Hoody body pattern

[Don Mintz]

You are correct Kevin, decoys don't need carved feathering to work. nearly all of my decoys are smooth, only feather groups defined. The flocking would eat up any feather detail I added. I'm making a mandarin right now and trying to figure out what I'm going to do with all the neck feathering when it's going to be flocked.

 

[Carl]

I’d have to take a good look next time I see them!

 

[Steve Sanford]

Yes in some cases. Hence my multi year quest for a mature long tail duck. I have harvested my share of juvenile drakes that came in straight on. I lost the only mature bird on a guided hunt because they didn’t want to pick up birds until 2-3 were down on the water.

Kevin~
Just in case you do not have my paint patterns....(that a Homer decoy - not mine).
No paint chart for the Hens - but the Whistler comes close (but more red in the heads): https://stevenjaysanford.com/painting-goldeneyes-tutorial/



re Sex Ratio: Many divers practice differential migrations - with drakes commonly wintering further north than the hens and younger birds. I do not have any specific information regarding the mergansers - but we see plenty of adult drake RBM on LI in the winter and Hoodies herwabouts (upstate NY). Of course, they are usually outnumbered by the look-alike hens and young.

All the best,

SJS

 

[Kevin Puls]

Well the bad news is that I am really unhappy with the head and the head to body ratio. The good news is that I think I can fix it. But it’s my first try at a non-ducks-in-a-row diver decoy.

 

[Kevin Puls]

Took it to the bandsaw and I feel better now. I might take the back down a little more.

 

[Carl]

I agree take a little off the back. Head looks amazing. Nice work!

 

[Kevin Puls]

Well it’s 95% done. Need to soften the lines a bit. I didn’t take the back down enough, but my wife suggested I add to the neck which made a pretty big difference. I am looking forward to another one. I’ll make the tail longer and back shorter.

 

[Kevin Puls]

So unfortunately I can’t handle having a decoy I’m dissatisfied with. The back is too high. When I scaled it down I did not adjust the height of the body. Of course it would have worked fine but I decided to alter it with paint before I stripped it and reshaped it. My wife thinks I’m crazy. Here it is finished. I’ll do better next time.

 

[Nick Papavasiliou]

I do see what you mean, honestly though, overall it looks good to me. Hoodies have such a quizzical look as they are.