“Tag: Decoy”

Matt Kneisley of Conestoga, Pa., has hunted his spread of 120 Model 72 Herter decoys for forty years. In an absolutely despicable act, thieves stole 110 of the decoys sometime between noon on Thanksgiving Eve and 4 a.m. Thanksgiving morning.

Don't go into the turkey woods unprepared.

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

When temperatures fall, the water in the air has a nasty habit of forming a crisp layer of frost over anything that will stand still long enough. You know what stands still? Decoys. What doesn’t: real ducks and geese. And darn it if they can’t spot a frosted-over decoy from a mile away, ending your hunt before it really even begins.

Contrast is what makes a decoy stand out, due not only to its color but also its size and the shadow it casts.

The safest and simplest way to add movement is to rely on Mother Nature, but if there’s no wind for your sail then it’s time to innovate.

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.

Canada geese get smart this time of year. With some creativity based on the details of bird behavior, a full limit will be cause for celebration.