Unique, Expert Tips on Confidence Spreads for Duck Hunting and Goose Hunting

Outdoor writer M.D. Johnson is a lifelong waterfowl hunter and widely known as an expert on the subject. I had the opportunity to sit down with M.D. and discuss effective decoy spreads, and specifically confidence decoys.

Different Waterfowl Decoys

M.D. says that he sometimes uses crow decoys to add realism to his goose decoy spread. "I'll set full-bodied crow decoys off to the side of my goose spread - not right among them, but three to five decoys in a little ball off to one side," he said. "Maybe four feeders with their heads down and a sentry a little ways off. Other waterfowl know that crows are incredibly smart, vigilant and quick to spread a warning of danger."

When duck hunting, M.D. often hauls a swan decoy to the water. He mixes a small puddler spread right around the single swan. Ducks are big on swans, he says, but not geese. While geese may be put off by the sight of a swan, ducks seem to be attracted. The visibility factor also is there - the big swan provides a focal point for ducks at a distance.

"And speaking of visibility," he said, "I'll typically run one to four snows in with my Canada spread. The white really shows up and it's not unusual to have a lost snow or two mixing in with the dark geese."

In addition to the visibility factor, adding snow geese decoys also makes his spread different than other spreads the geese have been seeing. M.D. suggests placing the snow goose decoys right in among the Canada goose decoys.

Diver Tips

"Flagging divers from layout boars works incredibly well," M.D. said, "especially on singles or small, five- to 15-bird flocks. Use a plain, black flag, slightly smaller than a Randy Bartz T-Flag. I always have a downsized black flag with me when hunting divers."

Another diver trick is what M.D. calls "the Blob." He runs 18 to 20 individually rigged/anchored drake bluebills in a blob in addition to his long lines. "Just throw them out in a small area," he said. "Don't worry about them touching one another, in fact, it's better if they do. The Blob looks like "bills diving on a good food source. Run the long lines out and away at an angle from the blob. Those lines will lead passing birds in front of the blind."

Jerk-Cord Rigs

One of the greatest confidence decoys for duck hunters is the old-fashioned jerk cord. It gets a lot of lip service, but not a lot of guys do it. Of course, M.D. has a trick up his sleeve when dealing with smart, late season birds.

"Better than a single-decoy cord is a four- to six-decoy all coot jerk cord rig," he said. "Rig four coots on 20-inch droppers, and tie all of the droppers to a single brass ring. To 100 feet of parachute cord, tie a brass dog clip. You run the dog clip through the top of a No. 8 mushroom anchor, cinder block – if hunting a permanent blind – or something similar, then snap the clip to the brass ring."

Then, run the cord back to the blind, pull, and you have a small flock of coots bobbing up and down. M.D. says to place a half-dozen widgeon next to it and you'll be surprised at the effectiveness.

Finally, M.D. says that the best confidence decoy is simply doing something different than other hunters surrounding you. Upsize to magnums, or downsize your spread. Combine decoys with three or four of your buddies and try a huge spread.

"Or, especially during late season goose hunts, use six full body decoys and call sparingly," he said. "With ducks, do something other than the traditional all-mallard spread. Go to gadwalls with just a couple of mallards thrown in. Use drake pintails for color. Another option is an all-coot spread with three magnum mallards on the fringe, or do an all-coot spread with a single jerk cord in the center. Scout the competition, then do something different."