Duck Hunting | Spinning Wings Strategies | Announcement! 

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You asked for feedback. Here is mine. Put the spinners in the recycling bin. Ripples on the water is the deal sealer. Flashback decoys, Battleship Swimmers, and Frenzy Feeders drop the birds in without a quack. I love to call and I’m good at it, but birds dump in without calling if you have ripples. All that said, spinners are good for field spreads for doves and ducks. In my experience, geese flair from them. Cheers! Great convo/content.

This guy is the most stand up, honest dude in the industry

Hand painted decoys, small pond (40yrds × 35yrds). Access by foot only no waders and wool jacket. I'd call our hunting pretty old school but damn it's cool. God bless you Mr Strickland.

Lol love the old school explanation I used to wear my dad's old army greens my Father unfortunately gave up duck hunting shortly after they went to steal shot but I caught the fever I eat, sleep, breathe duck hunting. Great vid!!

I’m 81 years old, “old school” is all I know/knew and we enjoyed every minute of it. Part of the reason I’ve made it this far is because of all the work we went to to get a limit of birds. If I was going to get back into it today I’d do exactly what you doing and enjoy every minute of it. Enjoy your excellent videos. It’s most interesting to learn what’s out there today. From Missouri

Hunted pretty old school a lot this season. However did so due to hunting a new hole with limited financial resources. It suckedddd. Hiking in with 1-2 dozen decoys. Carried a lawn and leaf trash bag to haul decoys. Blisters on your feet from cheap boots. Crappy jerk cord with a bungee and some rope and a heavy stick. I had decent clothing. But not the fancy stuff. No fancy blind. Sat in a cane thicket. Technology has its pro’s. Was a very intimate hunt and rewarding when successful. Had me missing my old blind, heater and mallard machine.

Hey Joel, Sorry I am a year behind but I am not a youngster and I like the newer things available. Old school was only because someone hadn't invented the next thing to move us ahead to where we are now... God Bless

Love your thoughts on “Old School”! These are the good days right now

great note about 'old school'...I must be your age because I remember using those old style hand warmers.

Love your "old school" analogy! Im 53 and lived those days right with you brotha! Keep the great content coming!

Absolutely no old school here! I too, remember the old rubber boots with the steel shank on the footed of the boot and the old clamshell hand warmers!!! Things are SOOO much better today! Stay well, y'all!!

Keep it up you get a million subscriber someday and thank you very much for the shout out

First time watching your channel. I am now following. Great stuff!

Haha, loved the old school comments. I hunting in my dad’s old green army fatigue coat as well! Finally, one day about 1991 he took pity on my and got me a Widgeon parka on the way home. It was a miracle. I still have it and wore it this year when I took him to Stuttgart (a bucket list item for him) for opening day this year. Unfortunately, it’s not waterproof anymore but his still is! And his is “old school” Camo from when it was new school. I may seasoned but I’ll take new school and day of the week.

Thanks for the information. Always great to see that notification when you guys up load! Keep up the awesome content!

I prefer the wind driven spinning decoys. And as I’m not where there’s a lot of mallards I paint them to look like pintails. They’re so wary it makes a great confidence decoy.

Did old school for years. Started duck hunting in 1973. Still shooting lead at that point, and thats about the only thing I miss about old school.

We must be about the same age. I remember hunting in the seventies, and those super sweet rubber waders. Here's to wet socks baby! Cheers!

I wish I had gotten into waterfowl and upland hunting years ago back home on our farmland in North Dakota. We had all kinds of game birds and only a couple pheasant hunters and deer hunters. Never duck hunters though. I only developed an interest in deer hunting. Probably because our family didn't really care for game meat (likely because we didn't know how to properly cook it). It also was severely cold. Now living in New Mexico. I tried waterfowl a couple years ago but set it aside after realizing how serious some people are getting to first come first serve in the public areas. But didn't really have the guidance to learn from. Will try again this year and hopefully get my first duck after taking the time to learn and practice this wonderful tradition we've been blessed with! Thank you for all of the help you and others have provided to us!

