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View Full Version : Tell me about your rig, decoys that is..



Ian F.
04-24-2006, 03:44 PM
In case you didn't catch my intro etc., I posted it on the mainland forum ( http://huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=5407 ), but more then likely this forum will be home. I wont be in BC till late june, but one must plan ahead..

I'm a certified duck nut who carves competitively, makes duck boats and pretty much live waterfowl 24/7

My wonderment is about your the species composition of your spreads, obviously black ducks and eiders wont be the best choices once I get to BC. My guess is that mallards make up the majority of your bag for puddlers, followed by?

Does one need a spread of pintails to decoy them or will they come to mallard dekes? I have 3 or 4 pintails dekes now, will that just be a tease?

Same goes for gaddies and widgeon?

My thoughts where to paint my blacks into mallards and get a dozen GHG mallards to supplement till my carving catches up making a couple of dozen mallards. additionally I was thinking of getting 1/2 doz each of gaddies and widgeon, am I going in the right direction?

I have a spread for scoters but will have to build one for brant which I look forward to very much and am still rebuilding my goldeneye spread after selling it off a year ago.

In case you can't tell I'm quite excited to make the move!

Very best,

Ian

Dano
04-24-2006, 05:34 PM
Welcome to the site,
Don't have much time now so I'll keep this short.
We use mallard decoys as they are the most common duck around and the other species will decoy well to them. You won't find too many guys doing any serious hunting for diving ducks. For most guys out there they tend to be targets for a slow day. Last year, I used a Mojo mallard decoy I bought from Cabelas and it was very effective (especially early in the year). I haven't hunted Brant, you need speciallized equipment and there is very limited seasons and areas open. There are very good snow goose oportunities out here but again, I don't hunt snows (at least not yet...).
I use about 14-20 decoys and the Mojo. In the past, I used about 24 mallard dekes but at one time I put out about 50 (when a buddy brought his). Last year was the best results and I attribute it to the Mojo and lots of birds around. Where are you planning to locate out here?
Dano

Gunner
04-24-2006, 06:20 PM
Hi IanF,don't bother with gadwall decoys,but a dozen widgeon decoys are a good idea.I use the GHG widgeon,and they even make a European Widgeon decoy!They are a real trophy on the West Coast,and are becoming more common.I use a lot of E Allen ethafoam decoys and paint them myself,bot if you want commercial mallards,check out the Greenhead Gear!Cheers,Gunner:)

Ian F.
04-25-2006, 02:29 AM
Dano,

My office is in Burnaby (Edmonds) and we are looking at Coquitlam, Burnaby, New West... need to stay on the bus/skytrain route to make getting to work easy. You have mentioned Pitt Marsh a few times on here and it hasn't gone un-noticed in our housing searches :) I will be bringing my sneakbox and canoe out with me so I will have tranportation and access to area's beyond the heel-toe express.

Gunner,

I'm very good friends with the fellow (Keith Mueller) that carved the originals for the E. Allen decoys, to my mind they are the best production decoy going.


Snow geese? or maybe I should just say waterfowl in fields, is getting permission near impossible?

Very best,

Ian

Gunner
04-25-2006, 08:14 AM
IanF,if you are interested in snow geese,there are 2 seasons,one in the fall,and one in early spring.The birds are hunted in the salt marsh,outside Westham Is.,and off Brunswick point.Most guys use floaters,and lay out in a punt,but some full bodies or silouttes are useful.Both areas are also great mallard and widgeon spots,especially when the fields are frozen.All the birds are concentrated in the inner and outer marshes!Just remember 15ft. tide range = long decoy cords!:-D Cheers,Gunner

4ptbuck
04-25-2006, 09:23 AM
I have 2 dozen mallards, 1 dozen wiggies, 2 dozen canada, 1 dozen snow floaters.
Also have a mallard spinner.
Probably about 5 dozen snow sillies, and 2 dozen snow shells.

All of my hunting is off Westham island.

Look up Reifel bird sanctuary for a list of waterfowl availble.

I can be hunting within 10 minutes from my place in Richmond.


send me a PM for more info.

Ian F.
04-25-2006, 06:22 PM
Gunner,

I hunt Fundy quite a bit for eiders, well guess I should now say did, and with a 40 foot tide range in places I know exactly of what you speak! The thought of snow geese over water is pretty cool though! I really like variety, puddlers one day, divers another, sea ducks maybe geese..

4pt,

I was hoping to get to Reifel when I was out (really wanted to see some black brant) but was concerned about going over mileage on the rental so I went to Iona instead, I guess now I will just have to explore it after I arrive!

very best,

Ian

dave
04-30-2006, 08:44 PM
Greetings Ian,

Dano has it right, I use mostly mallards with a couple of pairs of pintails off to one side to add a little contrast. The pintails seem to come in just fine. As I'm sure you know more often than not it is where you set up rather than how many you put out (that will make Dano laugh, since he kids me about all the decoys I use).



Dave

Dano
05-01-2006, 07:31 PM
Hi Dave,
Your decoys look great and there's nothing wrong with a big spread. The only reason I don't use more decoys is it takes up a lot of room in my boat and the amount of time they take to set out and gather up. My boat (a 12ft aluminum Harbour Craft deep V) is pretty full when I head out. I have 2 adults and 2 black labs, then there's the 18 decoys and camo cover for the boat, robo duck, and shell/lunch bags. Sometimes there's 3 adults in the boat.
I'm considering buying a dozen magnum decoys this year as they are believed to be as effective as a larger spread. We'll see.
Dano
BTW, Dave, you better consider a larger boat because as your boys get older, those decoys and the boys won't fit in the one you have!!!

Ian F.
05-02-2006, 04:45 PM
I think that's the age old debate, size or numbers....

My choice has been to split the difference and of course, as best I can BE WHERE THE DUCKS WANT TO BE which we all know is just out of range from where you set up!

Very best,

Ian