Mallard Machine

[Webfoot]

Has anyone ever used a mallard machine by itself or with motion wing decoys? (and floating decoys)

 

Have you had better success when using one, or the other or both?

[CuzTheyFly]

Yes they work but take extra set up and attention. I like the new swimmer decoys, they make up for my horrible duck calling skills... Motion decoys of most any kind work.

 

[wilson]

im gonna say the same thing that (cuz they fly) said

but there are days towards the end of the season when they get shy of flappers and only thing that works better then a flapper is a swimmer or dabbler duck ...creating ripples with your feet works also

[tank]

We can't use anything with a motor or battery. Didn't like the ones with a jerk string, way to much going on in the blind, the only time the wind didn't blow is when we tried the wind ducks.

Yes, I think they helped.

tank

[wilson]

well here in idaho the robo duck is legal so it helps **** that pull string ****

[IdahoDucker]

Nothing works as well as basic hunting. There is a difference between duck shooting and duck hunting. Go find the birds and set up where they want to be. If you do that all you'll need is a gun, a few decent decoys and, occasionally, a call that sounds like a happy duck. If you can't or won't hunt for them then buy every electronic/motorized gimick out there that you legally can use and once in awhile one of them will help.

 

[ 03-26-2005, 10:46 PM: Message edited by: IdahoDucker ]

[wilson]

its makes it funner where as fast as u can load your gun there coming in

in flocks

[IdahoDucker]

You got that right! The more the better. Here's an example of a late season hunt (January this year) on public land where "hunting" and fairly straight shooting was all that was needed.

 

[ 03-26-2005, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: IdahoDucker ]

[wilson]

hey idaho ducker where was this picture taken it looks like mayb the st joe river

[IdahoDucker]

I will say it was the snake but not exactly where. Like I said, it was on easily accessed public land but I had to spend some time and energy to find that exact spot.

[wilson]

have u hunted around north idaho

[IdahoDucker]

No, not yet anyway.

[wilson]

its pretty **** good hunting

[tank]

Webfoot, if you don't have them Idaho Duckers right. If you can find where the ducks want to go, all you really need is, to me there.

I'm not that great of a hunter and don't pretend to be, and I'm a worse at shooting. I've hunted with as few as 4 decoys when everyone else had out a couple dozen or a lot more.

Work with knowing the hunting pressure, location where the ducks want to be, and wind are more help the any darn robo duck. Get an easy blow call I can recommend a couple (pm me) and they aren't spendy at all. Learn only one call at a time and when you get good at it, learn another.

Forget about the feeding call and your already 2/3s better

tank

 

[ 03-27-2005, 07:23 PM: Message edited by: tank ]

[Webfoot]

That's a nice pile Idaho. You're so right about finding/watching the birds and being where they want to be. Sometimes I need to be more patient.

 

I hunt primarily public wetlands that the conservation department manages (Four Rivers) for a couple of reasons. Ducks and more ducks. The downfall is that also attracks a lot of hunters.

 

From the very begining of the season the ducks were really wary. I hunted with a lot of variation in my spreads. I usedanywhere from 10 dozen decoys to 1 dozen throughout the season. I also used anywhere from none to four mojo-ducks. Calling is not so much an issue. I'm a decent caller but on public land it does little good to compete with knuckleheads who don't stop and use the hail call all day. Don't get me wrong, it has its place but I only use mine when the birds need just a little encouragement. Sometimes it works other times doesn't. I found no consistent patterns and everytime I changed my setup or position it seem to be wrong. I only had two good days when my buddy and I each got our limit. I know its not about what you kill but the time you have and who you are with, but its more fun when they are dumping into your spread. It would be nice to have a little edge.

 

I'm also curious of how well they like it. How well it functions, it's durability, etc?

[Southpaw]

Four Rivers huh. Excellent hunting. I went to college in Warrensburg and we hunted Montrose and Grand Pass all of the time. Grand Pass definately holds the most ducks, but it also holds the most hunters. I would take a nice quiet day at Ralph and Martha Perry CA any day.

 

By the way Tank, learn the feed call, blow the hail, use everything that you have to get the ducks down. Don't get me wrong, I love to sit in the blind or right in the marsh, but I also love to have to ducks and geese right in my face and don't want to have to wait all day for the opportunity.

 

I try to be as respectful as possible while hunting public land, but if soft calling and infrequent calling isn't getting it done, you will hear the hail very loud and if the ducks are flying, very often. The guy in the next blind will just have to deal with it. He should have plenty of chances to blow his call while I am loading my boat with a limit of greenheads.

[Webfoot]

I usually hunt the open area. Although not as intensively managed, A lot of ducks find their way into the flooded Pecan trees in the early afternoon and evening.

 

I lived in Columbia for several years and hunted Eagle Bluffs a lot. Like you said, lots of ducks equals a lot of hunters. I never made it to Grand Pass, but I put my name in the drawing every year.

[tank]

Everyone has their own ideas about calling so find what works for your area.

The feeding call's the most difficult to learn. Concentrate on one call at a time and let your decoys do most of the work (mallards). I do use the feeding call but think it's not as productive as the greeting call and the come back here you bums call.

Late in the season the ducks have heard it all and then less is better, and if you just have to make a noise, I use a soft feeding call.

Again this is for my area.

[sprigsss]

Roboducks, mallard machines, and other motorized decoys are for losers that can't hack it on public land when other real hunters are nearby. All of these things are bad for the sport and should be outlawed.

[tucker301]

sprigsss,

Were it not for technologial advances, you'd be duck hunting with a stick, so think twice before knocking them.

