Today’s waterfowling tip is how important it is for a hunter to match his spread of decoys with the particular species he’s going after, as well as the number of decoys to use. For instance, the scaup and coot have a tendency to keep together while flying and sitting on the water as a large feeding flock. So, it’s very important to replicate large numbers whereby using six, seven, or eight dozen decoys.
Whereas the mallards, pintails, gadwall, or teal their tendency is smaller flocks. They usually are in groups of two all the way up to two dozen. So, the number of decoys to use should be two to three times the number in an average flock. I would put anywhere from four dozen all the way up to eight dozen decoys depending on the hole size of course.
Duck hole size will be one of the biggest determining factors for the number of decoys you put out. If you are hunting a small hole that is only .75 of an acre, you won’t throw out eight dozen decoys. It would be no place for a duck to land. Same goes if you were hunting sea ducks in an open bay. You wouldn’t want to just put out three dozen decoys. Be sensible about the hole size you are hunting versus the decoy spread.
Whatever species you are going after, whether it is puddle ducks on a small pothole or diving ducks where you may use a spread of 200 plus decoys, match the numbers of decoys with the species you’re going after and you’ll have success.
