During my many years of duck hunting I have tried several different duck decoy sets. Most experts will recommend using a “J” setup. This type of setup works pretty good, but I think that the method that I use now is definitely the best setup that you can use. At least it works best for me. Give it a try and see if it doesn’t improve your duck hunting as well.
The most popular style is the “J” pattern. Basically what you do is lay out your duck decoys to form a “J” Keep the bottom of the “J” on the up-wind side. Ducks always prefer to land into the wind. With the opening on the down-wind side, the duck have plenty of room to land.
The second most popular style is the “U” style. This decoy layout is set up just like the “J” except that you bring one side up farther to form a “U”. This method works about a well as the “J” style, except that it leaves less of a landing area for ducks. You should only really use this in a larger oopen area.
A third style that I see often on big open waters is really no style at all. A friend of mine who hunts off of the Mississippi River says that it is the only way to lay out your duck decoys. What he does is just throws out his decoys in no real set pattern. This layout is definitely more natural, but it will only work if you are duck hunting in a very large open space.
My method is kind of a combination of all these. What I do is throw my decoys out in bunches, but I still maintain that open pocket to give them a landing area. (see illustration below) I set set up one Great Blue Heron Decoy
Try this setup next time and I guarantee you will see more ducks come in.
