Church Decoy Company

Flagging has become very common for ducks and geese. These triangular cloth or fabric flags are usually black, brown, and white for geese and grey, brown , and black for ducks. They are attached to a dowel rod and are waved up and down to simulate a bird flapping it's wings as it lands. This is very effective at getting distant birds attention. Once the birds look like they have seen the flag and are heading your way, drop the flag and let them make their way in. Flagging birds that are too close can spook them. Take'em when they're all cupped up.     dc

When it comes to taking in or putting out the decoys in the dark, there is nothing better than light. Unfortunately, a flashlight is not the handiest thing when you are trying to wrestle with pulling decoys from the bag, untangle lines, and hold the light at the same time. One of the best lights I have found in the past few years that keeps your hands free is a cap light. These small lights run off "button" batteries and clip right to the bill of your hat. I have also seen hats that have the lights built in or lights that are attached to a band that you can put around your head. These lights are fairly inexpensive and become very handy when you are fumbling in the dark. Take'em when they are all cupped up.     dc

In heavy snow, I like to set up for geese in a field that they were accustomed to going to. I place my decoys in "family" groups and I like to take a rake and scrape out the snow area to show some bare dirt. I also like to spread straw or other vegetation around so that it appears that the ground has been uncovered. White bed sheets make great camo covering. Take'em when they're all cupped up.  dc

Make sure you are getting into your area early enough so that the ducks aren't seeing you come in. Hunting pressure will destroy an area faster than anything. The best advice is to get in, get waht you can, and get out early. Hunting an area all day long will ruin it very quickly. Try to have other blinds you can hunt on different days. Changing from morning hunts to evening hunts occasionally will also help. Take'em whenthey're all cupped up.  dc

When building your blind, make sure it is sturdy, will accomodate the number of hunters that will use it, has a way for the dog to get out if needed, and more than anything.......it matches the surroundings. If you are hunting green timber, a dead grass blind is really going to stick out. Once your blind is finished, see if your buddies can find it easily. If they can't, you have done a great job. Take'em when they're all cupped up.   dc

A heron decoy has always been my favorite decoy trick. I use one and place him about ten yards down the bank from the blind. You can get close to real herons, but they won't stay for long. One heron decoy with my spread has made the difference time and time again.

This is by no means a new idea, but hunting this past week reminded me just how effective this trick can be. As I move away from anything electric or mechanical, it becomes much harder to make motion when the days are very calm. We had two days last week that were so still it hurt your ears. I mean "dead" calm. When legal shooting time comes along, the birds still can't see very well along the banks, but the decoys stand out on the water pretty well. This is a perfect time to start kicking a leg back and forth to make some ripples and some splashing sounds. I leaned against a small tree and was about knee deep when splashing the water around. Worked like a champ. Couple this with some quacks and lots of feed chuckles, and you will start bending birds towards the spread. "Take'em when they're all cupped up." dc

Walk in hunts are fun, good exercise and are very popular on public lands. The first thing to do is get a good map, learn the rules of the area, and scout...scout...scout! Make sure your area isn't too accessible, or you might find numerous hunters on opening day. Once you have found where you want to hunt, make sure that it has enough room to set up a blind or has adequate cover for a "natural" blind such as weeds or a dead fall tree. Wade it in the summer months with a long "feeler" stick to make sure that it is shallow enough to wade and that there are not alot of obstructions (logs, sticks, rocks) that will pose as trip hazard in the dark. My favorite piece of equipment for a walk in hunt is a big game cart like you would use for deer hunting. I am able to load a couple dozen decoys, shell case, waterfowl bag, some shell decoys and a few other items and pack it in very easily. I use a shotgun sling and put my gun over my neck to free up my hands. Hunts like this can be very effective and worth your time and effort. "Take'em when they're all cupped up."

Today hunters are afforded numerous devices to help put motion into the decoy spread. From Wing Wavers, Mojo dekes, jerk cords, and "shaker" decoys, spreads have the ability to "come alive". On still mornings, nothing is worse than to have a completely motionless spread. One of my favorite things to do when the water is calm is to be in the water at first light and to kick my leg back and forth to cause ripples in the water along with loud splashes. In the early light, ducks that are coming off the water will fly over endless amounts of calm water and then when they hear your calls they will look in your direction. Seeing a spread of birds on the water along with hearing splashing and seeing ripples on the surface is usually enough to get them to take a closer look. "Take 'em when they're all cupped up"

It's finally September and Teal season is almost here. I hope you have been out to the skeet range and polished your fast wing shooting. Although nothing will bring them in better than Church Decoy Co. decoys, (just a little joke) a lot of decoys is not needed for teal. Three to 12 decoys should be all that is needed. Hen mallards work well if teal decoys are not available. If you have teal decoys, don't worry about having green wing, blue wing, or cinnamon, they will all work fine no matter the teal that are flying. Get an early jump on them, they don't seem to be great flyers in late morning or early afternoon. Set up where they want to be or be prepared to move to where they are. Six shot is my load of choice and seems to bring them down solid without a lot of damage. Good luck and as always........Take'em when they're all cupped up.   dc