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Picking Up Decoys After Every Hunt
Q: I was wondering what you recommend on leaving your spread of duck decoys out over the course of a season on a rice and bean field hunting situation. Does it hurt or help to leave them out, or pick them up after each hunt? - Casey Rickey
A: Casey, having spent a fair amount of time in your part of the world, I have seen many folks leave their decoys out all season I believe mainly due to the huge spreads used in flooded fields.
In my opinion, especially late in the year, the ducks are probably patterning on seeing large decoy spreads and become conditioned to relating spreads to hunting pressure. Also, decoys that sit for long periods of time tend to get muddy and look less like ducks and more like decoys.
I have also found through dealing with tough ducks in other areas, that sometimes shrinking your spread to just a small number of high quality decoys will outperform large spreads.
I hope this helps!
Q: Should I be concerned with removing my duck decoy's from the field during the 2 week split. I hunt a rather large spread and adjust it daily when hunting, but I do not pick up decoy's each day. Should I remove them for the one weekend split and does it hurt hunting to leave them out and just adjust their placement daily? - Brent Stantz
A: I am unsure if ducks learn to avoid big decoy spreads during periods when they are not hunted, but I have always believed it was good practice to set and pick up the decoys after each hunt.
The times I have hunted over large permanent spreads (especially in the South) the decoys tend to get dirty and neglected as they sit in the field for the whole of the season. And with wary, decoy shy, blind shy, call shy ducks, I think it is best to pull the spreads down each day and keep your blocks looking clean! Have a great season!
John Devney