Shoreline Sets for Ducks
When placing a decoy spread
always hunt the downwind side of the lake. Most hunters believe you
should hunt the upwind, calm side of the lake.
But, ducks in sheltered water don't stir around much; they just stay
put,
whereas ducks fly better where the water's rougher. So, you should go
where the waves
are rolling. They offer better shooting than flat-water areas.
However, don't drop your decoys in the throat of a stout blow.
Instead, start where the water is rough, then looks for some little break-a
curved-in shoreline, the lee side of a point, or some other lakeshore feature
that offers a pocket or sliver of water that's calmer than adjacent areas directly
in the wind. This is the key!. A flight of ducks
will be flying along a shoreline, and they'll come to a spot that offers some
protection from the wind, however slight, and there are several ducks-or
decoys-sitting there, and boom! They'll pop in on them before you have time to
get your safety off!
One other important point, you should try setting up where the wind is blowing
parallel to the shore. His whole decoy strategy is built around a crosswind. You should
move around from one day to the next, picking a hunting sites to suit this
criterion.
Shoot from the bank in a blind made out of reeds or brush, or sit
motionless with your backs to rocks. If there's some cover behind you,
you have a face mask on, and you don't
move when the ducks are coming, they won't see you, or they don't care.
They'll
barrel right in.
This diver spread consists of approximately four dozen mallard decoys mixed together. First, set a dozen decoys in a clump some
15 yards out from the downwind side of the blind. Then move to the upwind
side of the blind and drop another, larger clump of decoys. (The open space
between these two groupings is approximately 15 yards.) From this second group,
run a double line of decoys that curves outward and downwind, extending
like a half-moon some 65 yards distant.
If ducks are flying parallel to the bank and into the wind, and they come
to that extended line of decoys, they'll almost always follow it in and land in
the hole between the two clumps. Now if the ducks
are coming downwind (from the other direction), when they see the line of
decoys, they'll hook around it and sail right into the hole. So, with this set,
regardless of which way the ducks are coming, the shooting will be right in
front of the blind.
Still, sometimes ducks won't land where you expect, and if this happens,
quickly adjust the spread. The first couple of flights will
tell you how the ducks are going to respond to the setup. If the first flight
lands short, you can expect following flights to do the same thing, so don't
wait to make your adjustment. Go on and do it right away. You might pull your
decoys in closer to the blind or angle the curving line more-whatever you have
to do to pull the ducks into good range. |
