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I did a search and found some info but am curious with everyone’s experience with carving sleeper decoys. Do I just knock out a normal body and carve the head as a sleeper or is there more to it? I bet I’m overthinking it.

I’m going to do a hooded merganzer or two. We have them in my area in spades. I might take one for the wall this year. I have a head pattern. What species of birds would be similar in body size and shape? I have a pattern book with many common species.

I’m going to build an inexpensive concept blind this fall. What are the cons to using galvanized conduit?

I was working on a hen canvasback body today and when I picked up the bow sander I started thinking about all of the “ah ha” moments I’ve had over time. I was going to try to decide what my biggest discovery in making decoys has been. Is it Don Mintz introducing me to epoxy sculpt and 10cent...

What are good options for a currently commercially available draw knife and spoke shave? Mid range price and quality. Bonus if they work on HD cork.

I bought these off of Jon Yenni’s widow to help her out but I’m not going to use them. 7 puddlers and 6 divers. Yes there are 8 and 7 pictured. But one of each of the types are messed up. So they are free. Weighted keeled. $10 apiece. Sold as a lot. So $130 Will trade for HD cork...

I spent a little while laying out some of my precious remaining pieces of HD cork from a sheet I bought from the duck blind many years ago. I have a pattern for a canvasback that is too long for the blocks I have left (too narrow too but only by a little bit and can put it in a diet). That...

I went to seal a white cork decoy with some spar varnish to find it had hardened in the can. I have a jar of traditions cork sealer I will use. I have not used any of the traditions sealer yet. Is it as good as spar varnish or should I hold out until I can get a new can of varnish? I need...

I might try my hand at a wood decoy this year. I assume I want cedar. I don’t know where to start trying to source it. I assume I want 3-4” stock. What are my options for wood species, thickness, glue thin board together, etc?

I’m on a quest for a drake redhead for the wall. I understand the finger lakes are a good region for them. I was thinking of trying a layout hunt in that area. Or an off shore blind hunt. I’m a little intimidated and confused on the rules/ hunt able zones in that area. Any resources to...

I recently started fantasizing about getting a side by side 20 guage. My dad’s friend had one that I use to use to pheasant hunt on his pheasant farm. I loved it. I was a kid then. I don’t hunt upland anymore so if I got it it would be just for targets and maybe layout hunting where birds...

I have finally gone through all of my foam blocks that I produced 15 years ago. I use 2” think insulating foam, stacked and epoxied together. The epoxy I used to use came from a friend and that is no longer available. What are you using to join foam?

I noticed at the recent decoy show that some wood decoys are round bottomed. Why is that? What keeps them upright in the water? Do they float better than flat bottoms?

Don Mintz usually starts this thread, but I wanted to show off Sundays effort. My son’s Eagle Scout project was to build benches for the local air history museum. They are 6’ long and weigh over 100 pounds each because of them being made with pressure treated lumber. It was a long day but...

My father and grandfather lived on Chautauqua lake and hunted it routinely in their Alumacraft ducker. They made their own decoys out of a chopped up telephone pole. And I have quite a few of them on display. But several of them did not pass the test of time. There were about half a dozen...

March 21st in Ohio. Ohio decoy carvers and collector association. Big show, lots of great collectors. Anyone else going? If so let’s meet up for a drink!

I had a sudden dreadful thought today. I think that I used to put spar varnish over the tile mastic I used for burlapping decoys before priming. That was 20 years ago. I’ve done 8 or so decoys this winter without varnishing. Just priming. Does anyone just burlap and mastic without sealing...

Do I really need to paint on the 300 feathers on the face or can I just leave it like this? I am finding the exercise rather tedious. This is a wooden head I carved that I will be putting on a herters body that I burlapped. It will be for big water hunting, mixed into my layout rig.

I inherited some foam bodies. I assume they are Herters magnums. I have had them for years and finally pulled them down in anticipation of a weekend indoors. I strongly prefer to carve my own but should not let them go to waste. I notice they are two shapes. I’m assuming the long thin one is...

This was my grandfather’s, now it’s mine. It was primarily used for float hunting creeks. In fact it brings back the fondest memories of my father rowing me down the Sandy Creek to try to bag some woodducks.