Them Dirty Ducks.

[jdmidwest]

Cold weather is here and time to think serious about the ducks. Garden is done and bees are in hibernation mode. It is T minus 8 days and counting till opening day for me.

Pulled out the dekes and was going to check the lines and paint jobs. Decided to give them a good bathing first. They pick up alot of dirt riding around on the back ot fhe hitch hauler on the 4 runner on the gravel roads of refuges. And they get stained from the nasty water that ducks like to come into.

Pulled out the kiddie pool and filled with soapy water. Got the scrub brush out and gave them a good cleaning.

I use flat decoy weights cut in half and a piece of inner tube between the line and the weight to clip the weight on the keel of the dekes. Some of the rubbers have dry rotted and need to be replaced. Some need some touch up paint. Bags need the cockleburs pulled out of them.

After the wash job, walked over to the neighbors and saw a ringneck swing the pond and curl out. The fall migration is on.

[Feathers and Fins]

I don't even want to talk about how bad im jonesing for it. im seeing ducks everyplace

[jdmidwest]

Yep. I might even kill a few this year.

My buddies get aggravated when I let the bad shots pass and wait for clean kills. I hate chasing or crippling and loosing them.

I do love hunting them.

[duckydoty]

Nothing sucks the wind out of your chest more than chasing a crippled duck a few hundred yards through the mud and muck. I like the clean kills for sure.

[Feathers and Fins]

Cripples suck, I refuse to shoot hen buffleheads as they never seem to die on the first shot or the 15th thereafter.

[BilletHead]

Great minds think alike JD,

I've been getting ready too here at home but think sometimes I may do it the hard way. My previous seasons decoys look pretty good. I did buy another new dozen mallards too. So I found a guy that had 8 dozen mallards and three dozen mixed decoys for sale. I told him I wanted the mixed bunch for a variety to hunt with. Got to the house to make the deal. He said a guy gave him the decoys for free but they were left out the whole season. I could see that they were pretty faded and beat up and paint was bad. Oh well I can repaint them right? Bought them. Picked some to work up and bought paint. Now I have it figured out I could of bought for what I will have in them half as many new decoys for the same price Oh well the BilletHead needs a project. Working up dozen so far. Widgeon drakes, ringneck drakes and some bluebill drakes. Soap and water scrub with a power wash follow up. Progress so far,

The rest in the frosty yard this morning. Actually all would hunt and attract birds like they are but we want them to look good. One of our members on here told me he has friends that paint there old decoys either black or white and mix them in there spreads for fillers. Kill lots of ducks over them. I am a puddler hunter because of where I have to hunt but do get divers from time to time but if I was a big water hunter all of these would be a combo of black, white and grey for sure,

BilletHead

[jdmidwest]

The fireplace birds look great.

My main bag I carry have a dozen G&H mallards, 4 resting mallards, 1 duck butt, 6 woodies, and 5 pintails.

The ones in the pool were a bunch of teal dekes that I found on clearance a few years back. I spray painted a dozen black and made coots out of them and left the rest teal.

I have another bag of bluebills I made out of some Flambeau Mallards I bought on clearance, spray painted black and white, when I need some divers.

I like to mix brands of mallards so I don't toss out dekes that look all the same. I have 2 dozen Carrylites that I bought on sale and 2 dozen Greenhead Gear cheapies. Another bag has a dozen Flambeau mallards in it.

Most of the time, I stick with the main bag and keep it down to about 2 dozen ducks with a goose floater or 2 and a robo duck.

[Feathers and Fins]

You will need bigger decoys lol... Specks and snows on the move tonight good.

[Guest Brian B.]

My gosh that has to be an expensive pass-time.

[duckydoty]

My gosh that has to be an expensive pass-time.

It rates right up there with fly fishing. I always tell people that ask about duck hunting, "Dont even start. You will save a lot of money."