[tank]

Thank you for that tucker, I couldn't have come up with anything that nice.

tank

[sprigsss]

I have thought not twice about them, but each and every time I've seen them work on public land. If there is 1 blind with a robo and 4 around it with no robo, the 1 blind with robo will do almost all of the shooting. I have been in the blind with robo and in the blind without robo and its the same thing every time. The times I did hunt with robo, it wasn't hunting, I could blow the most obnoxious sounding sound on my call and stand outside of the blind and the ducks still come in. I wasn't hunting, I was just loading and shooting, no fun to me. At the same time while I was using robo, I watched my buddies do little to no shooting only 100 yards away. When we swapped scenarios and I was the one hunting without robo, I watched them shoot all morning long, while I never even pulled the trigger.

 

No other technological advantage has as great a negative affect on other nearby hunters than robo. If you want to negatively affect nearby hunters and pull ducks from them, do it with your calling skills, not some battery operated robot.

 

Robo's should be illegal for the same reasons live deocys, electronic calls, and baiting are illegal.

 

Again, robos are for losers that can't hack it with their hunting skills.

 

If you don't like to hunt and all you're worried about is shooting your gun, robo is probably for you. But hunters don't use robots to attract the game for them, they attract them with their hunting skills, or use their hunting skills to get closer to them.

 

Dozens upon dozens of studies have been completed on robo, all of them say the same thing, twice as many ducks are killed when robo is on than when its off. This equates to one thing, as more and more hunters begin using these crutches to shoot more ducks, the limits and seasons will be reduced. But its ashame too many people aren't worried or concerned about the future, all they care about is how many ducks they get to brag about right now.

 

Sure the older ducks are slowly catching on, but the first year ducks are getting slaughtered by these things. So why the people are looking for an easy way out, they are in fact creating an older population and will make it even more difficult to shoot a duck in the future and will see horrible consequences down the line when these older ducks begin to die off.

 

I for one welcome the challenge to hunting smarter ducks, as its the challenge I enjoy most, not just the shooting part. I believe shooting is only a small percentage of the actual hunting.

 

I'm more concerned about where these things are taking the "sport" of hunting and what it will do to the duck populations in the long run.

 

People keep saying it doesn't matter as long as you don't shoot over your limit. If this is the case we wouldn't need any restrictions except limits and seasons. We would be able to use live decoys, electronic calls, and bait our ponds.

 

And if the amount of ducks killed by hunters is negligible to the overall population when compared to starvation, disease and predation, we wouldn't need individual limits on canvasbacks, scaup, black ducks, etc.

 

Robo's suck and people that use robo are not hunters.

 

SAY NO TO ROBO

and YES TO HUNTING!

 

[ 05-31-2005, 02:22 PM: Message edited by: sprigsss ]

[rch 3030]

Now those are the words from a true hunter. I must say I couldn't agree more WELL SAID!!

[tucker301]

Originally posted by sprigsss:

Again, robos are for losers that can't hack it with their hunting skills.

F'ing A, good buddy!

 

In fact, if we're going on pure skills, with no help from technology, then let's also say that camo clothing (ANY clothing!), blinds, shotguns, shells, dogs, boats, calls, waders, GPS's, flashlights, heaters, and all the other crap we use to take game is for losers as well.

 

If I see some other guy getting all the shooting because he's using a roboduck, you bet your Benelli I've got sense enough to even the score by using one as well.

 

Toss away all of the above listed equipment and use just your "skills"....

Welcome to duck-free hunting experience that you'd remember for a long time were it not for the fact that you froze or drowned trying to swim naked to your little piece of the marsh.

 

[ 05-31-2005, 08:20 PM: Message edited by: tucker301 ]

[sprigsss]

Well if you don't see the difference between camo. calls, waders, GPS's, flashlights, and a robotic decoy attracting the ducks for you, I'm sorry you were never taught what hunting is all about.

 

The truth is it doesn't matter what pattern of camouflage I wear or don't wear, the decision you make to use camouflage will have no affect on my hunt.

 

Whether you use a GPS to get to your blind or not, will not affect my hunt.

 

Whether you use waders or choose to get wet, it will have no affect on my hunt.

 

If you choose to use a crack barrel single shot, or a SBE, it won't affect my hunt.

 

If you choose to use a robo duck, it will affect my hunt and every other person around you. If you want to affect someone else's hunt, do it with your duck call and decoy placement, not a robot.

 

If you can't see the difference, its because the only thing you're concerned about is killling and then bragging about how many you did kill.

 

 

All of the items you compared robo to are like golf clubs. You buy a set of Pings, instructional tapes, and get some lessons, and I use my Dunlops. You will probably shoot a lower score than me. However, I will still shoot 100 whether you use Dunlops or Pings. You may beat me, but your game will have no effect on my game. If I'm shooting a single shot, it doesn't matter whether you shoot a single shot as well or a 10 gauge auto. You may shoot more than me, but I will shoot the same.

 

You are comparing Apples to Oranges. I do use a GPS now for safety, but I've arrived at my blind for 10+ years with no GPS and did just find. The GPS has no affect on the duck population. I work my but off building thick blinds of natural vegetation. I don't need camo in my blinds, so camo will have no affect on the duck populations. I rarely use a flashlight when walking to my blind. I look at the oil rigs in the gulf to get the direction I need to walk so I spook as few ducks as I can while I'm making the 350 yard walk to my duck blind.

 

Once again the facts are out there and more hunters are shooting twice as many ducks because of robo. Yet many still choose to ignore the facts and take a stand for robo. These are the individuals that could care or less about hunting, the future of the sport, and the future of the ducks. These individuals are selfish people that are only interested in "how many ducks can I kill now".

 

SAY NO TO ROBO

and YES TO HUNTING!

 

[ 05-31-2005, 08:52 PM: Message edited by: sprigsss ]