Ok I know this has probably been asked, but I'm trying to scoop up some decoys now for next season. This will be my first spread and I'll likely be going to academy first to try and get rid of a gift card I have and then walk over to Gander Mountain. I've read Game Winners are a no go? What about the Hardcore 3-D brand? Lastly, is brand that important or can someone steer me in the right direction?
I guess it would help to know how I'll be hunting..it'll be either at the coast or on tanks.

What I would buy first at Academy is the Game Winner decoy anchor kit. They are exactly like Rig Em Rights but cheaper. I agree that their decoys are no good. Rogers Sporting Goods online has some of the best decoy prices.

I have had good success with Academy's Carver edition series they won't last you a lifetime but look good and won't break the bank.

Brand is largely an overrated metric, at least when you are not talking about durability or how they float.

In the old days when decoys were carved out of cork or hardwood, and even moreso when plastics became prevalent, the predominate color painted was a flat black. And it worked extremely well. That is not to dispel the very lifelike paint schemes we can do today, but to let you know that a whole hell of a lot of what is said to be a good decoy or not is marketing.

Game winners are OK, but they likely wont last as long as a G&H or even a Flambeau. But they will work.

I would suggest working on getting a spread first, then upgrading a half dozen or dozen with a good brand each season as the lower quality jobs start to show their age.

Should it just be a dozen or so mallards to start off with?

No, don't get mallards for the coast. You need redheads, bluebills, ringnecks, and pintails. Those are birds that you will be hunting and will need a decoy spread that reflects those species. Big Shu is a really good coastal duck hunter and knows his stuff. He's got some great decoys ($$$) that are Texas-rigged which is what I would highly recommend for the coast. You will probably want 4-5 dozen.

It helps to have coastal ducks in your spread if you are on the coast. But it doesnt hurt much, if any at all, to have mallards in your spread also.

My first couple of dozen were mallards and teal - because that is what Academy had on the shelves. I hunted on the marshlands around Bryan Mound, Christmas and Matagorda bays. Killed plenty of ducks - as I stated earlier, color is not as important as the marketing makes it out to be.

Being in the right spot and having a good layout, along with concealment, make more of a difference in my experience.

Welcome to the sport. Now turn around and leave before you end up with more gear then the local academy, and a lifelong obsession for "just a few more birds"

That being said - there is some good advice here. Use your academy gift card to buy as many game winner Texas rig decoy weights as possible. You won't find a better value, and making them yourself won't be cheaper or better quality. If you are planning to walk in, look at getting a nice decoy bag. Avery sells one in the $50 range that will hold 30-40 decoys and is PADDED. Do not buy the game winner brand, trust me on the Avery bag. It's huge, padded and comfortable - and worth the $20 the first time you walk a .5 mile each way.

Now to get to your question, and please no I am speaking about coastal decoys... Or decoys that can be used in Texas and still be fine.. Mallard decoys will be less then useful on the coast, and honestly, you can get away with wigeon/gadwall and pintail decoys when hunting for mallards, so, invest in those for being used everywhere.

As you are just starting out, I would really target what you can get quality and quantity wise. You can always upgrade later. I mainly have greenhead gear decoys, but also have flambeau storm front and tangle free brands scattered in my collection.

Judging by your situation, I would like and see if I could fin the different puddle packs from greenhead gear to give you some variety from start. They have different versions with teal, wigeon, gadwall, pintails and mallards sprinkled in. I don't think you need the version with mallards, but, was more telling you that a version existed.

I personally would stick to those brands in whatever you can find on sale. I would buy wigeon/pintail decoys first, followed by blue bill, gadwall and redhead decoys. I may get laughed at for redhead decoys but I think it adds realism when targeting pintails.

Greenhead gear is my reffered brand over all, though I will say the flambeau storm fronts are nice and are holding up fair. Tangle free pintails are nicest decoys I own (most realistic in my opinion) and are even better then the pro grade green head gear decoys.

Again, as its your first start, there is no need for pro grade anything, just check macks and Rogers sporting goods for end of season sales. I have also picked up some decent green head gear puddle packs from cabelas bargain caves a time or two.

Right now it's about the sales. I remember when I was first starting out and academy carried greenhead gear, two weeks before season was over I would have my local academy order all the pintails, redheads and what ever green head gear decoys they had from the other stores. By the time they arrived, they would be 30% off.

I dont get the "greenheads are less than useful on the coast".

I also like the GHG feeder pack mixed decoys. I believe having some decoys in different positions helps make the spread look more realistic, especially on bright days or late in the season.

