Short-Stopping Ducks
Why Use the Train-Wreck-Type Decoy Spread
 Editor’s
Note: Missouri has become one of the top duck states
in the nation. Many waterfowl hunters wonder why so
many ducks stop in Missouri and Illinois and not come
further south. To learn the answer to this question,
we went to Missouri and hunted with Avery Pro Staff
Team member, Tony Vandemore of Kirksville, Missouri.
We also wanted to know how Vandemore takes a limit of
ducks almost every day of the season.
Question: Tony, when you, Ira McCauley and Bill Cooksey
set out the decoys, you didn’t put them in a J,
a fish hook or a V-type pattern. What pattern were you
using?
Vandemore: We set our decoys really-close together in
no set pattern because as we came into the field, we
saw that the ducks feeding on the ground were close
together feeding in one spot. So, we used
what we call our train-wreck-decoy pattern. This means,
we put our decoys out so they looked like a train wreck
that happened all in one spot. One of the key ingredients
to setting out decoys in a dry field is to find a group
of ducks feeding in a dry field and notice the pattern
in which they’re sitting or feeding. Are they
spaced wide apart? Are they feeding close together?
Are they in small groups? Look at the formation the
ducks on the ground are feeding in, and that will tell
you how you should set out your decoys. We do still
leave an open pocket where we want the ducks to land.
Remember, by the time these ducks fly from Canada to
Missouri, they’ve read the book on duck hunting.
They’ve seen plenty of J-shapes, C-shapes, V-shapes
and fish-hook type decoy spreads that have been written
about and shown on TV for many years. By the time the
ducks reach Missouri, they know that if they see a decoy
spread that resembles the way a decoy spread is supposed
to look, more than likely, there will be a hunter somewhere
in that spread. Any time you see ducks in a field, rarely
will you ever see them in a
fish hook pattern, a U pattern or a V pattern. So, we’ve
learned that the most-effective decoy spread is the
one that closely resembles the way the ducks arrange
themselves in the area we’re hunting, during the
week we’re hunting. If you’ll watch and
read the ducks, they’ll show you the most-effective
decoy spread you can use.
Question: Now that we know the type of decoy spread
you use, how do you select the individual decoys you
put out?
Vandemore: Before we put out our decoys the end of November,
we also observed that there were more ducks feeding
than there were walking around on the ground. So, we
decided to use more feeding duck decoys than active
duck decoys. Therefore, we put out 75% more feeding
duck decoys than we did active duck decoys. The feeding
duck decoy had its head down looking for food. The active
duck decoy had its head up looking for predators and
other ducks. 
Question: You were able to set up decoys and pick up
decoys really quickly using big bags with individual
compartments for each decoy. Why were you using those
bags?
Vandemore: We use the Avery 12-Slot Decoy Bags because
these bags have a stake pouch with each bag. You can
set out a dozen decoys without having to go back and
forth to your decoy bag to get more decoys or stakes.
More-importantly, we use this bag because each decoy
can fit in one pocket of the bag, and it keeps the decoys
from rubbing against each other and knocking off the
paint or dinging up the decoys. I know that there are
hunters hunting over decoys that are 30-years old that
really look bad, and these hunters are probably taking
ducks. But I’ve learned that the better your decoys
look and the more realistic your decoys look, the better
chance you have of decoying waterfowl.
To learn more about Avery Outdoors’ waterfowling
products, go to www.averyoutdoors.com.
Tomorrow: Why Only Greenheads
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