Noob question on ducks

[mgunner]

Hi! I have started playing Classic a month ago and also have a membership. My question is regarding ducks. I have set up my blind, set up six mallard decoys, been using both the long range and short range mallard caller but have a problem. The ducks when they come down either land too far to the side, behind somewhere, or too far in front of my blind to shoot. I have tried to use the short range caller to get them to swim closer but to no avail. I have also used a Canada Goose setup in Hirsch and had no problem. Can anyone give me a suggestion? Is there like a good place to set up at in the Bayou? I am currently set up south of the lodge on the first big body of water (it was shown in HooCairs video). I really don't want set up too far away from the lodge as I have don't a tent to fast travel to it when I use it. (Used my tent in VDB, up in the mountains to the north, lol).

[Tod1d]

Start with the long range caller. When they "break", they will descend toward you. Then they will level off & make one full circle, then they will descend again to land.
I think the best time to use the short range caller is right when they finish their circle and start to land. Or just a second or 2 before that.
You need to make sure there is a landing area (unobstructed water) close to your blind.

[fantamichele]

6 mallard decoys are few, you must use at least 24

[xOEDragonx]

Tod is correct. The long range caller is designed to make them break from the flock and start coming in. The short range caller is what controls where they land after they break. If you use it too early or too late, they might land in an awkward spot where they're difficult to shoot. You need to use it just before they make their final turn to land and they should almost land right on top of you.

If you continue to have issues with them landing everywhere except for in front of you, you might want to try moving your setup. Try to pick a spot with as much 360 visibility as possible. Six decoys is enough to get some birds to break, but adding more decoys to your flock will help get even more birds to come in.

[XxStrong1xX]

I am no waterfowl expert, but I thought you were supposed to shoot them in the air before they land.

[gas56]

6 decoys are on the small attraction side... but if I remember correctly I started with 6 mallard decoys when there were only mallard ducks,..
and was able to get mallards to come in to them, at least enough to shoot some.
There are a lot of spots to get the ducks to come in to your set-up but you'll probably have a lot more ducks that won't break and pass up your
small set-up than flocks with a few ducks that will break, so you may be waiting around a little longer for ducks to oblige you.
This is one of a bunch of set-ups I tried that use to bring the ducks in with a small set of Mallard decoys set-up.
Not far from the lodge, a few minutes running time will take you to the Red X which is where your blind goes right on the shoreline, there is a spot where the blind will fit right on the edge of the water with the trees behind you. The water is all shallow there were you can pick the ducks up without them floating to a different shore which is just actually for your
convenience retrieving them yourself if you don't have a dog. Set the 6 decoys in a row about 5-10 meters apart at the red double pointed line about a 3rd of the way out into the bay.
Use the long range caller as soon as you hear them to get some mallard ducks to break from the over flying flocks. When some of them do break away from the flock
use your short range caller then ready your shotgun, watch them closely when they turn to descend down,.. you will notice how they seem to bunch up together sometimes
before they make their final landing. This is the time you want to shoot at them right when they are presented like in that pattern as you should be able to hit multiple ducks
with one shot then follow up on any other ducks that are still in range at low altitude. The thing about this spot is that the ducks would always seem to come straight towards the blind, (as the black dotted arrow line shows, but they didn't necessarily have to only circle in from the right, they can come in from any angle) it was a good spot for just a few decoys.
Try it if you want to see how it works out for you, I tried it out today w/6 mallard Decoys and recorded some of the action below. There are a lot of other places that will work the same way but they are pretty far fom the lodges, so this place came up to mind to give your duck hunting a tryout.
Another thought is joining MP games that allow you to hunt full decoy setups that other host players allow you to join them..........

[NASTY]

So are you guys saying that you cant shoot the ducks in the air? That I have to have a blind and callers (plural) and decoys?

[XxStrong1xX]

So are you guys saying that you cant shoot the ducks in the air? That I have to have a blind and callers (plural) and decoys?

You can shoot them in the air but only after they break off from the flock and fly close enough. You need something to make them break off. A full setup is best but very expensive. You can kill a few ducks using a single caller if you are patient enough. Best bet is to join a MP game and see if you even like hunting them. Then you can decide if it is worth the investment. My lady and I have a blind, all the callers and a couple of decoys and we killed 50 in about 3 hours Saturday, so you don't have to have a full decoy setup, but it does help.

[Tod1d]

You can also sneak up on them swimming & flush them. Not very productive, but no equipment needed.

[gas56]

I have tried to use the short range caller to get them to swim closer but to no avail.

You may want to get a .22 LR rifle w/scope (Plinkington) to shoot ducks swimming around that are out of the range of the shotgun,..
and if they are far enough away they will normally not spook from the shot. If you shoot and there is 1 bird within spooking range and flees than most likely
all the other Ducks will also flee.

So are you guys saying that you cant shoot the ducks in the air? That I have to have a blind and callers (plural) and decoys?

You can only shoot ducks in this game once they break from the flock or you find them quacking and swimming or walking around.
A .22 LR rifle (Plinkington) can hit them at a lot longer distance than a shotgun,.. which takes practice shooting ducks with them in the air or on the water.
Sometimes I have a .22 along and use it after I have shot at the flock after they break with the shotgun and there are a couple ducks flying away out of shotgun range.
I have to admit though it is easier hitting the bigger Geese than the Ducks for myself with the .22 LR and if you don't just mind popping a couple of stray shots at them
when they get close to each other as they are fleeing away as they are easier to hit as they bunch up together like that which makes a bigger target and makes your
chances of hitting at least one of them better.

P.S..... Also Ducks & Geese are usually scored in the game being shot & killed while in the air for most comps and missions.