6 Best Duck Decoy Bags: Slotted, Backpack & Mesh

The Best Decoy Bags

There are a ton of options for duck decoy bags and it can be tough to narrow down options. Here is a short list of what I consider to be the 6 best duck hunting decoy bags:

• Best Slotted Decoy Bag: Rig'Em Right 12 Slot

• Best Budget 12 Slot Decoy Bag: Northern Flight 12 Slot

• Best Mesh Decoy Bag: Northern Flight Mesh Decoy Bag

• Best Decoy Bag for Long Walks: Refuge Runner Decoy Bag

• Best Silhouette Decoy Bag: Northern Flight Silhouette Decoy Bag

• Best Universal Silhouette Bag: DecoyPro Silhouette Bag

What makes a good decoy bag?

Everybody has their own style of duck hunting. Whether you hunt public or private, fields, large bodies of water, or small marshes, chances are you need a quality decoy bag to transport and protect the investment you made in your decoys.

There are a lot of high-quality bags out there that will work great for some scenarios but aren’t ideal for others. Consider your style of hunting and decide what best decoy bag fits your situation.

Capacity:

You can buy a wide range of decoy bags. Anything from small, individually slotted bags, up to large mesh bags. There are various pros and cons to each of these types, but before deciding, you must consider the capacity of the bag.

Are you hunting out of a boat, or walking in? Carrying your gear, or dragging it with a sled? Analyze your hunting situation and determine how many decoys you are taking, and how much room you have for storage.

If you are walking in and can only make one trip, you are going to need to look for a bag that can hold all of your decoys. Typically, your best bet here is going to be a large mesh bag. However, if you are hunting from a boat or dragging gear in on a sled, you have a lot more options.

When it comes to the best duck hunting decoy bag, everything is a trade-off, but your most important consideration should be the capacity and how you plan to get your decoys into the field.

Decoy Type:

The next thing to consider when looking for a duck hunting decoy bag is what type of decoy you will be using. There are so many different kinds of decoys, and storage/transport will vary widely depending on what you use.

Between full bodies, shells, floaters, silhouettes, windsocks, and motion decoys, there are a lot of options. If you carry in a dozen full body duck decoys, you will want to choose a different decoy bag than you would if you were carrying in 5 dozen windsocks.

Protection:

The last aspect to consider is how much you want to protect your decoys during your walk-in. If you have a dozen high-end fully flocked full body duck decoys, you will want a quality bag with some padding and individual storage slots to provide the most protection. But if you have a few dozen of some used or cheap duck floaters, you won’t be as worried about a few scuffs to the paint, so a simple mesh decoy bag may work just fine.

The Best Decoy Bags:

I have used everything from no decoy bag at all, all the way up to fully zippered and padded individually slotted bags. There is no one-size-fits-all decoy bag, and I use almost every type throughout the season. Here are some of the best decoy bags you can use this season.

Best Slotted Decoy Bag: Rig'Em Right 12 Slot

When it comes to slotted decoy bags, there are a ton of options. I could write an entire article about picking the right one. Are you goose hunting, duck hunting, carrying bags in, riding in with a boat, driving in with a trailer? Are you looking for the most protection out of a bag, or looking for a less bulky/light weight option? You can see, there are a lot of variables.

Specifically focusing on the best duck decoy slotted bag, the rig-em-right 12 slot bag is a solid choice. It is padded for extra protection, has a zippered top, and several convienent storage pockets. I keep my jerk rig in the front pocket so it is always with my decoys and I don't get caught off-guard on windless days. The outer compartment is also great for stakes if you are using full body decoys, which helps keep the mud and dirt out of the bag and your decoys stay cleaner.

This isn’t the cheapest slotted decoy bag you can buy, but for the most part, I would recommend you stay away from those cheaper options. They are typically flimsy and don’t hold up well, making it difficult to load and carry decoys.

Rig'Em Right 12 Slot

Premium slotted decoy bag with zippered top and padded storage and interior mesh pockets.

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Best Budget 12 Slot Decoy Bag: Northern Flight 12 Slot

The 2x6 configuration is fine for a lot of scenarios, but I think there are some situations where a 3x4 configuration is better. I prefer the cube style when packing decoys in on a boat. The wider base provides a little more structure when stacking multiple bags of decoys on top of each other.

If you see the price of a zippered, padded decoy bag and think 'that's ridiculous!' then this slotted decoy bag might be be closer to your budget. It comes in at a much more reasonable price point. It doesn't have a zippered top, but when hauling decoys in with a boat, I personally prefer the open style of bag. I also like that it compacts a lot more when empty because storage space is usually a premium in my boat.

The slots are fairly large on this bag which makes it capable of holding full size full body decoys, but it does add a little extra bulk. This would not be my first choice for hauling in to a walk-in spot, but from the boat, it does a good job at storing and organizing decoys. Overall, it is a quality slotted decoy bag at the right price.

Northern Flight 12 Slot

Open top 12 slot decoy bag in a 3x4 configuration.

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Best Mesh Decoy Bag: Northern Flight Mesh Decoy Bag

If you are looking to buy a mesh decoy bag from Amazon, my best advice is to stay as far away as possible. For the most part, they are overpriced junk. Cheap shoulder straps that strip out, and a loose mesh bag are easily the two biggest flaws. Ever tried to pull a decoy out of a mesh bag, only to find that the snap clip is tangled in the mesh? I have, and that is why I will never buy a mesh decoy bag from Amazon. I tried my best to find a decent one, but I couldn’t find a single one I would purchase for my own use.

Instead, I highly recommend a Northern Flight mesh decoy bag. They are about as cheap as you can find any other bag, but they have solid straps and a fine mesh weave. Every now and then a single decoy might get hung up, but its usually a quick 10 second fix, instead of a 5 minute struggle to untangle a mess.