Love the vids👌🏻 I am a new duck hunter so the info this channel provides is awesome! Keep it coming!

I started duck hunting in the late '60s. We wore green coveralls, hip boots (the installation was how many pair of socks you could put on), either walked in or boated in. Everything back then was "Old School", a handful of decoys and a jerk string. Shotguns were 2 3/4" lead shells and calls were usually a black olt ($10). I was the first to have a spinning wing decoy in the lake where we hunted. They didn't sell them in Arkansas then but I found the factory in California that made them (Fatal Deduction). I paid around $180 for it, not knowing anything about spinning wing decoys, and it was the best investment I had ever make. Ducks would fall in even without calling. Now we have blinds that we cook breakfast and lunch in, side-by-sides to drive right to the back door of the blind, all kinds of battery operated decoys, and my black lab Kate to retrieve all our birds. I miss some of the "Old School" hunts, but hunts are so much easier. Hope everyone has a great and safe duck season. Go Hogs.......

I like to use the jerk sting type of wing decoys in the fields. Seems to work better than the kind that spin all of the time. We are not allowed to use electronic decoys in Washington state.

As always really enjoy the great content and tips, keep it up. Maybe you and your staff could do migration updates from each flyway as early teal comes around.

I've hunted old school I grew up hunting old school most of the time I was using earth-tone work jackets old beat-up decoys that hardly had any paint on them that you got from a yard sale and you were freezing to death. I really appreciate your videos keep them coming

Just started using spinning wings decoys, appreciate all the information I can get. I'm old school!!!!

I’m new to duck hunting, but loving it! Thanks for the help!

I love this type of video! Great!

Just found a few of your videos and appreciate the tips. I just started hunting, again, a few years ago, to spend time with my kids. Hunting and fishing are literally the livelihood of my dad's side of the family, so I wanted to be sure they knew our heritage. Anyhow, we are "Old School" in very many of the ways you describe. We use my old military coats and uniforms, I have a spinner but rarely use it now, because I have been hunting deeper water and can't place it. We also use the brown cloth garden gloves and "Cajun Reeboks" (regular rubber boots, no waders), along with paddling the 1/2 mile to the blind. Face camouflage is done by lighting a wine cork and rubbing the charred end on. Blinds are camouflage burlap hanging over tomato stakes with some grasses propped over it. My not so "Old School" items are modern hand warmers (though I do have the metal box with the rod), a Thermo Cell, a GPS and, if I am feeling lazy, a flat boat with a trolling motor. Great video. I'll be sure to check out more of them.

Very well explained and some good tips to try. Some of it I kinda knew but just didn't have it all together in my mind, so thank you! More people need to see your stuff, it's great! Please keep it up.

Keep your great videos up thanks a lot Joel

Joel, i have used these since the beginning. For me the change was direct drive motors versus belt driven. The optimal speed of the wings is 440 rpm. With the direct drive ones, they spin around 660 rpm. I put motor controllers on mine and use an rpm gun to set them at 440-460 rpm. They work like the old days again.

Your vids are the best. Real. To the point. Very informative. Don't about old school. Still trying to learn new school. Lol

😂😂😂 real old school bait and live decoys! 👍👍 My favorite hunt was opening day pheasant season on Gray Lodge a N CA state refuge. Back in the day when there was pheasants. We checked in early like we were duck hunting and went to the closest parking lot to wait for 8:00 opening time we could hear them calling numbers. As we sat there fog rolled in and I could hear ducks in the fog. I got my calls and fooled around and dropped ducks out of the fog into the parking lot. We grabbed our shotguns still wearing blaze orange and walked 100 yards down the road to some tall trees. Dry fields both sides. In 45 minutes we shot 12 ducks out of the fog. It was amazing standing on an open road like we were trees, calling ducks down around the trees and dropping them as they broke through the low fog and circled around the trees. A special hunt. Guys walked past us wondering what we where doing? Until they saw the pile of ducks. Pheasant time rolled around and the fog started to lift. The most old school hunt ever. No waders, no water, no decoys. Only location and good calling. We proceeded to go out and get limits of pheasants. Something that is not possible nowadays.

