If there’s one conditioned response that comes from the various mechanical apparatus used on duck ponds, it’s usually negative.
Motion decoys can be extremely effective during the early season. And, no doubt a lot of young ducks succumb to such devices when the season starts on prairie Canada in September.
By November in Louisiana, however,most of the migrating survivors are pretty accustomed to them. When ducks drop into some open water with a bunch of floater decoys and a couple dekes sitting on poles with wings doing 360s only to get shot at, it doesn’t take long for them to wise up.
Adam Rhodes is a quick study, and after a couple passes of wary ducks he decided to pick up the Mojos his partners graciously left for us to use.
Immediately, we had ducks commit and cup in to our spread.
In short, Robo-type decoys should be used sparingly. Like the right tool for the right job, this tool works best in the half hour of legal shooting before sunrise.
Essentially, once the game is on and the season is underway, it might be better to pick Robos up, as ducks wise up fast — particularly in public areas like the Atchafalaya Delta WMA, where there is heavy hunting pressure.
