Mojos – Do They Work? Where Should You Place Them?
If you’re new to duck hunting, you might not know about one of the more popular pieces of duck hunting gear out there – the Mojo Duck. While there are a number of brands of this kind of decoy – and we’re not pushing any one brand over another – most duck hunters have adopted the term “mojo” to refer to just about any motion decoy.
So what is a mojo? Basically, it’s a decoy that doesn’t float in the water like the others. Instead, it’s staked on a pole so that it’ll sit in the air above the water. At the same time, its battery-operated wings will spin, flap, or flutter to look like a duck that’s just coming in for a landing in your spread. The idea is that ducks flying over, attracted by your call, will see more than just a “dead”, motionless spread with no movement. They’ll see a duck landing in the spread, and they’ll be more likely to see it as a safe place to come in for a landing.
Do Mojos Work?
If you stand around looking at a spread with a mojo hovering above it, you might be tempted to say, “That doesn’t look real,” and completely dismiss the idea of adding a mojo to your spread. However, a lot of duck hunters have found that mojos really do improve the chances of ducks landing in their spreads.
Think of it like this – a duck won’t have the same perspective you do. It’s not standing off to the side, watching some alien duck hovering over the water. As it flies over, it’ll catch motion in its periphery as it hears duck calls and sees a group of ducks in an inviting formation in the water. It won’t “think” a lot about landing – it’ll just come in to land. By the time it sees anything amiss, if it ever does, you’re ready to take the shot.
Where Should You Place Your Mojo?
So where do you put a mojo to get ducks to fly in for a landing? Basically, while the motion of the mojo will attract ducks, those ducks won’t want to land right on top of another duck that’s coming in for a landing. Place your mojo a bit off to the side, near your other decoys but not directly in line with them, and at a place where you’ll have the duck in your sights.
Essentially, the duck coming in for a landing will slow and may even stop as it approaches the mojo, so you want it to be in a place where you’re most likely to make the shot. So, if you have a J-hook spread, place your mojo near the cluster of ducks at the end of your shooting range, but not all the way to them. Or, if you have a V-funnel, place it toward the narrow end of the “V”.
Experiment with placement around these areas and see what a mojo can do for you on your next duck hunt.