I’m a huge believer of using jerk strings or any type of water motion decoys. They help a ton especially on calm cloudy days. I am not a huge fan of spinners yet I do think they are a tool that if used properly they can be used well.

first time watch of this channel. hooked

I remember old-school. 2 liter coke bottles painted black with a wood duck head. Lighter fluid hand warmers. Green rubber hip waders. Pirogue miles into the marsh. Good ole days.

Great video thank you sir

I like using my lucky duck it definitely brings more ducks to the spread 🦆🦆🦆

great description of “old school” my brother made a very similar description to his grandson in the blind a few years ago. We hunted divers on the Great South Bay in the 60’s, we got wet and we got cold, and we carried 100 decoys a long way to get to our favorite points. I’d do it all again if we had to go back to olds school. Thanks for your videos.

Another great video! Ive really been wanting to a early 1800s reenactment hunt, maybe this duck season

idk if i qualify as old school but i run 6 carry light decoys in my old sea bag, a pair of cabelas neoprene waders i bought 15 years ago, usmc woodland geortex over a black stormr jacket, remington 11-87, and remington wingmaster hd, and for sure walk in

I use the mojo dove and I'm in love with it

Thank you for the great info!! And yes I grew up hunting “old school “ just like you. This season will be #27. If you want to show everyone how we did it back in the day I’ll be right by your side!! Keep up the great content. 👊🏼👍🏼🦆

I hunt over Homer foam decoys that I finish myself. I don't use spinners but i do have a swimmer that i like to use on calm days.

Mix of "old school" and new school. In timber its just watermotion. In ooen water mojos and water motion. But once that sun comes over the trees shut them off. Or change the wings to a dark color with only a white check mark. To much white in the bright sun at 8 in the morning. But in general for me is mojos for long range and watermotion for "shootin" range within 100yds. Thats when they are effective to me

I'd love to see your advice on river hunting.

I just started duck hunting. I use 2 motorized spinners and 1 wind powered. I only have 1 doz mallard decoys and 1 goose floater. I kayak out to my spot so low weight is key. Thanks for your videos. Heck I haven't even had to use my calls yet.

I don't use Mojo's starting in November I hunt on public land called Grand Kankakee marsh in IN and I don't use the spinning wings I use a homemade pupmer decoy . The spinning wings scares a lot of birds up here

Have you configured your Spoonzilla with a remote control? I was told by mojo that my spoonzilla and teal spinners wont accept a remote setup.

Yes I do hunt old school and always have but im thinking about getting some spinners and trying them out this season

Here in Texas in the late season they tend to flare a lot easier with spinning wings, in the early season we put them under brush and they help, we hunt three days a week and every weekend and our season is close to 90 days, so by the end they’ve been shot at over just about any type of spread and heard all types of calling, IMO 8 deeks with a swimmer or two works a lot better than spinners

Love your vids

Would I go old school? Absolutely... I've already had days where I was pretty close to your description, minus Max 5 camo and new shot shells... I spent a lot of time without an ATV, and hunt a 50 acre lease. I'd walk in and carry everything on my back, and spent plenty of hunts freezing my tail off with water in my waders... But I'm pretty masochistic, as Steven Rinella says, and I feel like the suffering makes for fonder memories.

I go old school every day I hunt duck because Washington state doesn't allow 4 wheelers on public land and no electric decoys of any sort. I skip out on the waders and do alot of walking. Lol.

Haha. I hunt "old school" but not by choice. A dozen floaters, uninsulated fly fishing waders, and my feet to get me where I want to be. What I wouldn't give for a boat and some spinners.

I learned old school haha. I hunt a spot that takes 2 miles to walk into which usually means minimal gear. Used to do it without decoys, but now we try to pack in a couple floaters and a spinner or two. I have hunted it with guys from all over and they all claim it is the best duck hunting they've ever had. I will admit we do use camo so it's not totally "old school."

