Will it be to early?

[Coues assassin]

I am a new duck hunter last year I spent time jumping ponds and did pretty well. This year I got some decoys and starting working with some calls. We are planning on heading up to the flagstaff area Oct 9-11, is that still to early to be decoying? Will it mostly be all resident ducks so puddle jumping is the best? Also what calls do you guys find work the best for the ducks in the area!

[CouesPursuit]

It's never to early to decoy birds. I scouted a body of water that had 500 ducks on it yesterday morning, mostly teal, with some wigeon and gadwall. I'm confident that few to none of them were resident birds.

 

I'll let someone else chime in on jump shooting, doesn't do it for me, have no experience there.

 

Without a great deal of experience, the best call is no call. To give you a pointer beyond that, calling isn't really specific to one (flagstaff) area, it depends on the size of the body of water, time of day and season, etc. There are a ton of factors. I will emphasize, do not overcall, rather focus on motion, your decoys bouncing ripples in the water and you not moving whatsoever in the blind.

[WampusCat]

CouesPursuit is spot on. Scouting is just as effective on waterfowl as it is big game. Put your decoys where the feed is and you will be in the birds if they are in the area. When the big migration comes remember they have covered some serious distance, seen lots of "spreads", and heard lots of "calls".

[johnnie blaze]

Finding your own water is gonna be another one of your challenges.

[HuntHarder]

Finding the right water up north can be a blast. Opening weekend I have limited 80% of the time. Mostly teal, but always a fun shoot. Hardest part of duck hunting is putting the time in and finding good water. Good luck, and just remember after the first shot of the season, get ready, it can be crazy fast for about 10 minutes.