The ringneck can digest most anything. I've examined their crops and found the shells of clams and mussels, the stems, leaves and buds of aquatic vegetation, and invertebrates as well as crop grains. It is this ability to utilize any energy source that finds the little ringneck so abundant during a time when the other large diving ducks -- scaup, canvasback and redhead -- in decline or only holding their own.

I've taken "the diving puddle duck" over every type of decoy spread. While hunting smaller beaver ponds and creeks, I've shot ringnecks over a setup of four wood duck decoys. They are absolute suckers for a spinning wing decoy of any kind, whether it be a dove, teal or mallard configuration set in addition to small or large floating spreads.

On larger water bodies I've found that ringnecks prefer large decoy spreads. I've decoyed them to mixed spreads of Canada goose, puddler and diver decoys set mostly with mallard, widgeon and scaup decoys.

But the fact is that ringnecks decoy most readily to ringneck decoys. While I have seen them land in the water beside any decoy, they will often flare at the last moment, and may or may not come back if there are not at least a few ringneck decoys in the decoy mix. While having them actually land is not a requirement, it is a good idea to have the possibility where scaup are also abundant and you need to positively identify the bird before the shot.

A binocular is a handy item to have along to help identify ducks on the wing, after they land or while they are swimming toward the decoys. When positive identification cannot be made, the ethical hunter must allow them to flare away. If they are ringnecks and haven't been hard-hunted, there's a better than 50 percent chance they simply need another pass to slow down enough to land. That wide circling maneuver gives a hunter with binoculars a few seconds to make a positive identification before they return -- and you still need to identify them because scaup may pull the same maneuver.

Ringnecks, like other diving ducks, prefer to land at the head of the decoys. That means in mixed spreads of dabblers and divers, the diving duck decoys can be set in the most advantageous position for the hunter. However, another reason I've named them the diving puddle duck is their propensity to vary from this trait of most divers on a regular basis. I've seen a flock scatter itself all across a decoy spread, with individuals landing at any small opening; I've seen them bulk-land at the tail end of a classic 100-yard diving duck fish hook spread; and I've seen them ball into a big hole left in the decoys as the landing zone for puddle ducks or Canada geese.