Northern Shoveler Duck Decoys

One of the few duck species that has substantially increased in numbers is the northern shoveler duck or as it is commonly referred to the “spoonbill”. Over the last several years a combination of factors have worked together to help the shoveler increase in population and recent estimates put the population numbers at somewhere around 5 million ducks. While this is a much lower number than more common species like mallards, shoveler populations are at all time highs, since records have been kept. Since populations of the northern shoveler are mainly contained to the prairies in Canada and the north central U.S., they are quite abundant in these regions. This makes them an ideal candidate for those who are looking to hunt this species of waterfowl. The only drawback being that some people do not like the taste. Their diet varies from most other species in that they eat a large amount of mollusks and crustaceans. You will not find as many brands of northern shoveler duck decoys for sale as you will mallards but there are still plenty of high quality products to choose from.

One of the characteristics that are only found on these birds is their spoon bill and how they eat with it. The spoon bill they have starts out very wide at the tip and abruptly tapers down in size. Inside of the ducks bill there are rows of filtering mechanisms that almost look like tiny little teeth. They eat by taking water into their bill and filtering it through these teeth like mechanisms, where any small seeds or crustaceans and other food gets stuck. Once the food is stuck in the bill they simply swallow it and repeat the process. They are able to find plentiful amounts of food where other species of ducks find nothing. When looking at northern shoveler duck decoys for sale you should try to find a decoy that accurately depicts the spoonbill feature of this bird.

When hunting for spoonbills most people choose to hunt with a full body decoy with a weighted keel, giving the decoy the most realistic look possible in the water. One brand of northern duck decoys for sale is Tangle free, which offers a moderately priced weighted keel decoy that is very realistic. Another great choice is the GHG Oversize Series Floating Shoveler Decoy which is priced below most any other decoys, without sacrificing quality. These are made from high density polyethylene plastic and the molds are taken from some of the most intricately carved decoys in the world. These have a ton of other great features. There are certainly far more northern shoveler duck decoys for sale, but these are a few of the affordable models. If you are not sure you want to hunt spoonbills this is a great way to get started and will probably keep you coming back for more year after year.

Northern shoveler ducks are a great bird to hunt that can be challenging and exciting, making them an ideal target for the avid hunter. They fly in a sometimes erratic manner which can be difficult to track but than again, if hunting where easy it wouldn't be nearly as fun. The challenge presented by their twisting and turning style of flight usually makes it necessary to get quite close before pulling the trigger. A good decoy setup will definitely increase your chances and help in drawing this unique duck in for a good shot. When searching through the different northern shoveler duck decoys for sale you will want to find a model that closely matches the coloring of this species.