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I dont get the "greenheads are less than useful on the coast".

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because they are less common?

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I dont get the "greenheads are less than useful on the coast".

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I've been hunting the coast near Point Comfort/Port Lavaca for the last 25 years. I've seen less than 10 greenheads killed on our place during that time, and 4-5 of them were on the same day.

Hunting the coast, keep teal and pintail decoys on hand. Gads and widgeon are nice a nice addition, but teal and pintail will get you by.

Greenhead Gear is my favorite decoy brand.

Birdhunter.....here's what I have learned throughout my time chasing these ducks.....it doesn't matter what kind or brand of decoys you have....if you aren't where the ducks want to be you won't be doing any killing.....i have had my best hunts over 0-2 decoys....at the same time I have had some great hunts over a couple dozen as well.....GHG are my favorite decoys but if you want to kill birds your going to have to get out and scout and find where they want to be.....

Thank yall for the great help. I do realize you have to be where the birds are, but I believe someone said on here that the spread is more important than calling so I wanted to see what I would need to get started. I've hunted a handful of times, but it's been with a guide 3 out of the 5 or so times.

Didnt mean to offend you schembla.... I havent killed one greenhead on the coast in the last 7 years. I just wouldnt want to spend the money on something that isnt as helpful as the other suggestions....

Again, my apologies.

As a life long waterfowler and former guide, allow me to weigh on this.

Over the years we have accumulated nearly 8 dozen decoys. In that collection I have a variety of species that we group together based on the conditions, time of the season, and what we've scouted the few days before we plan to hunt.

For a person starting out, I encourage you to follow the advice of others and determine where the ducks are and what they are. We hunt in remote parts of La. and our bags look much different then what they would if we were hunting in say, the Brazos Valley. Over time, expand your variety. That's the best practice and birthdays, Christmas, father's day gifts are made easy for everyone to get you something.

I encourage you to consider what I have found the most practical and well made brand Flambeau. They're not the fancy high end, hand painted, blah blah decoys, but they're good for what you pay for them. Depending on where you'll likely be hunting, a good group of gadwalls and a 6 pack of green wing teal are always a good set to start with. You can purchase them nearly anywhere and they make them with swivel heads which I like more.

Years ago, I quit using my Mojo Mallard on most trips. Everywhere we went, folks were using them and it seemed that the ducks wised up after seeing them over and over and over. When they fist came out, they were awesome, and the technology has advanced greatly over the years. Wings look much better these days. Batteries last longer too. This past season, I knocked the dust off mine and brought out to use during early season and I was shocked how well it worked. I call, and I'm pretty good but the birds seemed to come in and give me two passes, then elect to move on. After witnessing that with 3 flights of widgeons, we put out the Mojo and it was epic. Movement allows them to focus their attention on something other than your spread, or your calling ability. It helps, and I'd encourage you to consider purchasing one of them too.

Lastly, and this is unsolicited advice, but if you cant call ducks yet, don't even take one with you when you hunt. Practice in the truck on long drives or get a cd that teaches you how to call and learn.

Good luck out there.

And since I see you'll be on the coast, get some pintails too set on the edges of your spread. The white stands out really well.

My suggestion:

Texas Rig

Buy species that are most common. I know everybody wants green heads, but there aren't green heads everywhere (especially the coast). Buy smilin mallards, teal, gadwall, red heads (for the coast), pintail, and whatever else is in your area that you hunt.

Don't buy cheap. INVEST in your decoys. GHG, Avian X, Dakota (except their pintail cause the hens don't even resemble a pintail), Tanglefree etc..

Edit: motion is good on still days, but stay way from Mojos unless super early in the morning.

Agreed on that. Turn that damn Mojo off once the sun is up.

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I dont get the "greenheads are less than useful on the coast".

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I've been hunting the coast near Point Comfort/Port Lavaca for the last 25 years. I've seen less than 10 greenheads killed on our place during that time, and 4-5 of them were on the same day.

Hunting the coast, keep teal and pintail decoys on hand. Gads and widgeon are nice a nice addition, but teal and pintail will get you by.

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Outside of 2 or 3 hunts in my entire life (comparable to your 25 years), i've hunted the coast exclusively for ducks - and while we never saw many greenheads on the water, we absolutely never had a problem with birds coming into the spread with greehead decoys.

Why? Because int he grand scheme of things, the type of duck doesn't have a whole lot of effect on the vast majority of birds - canvasback, pintail, redheads, gadwalls, widgeon, etc. will all decoy to a spread of mallards. And mallards will generally decoy to a spread of something else.

