How many wood duck decoys do I need?
Set up where the woodies want to be, and use your decoys to fine-tune their approach. A small spread of about a dozen decoys is typically all that’s required.
How much are wood duck decoys worth?
An original Elmer Crowell black duck in the best condition can be sold for $2,000 or more in an auction. The rarest species of Mason Factory Wood Duck decoys in the best forms can cost up to $600,000.
Will mallards land in wood duck decoys?
Decoys and Calling
If you set your decoys along a flyway where you normally pass shoot, wood ducks will likely ignore your spread while en route to a preferred feeding or roosting area. But if you’re waiting for woodies at their final destination, they might fall right into your decoy spread like a flock of mallards.
Are wood duck decoys necessary?
Yeah, they’re pretty, and sure, I own a bunch of them, but you really don’t need many wood duck decoys. As mentioned, woodies are extremely place-oriented. If you’re where they want to feed, loaf or travel, they’ll probably plop down into a spread of two decoys just as readily as they’d commit to a 100-block rig.
Do wood ducks like mojos?
What does work, experienced hunters agree, are spinning-wing decoys like Mojo’s Screamin’ Woody. Love them or hate them, spinners, where allowed, are deadly on wood ducks, grabbing their attention at a distance and helping focus them visually on the small spread of decoys.
What is the best shot size for wood ducks?
If you are hunting smaller birds primarily, such as teals, gadwalls, wood ducks, wigeons, or scaups (to name a few), you are going to have better odds with a higher shot size, most commonly 3 or 4. If you are hoping to take larger ducks like mallards & canvasbacks, then you need to be using 1 or 2 shot.
Why are wooden ducks so expensive?
While no longer used today due to advances in decoy materials and technology, these wooden duck decoys are now considered highly collectible, with entire auction houses dedicated to the buying and selling of vintage duck decoys, magnificent works of folk art.
What is the most expensive duck decoy?
In 2007 Christie’s sold the world’s most expensive duck decoy, modelled on a red-breasted merganser hen, for $856,000. ‘The most wonderful thing about this decoy,’ Rosenberg continues, ‘is that it wasn’t created for humans to admire, but for other ducks — the intention being to fool them into landing on the water.
Where do wood ducks go during the day?
Woodies like to roost on ponds, and in corners of wetlands large and small, usually where there is some cover. They leave at first light to spend the day in ponds, wet cornfields, and creeks, but pinning down their exact spot is rarely easy.
What shot to use for wood ducks?
Wood Duck Guns and Loads
In reality, most shots at wood ducks are at close range if you’re set up right. A 12- or 20-gauge loaded with steel 4 shot and an improved cylinder or light-modified choke is all the gun you need. Test your gun at 20 and 25 yards to be sure your pattern is wide enough at close range.
Can you use 2 shot for wood ducks?
What is best choke for wood ducks?
In reality, most shots at wood ducks are at close range if you’re set up right. A 12- or 20-gauge loaded with steel 4 shot and an improved cylinder or light-modified choke is all the gun you need.
What are wooden ducks worth?
You can buy an original Elmer Crowell black duck in great condition for $2,500. We also sold a Mason Factory wood duck, the rarest species, in the highest grade for around $650,000.
What is the most expensive duck breed?
One of those animals is the Eider polar duck, a native of Iceland. Hunters spend the entire day looking for this duck in the wilderness and swamps, because of the extremely expensive feathers of these ducks, which can fetch a price no less than gold.
Are old decoys worth anything?
“The reason valuable decoys are so valuable is because 90 percent of them were repainted or had their heads broken off, so the ones that are left in good condition are the best ones and go for high prices.” According to Guyette, most of the decoys he sees in appraisals are worth about $100.
What is a wood ducks favorite food?
While acorns are the primary winter foods, the seeds of bald cypress, hickory, sweet gum, buttonbush, arrow-arum, bur-reed, and wild rice are also common winter foods. Wood ducks feed primarily in shallow water areas, but will also forage on the forest floor for seeds, acorns, and nuts.
What month do wood ducks lay eggs?
Wood ducks pair up in late winter and begin breeding in early spring. The males attract females with their call and attractive, colorful breeding plumage. After the pair breed, they build a nest in the cavity of a tree. The cavity can be natural or a hole abandoned by a woodpecker.
Is 6 shot good for wood ducks?
6 shot in a 2¾-inch housing. Ballistics data indicated that at about 35 yards, this load loses effective killing power on ducks. At 30 yards, a No.
What’s the most expensive duck?
What is the rarest duck to hunt?
The Madagascar Pochard
The Madagascar Pochard, an otherwise fairly unassuming small brown diving duck confined to an island off Africa, is at the centre of a fascinating and ground-breaking conservation effort that has captured headlines because the species is recognised as the ‘world’s rarest duck’.
What’s the rarest duck?
Madagascar pochards
A group of Madagascar pochards, the world’s rarest duck once feared lost, has been released into the wild as part of a pioneering conservation project to save this critically endangered bird from extinction. The species was believed to be extinct for 15 years until its rediscovery in 2006.
Are wooden ducks worth anything?
What direction should a wood duck box face?
Helpful Tips. Mount the box so that it leans forward slightly to shed rain. Boxes can be installed on posts or poles in the water, at least 3 feet above the high water mark, facing south or west. If installing on land, choose a site within 100 feet from the water with no branches around the entrance hole.
What do wood ducks do at night?
Sleeping, Roosting. Sleeps primarily on water, secondarily on logs, banks, muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) houses. Females with young broods sleep out of water, preferably on logs. Wood Ducks congregate in the evening at roosting areas; peak numbers occur in fall (Bellrose 1976a.
Are wooden ducks worth money?
You can buy an original Elmer Crowell black duck in great condition for $2,500. We also sold a Mason Factory wood duck, the rarest species, in the highest grade for around $650,000. There are big variations depending on maker and type of decoy,” notes Guyette.