I've been whacking ducks for quite some time. I started out with hand me downs and a burlap sack. The single most important piece of advice I can give you is to NOT scrimp on dekes. I ONLY shoot over G&H dekes, and I highly reccomend the Magnum Pro series line of them. I have 10 Dozen of them and 3 full sized mojo's, and It was money well spent. Obviously you can find cheaper dekes, and there's many that are good also, but keep that in mind when looking. I think you're on the right track.
Also Variety is key as well. Throw out a mixed bag Pintails and can's work wonders.