Ducks pretty much look for a couple of things - ducks, and how the spread is setup. If it's a natural looking spread, you will likely do well if there are birds in the area. Back in the old days of duck hunting, there wasn't nearly as much empahsis on having the right type of duck for your area or even the best colors of ducks - most decoys were painted flat black or hardly painted at all (and certainly weren't the water dipped life-like patterns of today). And ducks still decoyed just fine. The idea that you need X ducks for the coast and Y ducks for puddles, etc. is a relatively modern idea. It doesn't hurt, don't get me wrong - but if there is a sale on greenhead decoys and you can get an extra half dozen, you are better off than you would be if you had nothing but pintail and teal but had less decoys available to you.

Pretty simple concept.

Not knocking the more modern and realistic decoys available today - but they are far from a must have to be successful. That's all.

Well I went by academy and picked up the game winner anchor kit and 6 green wing teal since there was not much left. Im gonna try and find some online and then get a dozen or 2 for my birthday coming up. Is 2-3 dozen a good starting point for a spread?

For sure. Gotta start somewhere. The amount of decoys used always depends on the body of water being hunted. I hunt river bottoms and only use about 2-1/2 dozen decoys. That breaks down into 16-18 mallards, 8-10 pintail, 7-8 teal, and a couple woodies. But thats for a pretty small water hole. Typically, I think guys that hunt the bay use 6-8 dozen decoys. Just work your way into it. 2-3 dozen will definitely get you some birds.

Thanks for all the great advice. I already can't wait til next season

I added a dozen Carver Series pintails to my spread this year and was pleasantly surprised with how the paint held up.

We uses anywhere from 4-8 dozen on our cove on the bay. When i hunted smaller marshland lakes, 2-3 dozen was the norm.

Like '02 said - your spot dictates your spread. And even less than ideal is still better than none. The biggest thing is to learn how to set them up based on where you are hunting - yoh want to make them as natural looking for the area as possible.

A few decent tips in this thread, BUT most are different than my many years of hunting. I was avid duck hunter and guide for all my adult life into my 60;s. MOST on the Gulf Coast within a mile or two from the coast line. Never used anything except mallard and pintail. Also any someone gave me , found, etc. rules are: the more the better, the larger the better, 50 % of mallards spray painted flat black 2 or 3 snow goose decoys apart from duck spread. You will learn as you go. Good luck,wish I could go with you.

Don't know if ya are ever up around B/CS, but if ya are interested i'm getting rid of my old set of decoys. I'd have to double check the count, but pretty sure there's 22 left. Started life as a dozen mallards, 6 widgeons, and 6 woodies, but somewhere along the way a couple meandered off. All are rigged with weights and come with a bag, just simple mesh with nylon straps. Didn't get a chance to go the past couple of seasons so they're just taking up space in my garage.

I live here actually. They're for sale?

I live in CS and may have a bag and a half of decoys that I haven't used in 3-4 years (upgraded). If you are interested I can look in my shed to see how many there are. Depending on how many I have I would probably let them go for $$?.

Message me if you are interested.

Yea, they're for sale. Figure 50$ is a fair price for the lot of em.

Contact me at "i am jameshagan @ gmail. com" if ya wanna come look at em.

+1 for the Texas Rig I have also enjoyed single strand coated wire - no tangles, large volume for the price and easy to carry and throw. I would suggest different line lenghts, and I prefer heavier weights. Water depth and high winds can cause major issues with short lines and light wieghts.

I been waterfowling for over 30 years all over Texas with the majority of the time being locally in the general B/CS area or on the coast between Port O'conner and Rockport.

Decoys - I like teal. They mix well with everthing, and are small. Plus, they will commonly fly with mosy all species except for the divers. A dozen mallards for inland hunting is a must, but not great for the coast. You can use the hens as mottled duck decoys or just about any hen for that matter. They serve well as a confidence decoy. +1 for Pintails on the coast. That has always been my go to decoy. Not so big on redheads, as they are the dumbest of all the ducks I have hunted with bluebills running a close second, and may very well decoy to foalting milk jugs.

+1 for not calling as opposed to bad calling, so until your decent, get a whistle. They are easy to learn and use, and work well for pintails and wigdeon.

I would add this bit of advice, start leaning how to detect the type of bird in flight at a distance now. Size, wing beat and height/level of flight are the immediate giveaways to speciies identification.