decoys

I got into duck hunting last year. Somebody tell me what decoys to buy. I won't hunt just a ton, but will shoot several times a year in beaver ponds and flooded timber here in Alabama.

Avian x

This may be a dumb question but do they come with the rigging and weights

not typically, no, those weights and the cord are "sold separately". My suggestion, hit some yard sales, you might find a whole sack of dekes that may just require some new rigging and paint and you can get 'em for cheap!!

If its just wood ducks you're killing you don't need many. They're going to land where they're going to land regardless of decoys a lot of the time...they do have a habit of swimming to your decoys after they land though.

You're going to spend about $40-50 on half a dozen decent decoys. Stay away from the cheapo academy decoys though. You might find some pre-rigged ones but doing them yourself isn't hard if you watch a youtube video.

Go buy you some cheap academy brand mallards, and make a jerk rig. 3 demes on a jerk rig will do the trick if you're in the right spot

Thanks guys.

I'll second avian-x

I'd buy a dozen Dakotas and a jet sled to pull them around to your hunting spots. Rogers usually has the best price

I second this... don't waste your money since you are probably hunting places ducks are coming to anyway. Some folks don't understand the concept of hunting where the ducks WANT to be... throwing out 2-10 dozen decoys won't make em come if they aren't using the place already.

those cheap academy decoys are paper thin in spots and crack and won't hold paint for more than one season. Why not spend twice as much to get some avian-x or Dakotas that look super realistic and will last for years and years?

My Dakotas are 4-5 years old and look good as new. I do use a slotted goose bag and put 2 in each slot. I hunt them around 30 days a year. They hold up well

Sometimes people can't be sitting on the x and if that a the case I rather have something in the water that looks realistic to assist in pulling high flying birds in.

Realism doesn't matter to the ducks, it's just to make the hunters feel better.

In Alabama, all you need is a couple decoys. 6 and under is ideal. Image you're the duck and put it in perspective from an aerial view. If your spread looks like a decoy spread to you, it definitely does to the ducks. Add movement, keep it light and simple. By movement, I don't mean a Mojo either. Jerk rigs and making ripples on the water work fine. And remember, if you want to see ducks flair, just look up. Happy hunting.

Depends where and what you're hunting, we used to routinely use 10-12 dozen for divers. Also depends on what part of the season it is.

I've got a cpl dozen academy decoys that have 4 years of heavy use (23-33 days/yr over that period) and they are holding up great. I imagine an average duck hunter/weekend warrior could get a decade of use out of them since they are only going 6-7 times/yr. If someone really wants durable decoys then buy some G&Hs as I still own some that nearly as good as new and they are on their 22nd season. Avian-x and dakota need to be babied in slotted bags to keep that paint pur-dee (I know, I've got some of them as well). Best bet is buy something cheap off craiglist and bypass all the new prices anyway.

Well, I bought a dozen game winner carvers edge dekes and I have thrown 4 of them away due to breaking. The paint is worn down on the rest of them. I only hunt over my avian x dekes now and believe it or not, they do make a difference where I hunt.

Your comment about avian-x needed to be babied is horse crap. When I lived in Louisiana I would hunt almost everyday of the season. My decoys went through hell and back. Will be happy to send you pictures of them. Not chipped or missing paint at all. Been thrown around in boat and in bed of truck. Thrown and hit stumps beat against each other...he'll a kid even shot one and it still goes in the spread. Don't knock something if you have never owned them. I have some game winner decoys and if you want to talk about paint chipping get them. I have ghg as well and they are pretty good however they have hunted right beside the avian and they have paint missing and what not.

Exact same thing I was thinking. Avians are the damn toughest dekes I have ever seen.

Y'all have never used g&h if avian x is the toughest you've seen.

Bottom line, hunt over what makes you feel good, the ducks don't care what brand it is, or if it has some paint missing.

Austin next time your at the house I will show you the difference in the dekes and you can see for yourself.

I know what the difference is, they obviously look very real and are better designed than cheap ones. I've killed a chit pile of birds over expensive dekes and cheap ones. You just won't ever convince me that having avian x in your hole and me having hotbuys in the one next to you will help you kill more birds that day.

We can try it one day if you want.

I'm down, let's plan an arky trip next year

I'll go to supervise keep it straight

all I asked was which ones were best, now we got a duck hunting competition going on. I think I should be included so that I can see which ones are the best. I mean I am kinda the reason behind this and I couldn't sleep at night not knowing.

Lol...Austin is a good buddy of mine. Everyone has different opinions...on different things. Not hard feelings here between anyone. Point I was really trying to make was the fact that avian last better than academy brand or green head gear. Now I will say people used to killed ducks with milk jugs but hunting I would rather have any advantage I could to pull ducks in. Which is why I use top quality dekes in my spread. Everyone has different ways they hunt. I want my spread to look as realistic as possible but also last which is why I run avian decoys. Buddy of mine has a set of Dakota deres that is going on 5 seasons and only thing he has done is changed flocked heads. I personally don't like the way the hen Dakota dekes look or how they ride on the water.

Yeah I figured yall were just kidding around. I thought it was funny

Whichever ones look good to you and have confidence in. Over the past 30 years I've killed ducks over almost every brand, from black jugs to 12 dozen hand carved diver dekes that would look great on the mantle.

The best looking to me until I seen the Avian X's is the Cabela's/Herter's Real Image dekes I flocked. Way too much work there to do again so I'm eyeing those Avian X dekes for my next purchase.

I personally like the best looking spread as possible, the ducks not so much as long is there is some motion in the water.