Shells vs full body duck decoys

[boos1906]

Hey guys I am looking to start doing some field hunting for ducks? What are some of the differences between shells and full bodies. Shells cant be used on ice. What are some of the other pros and cons

[James Watson]

If you have goose fullbodies your better off using those with a mojo or two. Far more visible and the ducks will really key in on the mojo anyways. Otherwise I would spend the extra dollar and get fullbodies as they are more visible than shells and can be used anywhere. If you go the shell route, get stakes and they will work fine.

[mtgreenheads]

For my money, Id buy sillosock mallards. That bouncy motion is killer on ducks, they're cheap and portable.

[SnipeHntr]

I think the Avery Shells are just as good as the Full Bodies in a field because they stand up almost as high. Plus you can buy them for close to 50% of the full bodies.

[DSD Fanatic]

If you are just going to field hunt ducks I would only buy 6 fullbodies and a mojo. If you are going to use them for more than just fields. Then I would buy a lot of them. I would just buy the harvester packs because they come with a little bit of everything. They work great for shallow marshes, sandbars, flooded fields, etc...Anywhere there is few inches of standing water.

Ducks are very lazy as far as finding food. They dont go out and find food for themselfs. They just follow the geese because the geese know where the food is. I have kill a lot of ducks with an all goose spread. The full bodies duck decoys may just be a thing that the ducks can key in on more. So you can kind of tell the ducks where land. (this doesnt alwasys work)

Hope this helps

Kyle

[James Watson]

Originally Posted by DSD Fanatic

Ducks are very lazy as far as finding food. They dont go out and find food for themselfs. They just follow the geese because the geese know where the food is. I have kill a lot of ducks with an all goose spread. The full bodies duck decoys may just be a thing that the ducks can key in on more. So you can kind of tell the ducks where land. (this doesnt alwasys work)

Hope this helps

Kyle

Cant say that I agree with that statement. You ever watched a field full of ducks feeding? Those things sprint back and forth across that field eating grain faster than one can imagine. Ducks are feeding in the fields like crazy right now and I have yet to see any with the geese. That being said, it is still very possible to shoot a limit of ducks over the goose spread simply because the idea of a goose in the same field as a duck is not a out of the ordinary situation. Ha you wanna talk about lazy? Ever watched geese walk from the roost pond into a granfield across the road because they are too fat and lazy to fly? Gotta love turd pond honks.

That being said....some honk decoys and a mojo will do just as good a job as a bunch of fullbody ducks, but if your looking for shells or fullbodies I would do shells on stakes if your looking for a large quantity.

[DSD Fanatic]

I dont know where you are scouting james but I have never seen that around lincoln before.

[J.D.]

Originally Posted by DSD Fanatic

I dont know where you are scouting james but I have never seen that around lincoln before.

I have.

In fact I know a guy that limits out darn near every time just setting 6 DSD's up on road in between a pond and a cornfield. I cant say if his success is due to copying what the birds are doing or if its just because he uses DSD's.

[akareddog]

We hunt with both, and I would go with shells if you just plan on field hunting. You can put two shells in one bag slot, so you can carry two dozen in one bag. If your going to hunt over ice go with the full bodies.

[Ty Stromquist]

I was looking at the avery shells and think they are pretty damn sexy compared to the full bodies. We got a couple dozen FBs but I really wouldnt mind having double in the shells for the mallards.

[goose abuser]

We must find the same ducks James.

99.99999 of the ducks I watch in the fields are almost running full speed nabbing every single grain infront of them. They will pause if they find a full ear, but only until its gone, or they get tired of it. I wouldnt call them lazy.

[blinddukisland]

I agree with James here. Around my old stompin' grounds I have almost never seen ducks using the same field as geese. The only mix of birds I have seen was fields covered with snows, blues, specks and canadas. The ducks might be close at times but maybe only a few times have I seen ducks working or using the same field as geese. More often than not the ducks move a lot farther away than the geese. This could just be my area (there is about a 60 mile long river refuge that birds use) and when they pattern the ducks fly all over the place and the geese are within a few miles. There are time we have shot ducks that were loaded with white corn...and the only place in our area that grows that is in Columbus...almost 20 miles away.

Having said that....if you scout and find a field with ducks working (look for a tornado) you can hunt it with just a spinner and shoot loads of ducks. We found an X field for ducks about 4 years ago. Set up a spinner with maybe 6 floaters without strings and shot a 6 man in about 30 minutes. The biggest thing about field hunting is SCOUTING and finding the X.

Other things to think about....late season you will often see geese pull their feet up and lay down to eat. Ducks, as James said, are often all over the place. With ducks it almost looks like the ground is moving with their activity. Having said that....if you're looking for decoys try anything with motion. Full bodies with motion stakes or shells with motion stakes...either way you can't go wrong. Are you going to have to walk your decoys into the field rather than drive in? If so shells will work best because you can carry more and they are lighter.

This is one of those topics that almost everyone has an opinion...none are wrong.

[TMFLDEM]

Set up a goose spread with a spinner or two and whack em.

I see ducks with canadas ALL the time in fields, landing in around eachother, on top of eachother, in front of eachother,esspecially late in the year..

And when it comes to ducks being lazy....Ducks work hard for thier food, even when there are no new birds coming to the field there are always ducks in the air, moving like snows do, flying around, re-situating themselves in the field. They are aggressive lil buggers when they are hungry.

[blinddukisland]

I can beleive that ducks/geese feed together...if a field is holding a good amount of food than of course. I really think what I've seen has to do with the refuge pattern of the birds around my area. They come off in HUGE numbers with the ducks heading west along the river than out to feed and the geese mostly straight north off the river and than move to a field from there.

[James Watson]

Originally Posted by DSD Fanatic

I dont know where you are scouting james but I have never seen that around lincoln before.

Ha i remember one hunt specifically.......decoyed em like turkeys, flushed em like pheasants....kinda GAY if you ask me.

[Ty Stromquist]

and yea should have mentioned that ducks are more crazy at their feeds than snows. They are insane flying tornadoes of birds usually

[Patrick Olson]

Originally Posted by Ty Stromquist

and yea should have mentioned that ducks are more crazy at their feeds than snows.

Snows will rip ducks apart in the corn. It is why snow spreads just don't attract ducks and combo hunts for both just don't work. IMO, about every other waterfowl is scared shtless of snows except rarely cacks and specks, and only when completely necessary will join whites.

Its why the RWBs have a big problem in the spring with pintails and other ducks and whitefronts getting pushed to more marginal and less quality marshes by aggressive snows.

I'd love to see the day when a greenhead would kick a snow goose's tail.

PO

[SnipeHntr]

Never done it in Nebraska, but I have had lots of success on ducks over duck-white gosse spreads in Saskatechewan and in several areas of Texas.