Waterfowl decoys serve two purposes, to attract distant waterfowl game and bring them into range of shotgun reach. The key to both is to make sure your duck and goose decoys have what it takes to attract the waterfowl to you.
Decoys painted in plain flat back give the most visibility from a distance. White decoys come in second and not far behind the black decoys in distant visibility. When wanting to attract waterfowl from a distance solid black and solid white goose decoys will draw the attention of a flock quicker then naturalistic painted decoys. Many waterfowl hunters with permanent blinds will have generally up to 60% if not more of their decoys done up in straight black or white. The white decoys give an added visual effect while bobbing on the water. It reflects the light drawing the attention to distant waterfowl.
Depending on the waterfowl you are hunting will determine which type of decoy will meet the challenge. Drake Mallard ducks, colorful in their own right are attracted to more realistic looking decoys painted in colors that mock their own. Bright yellow bills, deep burgundy breast, mirrored gray on the body, white accents on the neck and tail, black rear, and cream or white on the rear sides will mimic the Drake Mallard and draw its attention.
Some commonly hunted waterfowl are the blacks, wood, ring-necks, bluebills, canvasbacks, redhead, teal, pintail, and the mallard duck as mentioned above, as well as several varieties of geese. Knowing the habit of popular hunted ducks and geese can help the hunter know what kind and how many decoys to set out for intended waterfowl. Some species of ducks congregate well with other species where some species are more solidity in nature such as the ring-neck duck.
In decoying for a ring-neck duck, you could possibly lure some in using a decoy spread implementing other varieties of ducks but it will be a rare occasion when you will succeed. It is best when concerning ring-neck ducks you use duck decoys to mirror the ring-neck. Ring-necks roost together in flocks of their own when migrating for the winter stopping along calm bodies of water.
The Redhead duck on the other hand decoys easier then the ring-neck. Redheads congregate well with bluebills and canvasbacks, using the same staging areas and will decoy readily to duck decoys of their own as well as the canvasback and bluebill. Bluebills decoy easily with other bluebill and redhead decoys, where as the canvasback although can be found naturally with redheads and bluebills are more of a solitary waterfowl decoy better with higher percentages of other canvasback decoys.
Blacks do well with decoys of their own with a mix of some wood and ring-necks intertwined. Blacks, although they will stage with mallards, are leery of them and stay off to the side of them so when staging decoys if using mallards pace the mallards decoys off from the black decoys to mimic a natural setting. Wood and mallard ducks decoy especially well with decoys of their own species but can decoy readily as long as their species is the higher percentage of the decoys used.
In doing a little research about your intended waterfowl natural habits prior to setting up camp and staging your decoys will save you from unnecessary work and less then successful hunting days.
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