Changing your decoy spread?

steelhead22 · 11-11-2003, 10:43 AM

I was just thinking about my last trip to Sauvie Island and this question popped into my head.

Last time I was out duck hunting, we set out are deke spread before light according to the wind as always. At the time the wind was blowing away and slightly left, so we set up a kind of tilted "U" shaped spread with the bottom of the "U" in front of the blind, pretty typical I think. Later in the morning, the wind shifted and was blowing from left to right, making our "U" deke spread much less effective. We wrestled back and forth with the idea of changing the spread to a "J Hook" type spread to make it easier for the birds to land in. Eventually we changed the spread, which proved to be wise, but I still felt like I was messing everyone else up that was hunting that lake. Here they are, hunting away, and now we are in our dekes flaring every bird that takes a look at the lake. Granted, it probably only took a few minutes, but should I still feel guilty when doing this? Do you just stick with your original spread, or do you change during the day as conditions change? This question is probably directed at those of us not fortunate enough to be able to hunt private land and must hunt public areas with lots of hunters around.

Blue Tip Spinner · 11-11-2003, 10:55 AM

i've hunted the island for years. if you are not getting the birds in because of your decoys not being set up right, then change them. i have never had a problem doing that and don't let it bother you. you were smart enough to know that the spread wasn't what i should have been, so you are one step up from most of the guys hunting out there. i have done the same thing many times myself, but i try not to do it all the time. i alway try to set my decoys up so the wind shift won't bother the setup. you did the right thing IMHO by changing your spread so you didn't flare birds out all together. by the way, where and when did you hunt and how did you do???? let me know. BTS

steelhead22 · 11-11-2003, 12:53 PM

BTS- I sent you a PM

Swamp Puppy · 11-11-2003, 04:21 PM

i have no problem with going out and changing them if need be. nor do i have a problem with anyone else doing it. bottom line, it is public hunting..and you want to be as courteous to your neighbor as possible, but i ain't sittin' there all day staring at a spread i know i keeping birds away just to be nice to other people. i wouldn't expect anyone else to...and i hope they would understand when i do it.

steelhead22 · 11-11-2003, 04:52 PM

Thanks for the input. I forgot to tell you exactly what we decided to do. We had made up our minds that we wanted to change the spread, so we then made a sort of mental note as to how we wanted it to look and took a look at our existing spread, trying to find the quickest and easiest way to change them to the new set. Then we waited, watched a couple of birds flare off of us, then watched them dump right into the blind next to us. Those guys shot and got one of 'em. When they went out to get their duck, we took off as fast as possible to get our spread changed. I'd say that in the time it took the guys next to us to finish off, then retrieve their duck, we were just about done with our change. I'd recommend this to all of you guys out there who don't want to mess everyone else up while you're switching your set. Make a plan of attack, then execute it when the hunting is "off" anyway.

Swamp Puppy · 11-11-2003, 05:31 PM

good plan. i will usually wait until there is some sort of break in the action - or someone is retrieving a bird (as in your post) before i go out. i wouldn't ever intentionally walk out while birds were working...though i have been caught out there when birds have come in. i feel bad about that, but hey...like i said before. you gotta do what you gotta do.

btw...you going out tomorrow Steel? i'll be in line on the westside if you do. look me up. Silver 2002 Nissan Crew Cab. it says GOT SNOW? on the tailgate and there is an ODHA sticker in the back window.

Blue Tip Spinner · 11-11-2003, 05:35 PM

that is the way to do it. i try to figure out which decoys need to be moved and run out there and do it. if i see birds coming into the lake, i stop and hold still, keeping my face down (it is really white this time of year) not to flare the birds and wait till it is gone or shot and then finish and get back to the blind asap. you did the right thing by waiting till those guys were in the water anyway. good job, BTS

1pump · 11-11-2003, 07:56 PM

I do the same as BTS does. If I get caught out in the open, I'll freeze until the birds pass or get shot at. There's not much else you can do, especially on Mudhen, Hunt or Mud Lake.
It's nice to hear somebody that actually pays attention to what's going on outside their "perimeter". Most people don't give a crap about anything outside of shotgun range. I actually had birds flared once by somebody belching across Mudhen from me. [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img]

Tilla · 11-12-2003, 10:18 AM

I wait for a slow period and make an effiecient effort to not interfere with others.
There are also some speads that are not so wind dependent.