Rarely use spinners hunting water but I will not hunt fields without them. I hunted public for 54 years and now I have permission on 10 ranches to hunt. What a luxury it is. We rotate spots and kill birds from September until end of January. I hunt Old School but I also hunt with my 30 year old son who knows all the new stuff. I killed my 1st Mallard in 1965 and haven't looked back.

What about a decoy spread tip video

Cheap waders, cheap decoys, hand-me-down call, on foot, and hand me down gun. Been doing it for 15 years.

Good video. You speak the truth. That will take you far!! Great editing. How do you go about getting sponsores?

Good information I can agree with a lot of it. Duck hunting is such a “depends” sport. So many factors play into the success of a days hunt.

Half my season is on frozen ground. I have a drill to punch holes for MOJO poles, but why do that? I have the same problem on compacted gravel bars, and the drill is about worthless there, so to that end I am in the process of building 'ring stands' that a few guys are now converting paper towel holders to mount their floating duck decoys into field decoys with. I'll go with your suggestion about getting the MOJO right down close to ground level, just enough clearance for the wings, and I'll go with as many as I, and friends have, about nine such (I'm building for them as well). My water hunts are on rivers where gravel bars (or the bank) just above decoys allow for that configuration, but half my season will be on stubble fields after freeze-up. I believe I'd just as soon 'SET' out my MOJOs and forget drilling frozen ground! I think it's gonna work.

When I duck hunted in1980 I used had made wood ducks worked great at that time because duck hunting wasn't that big of a thing. Now you need more decoys to bring in the birds cause of all the hunting presure. I don't do that much duck hunting any more do to health issues.

If you really want to go old school we should use live decoys and use trained oxen to hide behind to sneak in on the ducks.

Sometimes they work great. Late season they’re hit or miss. If you have Bluebird skies they suck. Im having the best luck with the higdon battleship and small waters.

Thank you for the insightful information! I just got into duck hunting this season and man has the gear building process been expensive! I'd love to add a mojo to my decoy spread, how do I get mojo outdoors to donate a mojo to a new waterfowl hunter like myself?

That's a good looking Surviving Duck Season T shirt. Do you sell them?

Hey Joel, What are your thoughts from the Xpress Outdoors -State of Waterfowl videos where they mention the use of mojo's and effects? Ever since I started duck hunting they've been around but ever year I seem to have better luck without them.

I hunt 100% public land, later in the season when everyone is using a spinner, not using a spinner, or using a different kind of motion decoy will pull the ducks in. Its all about doing something different than everyone else. Using a spinner can be a detriment at times, especially when their are a lot of stale birds in the area. In my experience no spinner is best during these times.

There is a fine line in duck hunting. Spinning wing decoys work, regular decoys work, calls work. However you really need to know what a duck is looking for and how to act like a flock of ducks. You can not call, not have decoys, not have spinning wings, and still shoot ducks. The education of ducks is guys shooting out of the lane, not finishing birds before they shoot, not calling on corners, not using closing calls "a quite soft flat call" for landing ducks. Movement around the blind, not keeping your head down, looking face forward at ducks, moving your hands on your calls where the birds can see it. Casting a silhouette that looks like a person on the ground. These things are T's for ducks. And if you're hunting geese there tells geese are way more spooky then ducks and silhouettes and shadows are very important and also facing. Yes we are in the golden age of duck hunting but its alot like advanced golf to hunt now. In golf they look at how the sun effects the run of the green in the morning it breaks one way with the shadow, in the afternoon it looks like it breaks the other. After you understand that you start to understand shadow in duck or goose hunting. Your shadow moves from east to west in the morning and west to east in the afternoon. When it moves north in the northern hemisphere the birds will not come near you. There is little things like this you need to understand to get more birds in the blind. Also if you break up it will bring more birds. So you can get that cheap burlap material or a gillie suit and wrap yourself up so you dont have a human looking silhouette. As for spinning wing decoys there are a few things that make them more effective, one is get some epoxy or duct tape or foam and shore them up so they dont rattle or make noise. The unnatural sounds must be taken out they shouldn't sound like a water pump. Another is if they are being placed in water make sure they are 4 foot above the water mark, also with ducks put them behind your V far enough a duck can glide into the decoys from the mark, with geese put your goose flapper either in a hole in the decoys or right next to your lead goose in the V. Geese tend to land in front of the V in decoys especially if they are big it's a competition thing for the flock boss. Also running multiple flappers set them like approaching ducks so if you have two mallards place them staggered about 4-6 feet apart so they look like a pair coming in, and if you run different species make them look like they are landing with like kinds. Having a teal landing into mallards doesn't look right. Also make sure they are well visible from above, some people talk about putting them over grass or other things however if you put them over the water the birds can see them way farther away and they look and see the flapper and reflection and it looks like two ducks to them cause yeah there not very smart regardless of how we think. All this is just to say yeah there's alot of stuff we do that isn't productive to shooting limits. Like gun control starting behind the birds moving through them and when you get a breath of air pulling the trigger, we all know that and yet we still point and click every season till we knuckle down. So it really isn't the calls spinning wings or decoys it's that we make mistakes because we get lazy about how we did it before. We thought it became easy yet it wasn't easy then because we had years of information inside us about how to act behave and move designed into us, and had a few hints where we were slinging our fancys around and shooting lots of ducks and threw it out the window. However it's not always 50 degrees with migrations landing in our spread. So the trick is to buckle down and fall back on the training. 1 duck on a hunt beats none and if you can do that everytime you probably have it right the days of 100s of ducks landing in the decoys are the stuff you take with you for a lifetime and yeah it happens but it's not everyday.

