I had a comment on an earlier post regarding using goose decoys as confidence decoys. I thought it was a 
very good point, and thought I would elaborate on it. Many duck hunters forget that putting the ducks at ease is a great way to get them to land in your decoys. This of course leads to high quality shots and better chances at filling your game bag.
So what do we mean when we say "confidence decoys"? Well it is anything that will put waterfowl at ease when they are looking at your spread. It is really a combination of two things:
1. Something that is common or at least known to be in the area you are hunting.
2. Something that most other hunters would not have in their spread.
So let's delve into that a little bit. Confidence decoys can likely be separated into two categories, decoys of birds you can legally bag, and decoys of birds that are illegal to shoot.
Decoys of legally bagable birds:
Goose decoys are an example of something that instills confidence, while also lending itself to bagging a bonus bird. Geese tend to be pretty shy, so a duck thinks if it sees a goose sitting there everything must be 
fine. Coot decoys (sometimes referred to as mud hens) are another example of a bird you can legally shoot and also not many people have in their spreads. You can rest assured that when a duck sees coots they think of food. Adding some of these decoys will get ducks to think they are about to strap the feed bag on.
Decoys of birds that are illegal to shoot:
People often wonder why someone would put a decoy out of a great blue heron, a swan, an egret, or a pelican. Well if they are known to be in the area you are hunting, they are great for putting ducks at ease. if you don't want to go and buy a swan or pelican decoy, simply take an old goose decoy and spray paint it white. Not only are these great for confidence, they are highly visible from great ranges.
Seriously consider adding some confidence decoys to your spread. There is nothing that makes ducks finish better than when they are completely at ease.
If you are wondering where you can purchase confidence decoys, Cabelas has a great selection. There is a link to Cabelas site on the right side of our website.