The bigger mesh weave will snag onto sticks and thorns and be torn to pieces after just a few trips. But the fine mesh weave has the advantage of avoiding snags and brush on the walk-in. I typically use these mesh decoy bags when I have Texas rigged decoys. Sure, you don’t absolutely need a bag, but I find that loading and unloading them out of bags is so much faster, and prevents the decoys from banging together as much as they would if they were just clipped to a carabiner.

The method I use most often for transporting decoys is placing a dozen floating duck decoys in these mesh decoys bags. When I get to the water, I simply dump them out all in one go, then toss them out from there. No untangling and no unwinding weights, its a very simple process. These are the most versatile decoy bags you can own and I highly recommend picking up a few.

Northern Flight Mesh Decoy Bag

A classic mesh decoy bag that is both cheap and effective.

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Best Decoy Bag for Long Walks: Refuge Runner Decoy Bag

If you are a walk-in public land duck hunter and typically carry anywhere from 2-3 dozen full-size mallard floaters, this is the best decoy bag I can recommend. If you carry fewer decoys, you really won’t need the capacity of this bag, and if you carry more, you probably should be considering a cart or sled instead.

There are several other styles of decoy bag that are similar to this one, but if you want the most feature packed option, the refuge runner decoy bag is about as good as it gets. One of the most important features of this bag isn’t very noticeable at first glance, but if you have ever carried bulky decoys then you know how handy this is: the cinch straps on the back. Instead of all of your decoys settling to the bottom of the bag, you can cinch it up to evenly distribute the weight, improving comfort and pack-ability over long hikes.

The extra storage on the outside is well thought out, with compartments for your motion decoy and shotgun, along with other pockets for misc. gear. The bottom of the bag sits high enough on your back that you don’t have to worry about the decoys slapping the back of your legs as you walk. And of course, the padded straps and waist belt add comfort and help take some of the load off.

A word of warning, this bag is not cheap. When you see the price, you will likely say, “They want HOW MUCH for a BAG?!” That’s certainly what I thought as well. I would not consider this a ‘multi-use’ bag. If you only have a few hunts a year that you need to hike in decoys over a long distance, I can’t see how this would be worth the price. However, if you are consistently packing in decoys every hunt and are looking for an easier option over a standard mesh bag, this decoy bag is well worth the investment.

Refuge Runner Decoy Bag

A backpack style bag with extra storage for guns and spinning wing decoys. This is ideal for keeping hands free for longer walks.

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Best Silhouette Decoy Bag: Northern Flight Silhouette Decoy Bag

Hunting with silhouettes is a great way to add a lot of visibility and pop to your decoy spread, without adding a lot of bulk or weight. Silhouettes have their own advantages and disadvantages, but if you want to take advantage of the portability, you really need to have a dedicated decoy bag for them.

Just a disclaimer, I have not personally used this bag. But it makes the list because it has several features that I like in a silo bag and if I needed a new one, this is the one I would buy. First, the panels at the bottom help the bag keep its shape when empty. That is a huge benefit when it comes to loading and unloading your decoys. I also really appreciate the buckle lid. Silhouette decoys are not the most durable, and so the full enclosure helps keep your decoys nicer for longer.

One thing to keep in mind, is that the slot at the bottom is fairly narrow. Some styles of silhouettes have a wider stake base that may not fit through the slots in this bag.

If you hunt shallow water marshes, picking up this silhouette decoy bag and 2-3 dozen goose and/or duck silhouettes is a great way to mix up your decoy spread and stand out from the other public land decoy spreads.

Northern Flight Silhouette Decoy Bag

Silhouette decoy bag with holes for stakes, and a closed top to keep your decoys protected.

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Best Universal Silhouette Bag: DecoyPro Silhouette Bag

This silhouette bag is a little cheaper than the Northern Flight option, but it lacks quite a few of the features. The biggest thing that's missing is a closed top. My silos are noticeably banged up on the top and I have to take extra care to keep them nice with this bag.

I have this decoy bag and use mostly White Rock and Big Al silhouettes. The bag has no problem carrying 4-6 dozen at a time. 4-6 dozen silhouettes seems to be about the right weight for carrying the bag and setting up without having to fight the bag to cram in more. I like the outside rubber molded handles on this bag for loading and unloading out of the truck, and the top locking buckles help keep the decoys in place once the bag is loaded.

I have used this bag for about 4 seasons now, and this last year I finally ripped through one of the carry handles. I left the wet bag on the concrete floor of my garage and over several seasons, the handle essentially dry-rotted. I also stored about 8 dozen decoys in this bag, hanging by the handles from the rafters of my garage during the off-season. This might not be the highest quality silhouette bag you can buy, but it certainly gets my recommendation for being good enough to get the job done, and it is priced right.

If you need the absolute cheapest silo bag and you need a bag that has a large slot for stakes, this is worth considering. Although when I am finally ready to replace this bag, I'll be buying the northern flight silo bag.

DecoyPro Silhouette Bag

Universal silhouette bag design that can hold 4-6 dozen decoys with various stake designs.

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What is the Best Duck Hunting Decoy Bag?

The best duck decoy bag for a new hunter just getting started is the Northern Flight mesh bag. It is cheap and can cover a wide variety of scenarios. These are the 5 gallon buckets of decoy bags, you simply can't have too many and you will always find a way to use another. However, once you have a specific style of hunting that you focus on, you will be able to buy a decoy bag dedicated to that style of hunting.

Decoy bags are about as variable as the situations we run into as waterfowl hunters. They can protect your investment in your decoys and make it easier to get into hard to reach areas. They may not be the most critical piece of hunting gear, but the best duck hunting decoy bag can certainly improve your hunting and setup experience.