These would be the good days if they figured out how to make an alloy shot as affordable as lead that killed like lead. Too many cripples because of steel that people never find

In oregon where I hunt, we can't use electric decoys. And even if we could, the ducks never fly on clear days

Guess I do hunt old school I have 40$ uninsulated waders just a dozen old flambeau decoys a rem 870 and I either walk, bike or paddle in too all my hunting spots ! Guess I do have a camo sweater tho so I cheat there !

If the mojo company made a remote wear the mojo was timed to turn on off or go faster and slower it might have that effect from the golden years just an idea.

Hey Joel are you going to the Macs prairie wings fall fest on the 10th which is tomorrow?

Comfortable shoulder straps that don’t interfere with good gun mount.

I'm a beginner. This is a great video! Thank you

This is going to be my first year duck hunting, I finally got some decoys and built two jerk rigs. My question is will it be beneficial to use Mojo's along with the jerk rigs?

I'm with you all the way up until you said 1000$ waders. Just can't bring myself to pay that much for rubber pants. Lol

I'll pass on the going old school. I've hunted in waders that are cold and wet and PASS. All though I have gone on several hunts this year where I haven't used a mojo and been very successful. Sometimes when you are when the ducks want to be, it doesn't matter as much what your spread looks like, you just need to be there.

How does a guy get one of those sweet SurvivingDuckSeason T-shirts!?

Send me that hat you're wearing at 10:48

Washington doesn't allow electric decoys.

Old school... lol The worst thing I can recall about old school were duck calls with reeds made of reed. Ever wonder why they're called reeds? Now u know. An old school duck call was a pita to keep running. Your Reed could just split on you. Cleaning one required a few clean dollar bills so you carried a wad o cash and three spare calls. About pressure in arkansas. I triple dog dare you to try hunting in illinois at Carlyle Lake walk ins. You think Rainey Brake is crazy? You ain't seen nuthin buddy. Go on opening day for the full effect. Makes the brake look tame.

i guess im old school im australian most of us here are old school

Flock a what now? 😳

Battery-operated decoys aren't legal where I live.

I am old school.. started in 1964...

mmm im oldschool by your standards never though about it im from australia i would say 90% of us here are old school

Definitely not old school here. Somewhere in between

No old school for me , I am 62 and done old school years ago

LoL

Your comments on "old school" are a bit of base. Many of us cannot afford $1000 waders and $400 jackets. I bought my gun in the '80's for$100. My waders are $100 neoprene. My jacket was$100. I don't own any flocked decoys. I do own a spinning wing decoy. I find it mostly useless.... Some of us still use burlap blinds and a canoe.....

go old school. nah

Nope...