Hunting with decoys: Bigger ain’t always better.

I was talkin to a fellow duck hunting fanatics the other day about how to hunt ducks and geese without having to put out 42 decoys.

Personally, I like going where few people are willing to venture which means I gotta be light and nimble. It also means I don’t have time to haul a ton of decoys back and forth from the truck.

And over the years I discovered something so simple: bigger ain’t always better.

Here’s what I mean…

Having a small set of 6 decoys (I call ‘em “a sixer”) in the right place at the right time is better than 42 decoys in the wrong place.

You catch my drift?

Think about this …

A small “sixer” gives them something slightly different to look at than what they’re used to, especially as the season progresses and hunting pressure increases. This is usually enough to trip them up and get them to come in closer.

It will save you a ton of hard earned cash at the bank too! That’s important if you’re just getting into waterfowl hunting or on a limited budget. 

Here’s the secret to hunting with small spreads…

– Scout your hind end off so you know where the birds tend to land. If you fail to do this you’ll have a hard time attracting birds from long distances with a small spread. In other words, you gotta be where they wanna land.

– Make sure you are well hidden. I know what you’re thinking, “No shit”, right? Sounds trivial but with smaller spreads the birds will land right on top of you. This leads to solid close range shot opportunities. Provided you did your scouting properly of course!

– If you hunt small ponds or water holes (where I like to go when the shooting heats up over larger bodies of water) a few decoys usually get the job done. Arrange them so they look safe and content. Keep your calling minimal. You might be surprised at what decides to drop by.

Sounds pretty simple right? Give a try and let us know how it went!

Oh, one more thing…we got some pretty badass t-shirts designed for Duck Hunting Fanatics like you, we’re currently taking pre-orders so it’ll take 4-6 weeks for us to deliver them. If you can’t wait that long, then don’t order one.

You can check them out here: https://duckhuntingfanatics.com/shop/

Happy Thanksgiving!

Shoot straight and keep on huntin’,
Eric McMillan
co-founder, Duck Hunting Fanatics