Greenhead Gear: Mallard Decoys & Calls

There’s nothing quite like a flight of big greenheads circling, squawking, and eventually dropping their orange feet and cupping their wings. That’s as close as it gets to dying and going to heaven for waterfowl hunters, and it doesn’t happen by accident. In fact, it doesn’t happen at all if you don’t speak the right language or show them some fakes that are good enough. That’s where the following products come into play so that no matter whether you’re in the flat-bottom tucked into the cattails, or laying prone in a cut cornfield waiting to flip the lid on some hungry greenheads, you’ll get your chance.

Avian-X Topflight Oversized Mallards

If you want to catch the eye and attention of high-fliers, sometimes you need to really show them the goods. In this case, that means throwing out some high- and low-head decoys, which are 30 percent larger than Avian-X’s standard mallards. Not only are they big, but they feature super-realistic paint jobs, and to further seal the deal, you can snap the line through the decoys’ swim clips to give them some extra motion on the water’s surface.

Buck Gardner Double Nasty Poly Duck Call

Let’s say you’ve got some of Daffy Duck’s genes in you and therefore you’re a saliva producing mess every time you talk, or just maybe, blow on a duck call. If your call of choice is the Double Nasty Poly Duck Call from Buck Gardner, don’t worry. This call is designed with Spit-Tech technology that allows it to function no matter how slobbery you are, or rainy it is, or if you drop it in the drink. It’s also loud, raspy, and ideal for talking birds into your spread.

Dakota Decoy X-Treme Full Body Painted Head Mallard Decoys

Field hunters looking to make their setups absolutely hum with realism would be wise to check out the X-Treme Full Body Mallards from Dakota Decoy. The hand-painted finish combined with DD’s Wind Walker motion system make this set of six (3 hens/3 drakes) appear as if it’s a small flock greedily feeding across the landscape in front of your blind. Not only do these decoys look really good, but they are also constructed with a 60/40 blend of high- and low-density polyethylene to ensure they’ll survive years of abuse.

Lucky Duck Flapper Mallard Drake HD Combo

Spinners are still awfully effective on a lot of greenheads, but if you hunt in a place where everybody and their brother uses them on every hunt, ducks can get a little spinner shy. That’s when it’s important to have another trick in the bag – something like the Flapper Mallard Drake HD Combo from Lucky Duck. This HD body style decoy offers variable speeds, operates off of a 6-volt battery (with a smart charger) and comes with a remote control. If you want to give skeptical mallards a reason to swing closer and lock up, this will do it.

MOJO Outdoors Elite Series Mini Mallard Drake

A few weeks ago I was having a little trouble coaxing mallards in to one of my spots in Wisconsin, so I picked up a Mini Mallard Drake from MOJO. It only took one sit before I realized I liked it better than my other spinners for a few reasons, the first being how easy it is to set up. The second is that it’s not only ultra-realistic, but also streamlined and free from anything unnecessary. As an added bonus, you can buy a remote to operate it from your blind so that when you see the flocks closing in, you can start your spinner up and get ready.

Primos Feeding Mallard Duck Call

There is no easier duck call to use on the market (probably) than the Feeding Mallard Duck Call from Primos. This call is designed to sound like mallards jabbering away while they dig into the groceries. Not only does this this call feature a tuning hole so you can change the pitch of the sound, but it operates simply by shaking it. This means that you can create realistic feeding sounds while working a mouth call if you need to.

Zink Calls Mallard Whistle

The downside to this call is that I think my dog would eat it, thinking it was a misplaced duck head (blind snack to a Lab). The upside is that the Mallard Whistle is designed to produce sounds that not only drake mallards make, but also that pintails, teal, and wigeons will produce. In other words, if you’ve got a greenhead coming in or a flock of blue-wings, you might be able to convince them to try to settle comfortably on the water in front of your blind, which is right when you and your buddies will unleash a bunch of loads of 4s right into their faces.