994
Do you use just fixed decoys or do you use like mojos? Im with ducks unlimited so I get floating decoys and lay down blinds to use but what other decoys do you recommend for water hunts and field hunts?
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I personally don't typically target geese on the water. Once in a while I'll get the odd pairing that I manage to convince to come check out my duck spread over a puddle but otherwise we stick to fields for the geese.
On water, if your targeting ducks mojos work phenominal. You will swear the ducks are bombing in to literally breed the mojo itself. Its actually ridiculous sometimes. 1 mojo will make a good spread into a great spread....for ducks. Geese seem to flare far to often with a mojo incorporated into the spread. Aside from mojos, typically my duck water spreads max out at about 2 dozen floating dekes. Ive found you don't need much more than that at any point during the season unless youre hunting big water and are competing with live ducks on the opposite end of the water body itself. Typically ill set out a dozen floaters in your basic J pattern on the far left side of the blind, and the same set up for the other dozen on the far right side. Seems to offer 3 good landing pads for incoming ducks. Ive noticed over the years that on the water ducks will usually go on the side of caution and land on the deeper furthest point they can from the shore line so station your dekes effectively as far as effective gun range. most of my dekes are no further than 15-20 yards from my blind.
For geese and ducks in the field.....I stay away from mojos on land. 95% of my field set ups are initially to target geese, but I get a ton of ducks coming in. Again though, mojos seem to spook geese so in the fields I leave em at home. Ducks will decoy well in the field with goose decoys. I do have a few field duck dekes and I do put them out, but often its to make me feel better about myself. ha! Field duck dekes really aren't needed at all.
As far as goose decoys (phew-novel here) I use a combo of homemade silos, full bodies and shells. My routine for the morning set up is I build my basic decoy pattern using the full bodies and shells and use the lower grade dekes to fill out the spread. I typically go with a basic J pattern but have used everything from a U pattern to dual U patterns, straight lines, family groups etc etc. From my experience, motion in your decoy spread is your enemy so standard shells will work fine. One other note! I can promise you you will kill more geese using cheap homemade silhouettes if youre on the 'X' and your spread is well thought out, than the guy in the next field using 5k worth of full body full flocked decoys. Its all in decoy placement and location. And ue your floaters in the field too! dig a shallow trench with your knife and jam the keel into the ground! works great to fill out a spread!
Ive used as many as 6 dozen on the water and as few as 5, all with success. Ive used as many as 300 in the field and as few as 8 (was out by myself last fall with the hound and was WAAAAYYYY to lazy to set out anymore), again all with success. Placement and location placement and location