“decoy spread”

A bountiful diversity of birds, habitat and public access still spawns legendary tales of waterfowling on one of the world’s oldest active rivers.

On Arkansas’ Grand Prairie mallards are cause for celebration and calling brings ’em in close.

In waterfowl hunting, there are traditional tactics—like arranging a decoy spread and luring birds with calling—and then there are some, shall we say, rather zany tricks. However, occasionally we hear of an outlandish ploy so crazy that, well, it just might work.

Wingmead is a name of Scottish origin that means “meadow of wings,” which is what the Grand Prairie of Arkansas becomes each year when ducks migrate here.

Hunt cold-weather water sources and your late-season success on geese could heat up dramatically.

No hunter relies on good wind quite like the waterfowler. So what do you do when there isn't any?

Waterfowlers love wind. Because birds typically land into it, wind helps to channel ducks and geese in a definitive direction so you can set your spread and hide accordingly. It also moves the decoys, which makes them look more realistic and therefore more likely to fool your quarry.

Setting a decoy spread for wary waterfowl requires strategic calculations to pull off a successful ruse. The same is true of decoying whitetail bucks. You can plunk a buck decoy anywhere, but to have it work with precision requires forward thinking. Begin with simple biology.

Ditch the massive decoy spread and head upstream to find a small hidey hole that can pay off big.