Decoy Ingenuity...

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Pat Gregory

Well-known member
I've found waterfowlers to be some of the most creative and ingenious people I've met. We are the imperical "gadget guys". In our recent pick, we picked up a decoy made in the 1930's by William Stahl of Keithsburg, Illinois. What an ingenious design. Decoy and Decoy Carvers of Illinois said Stahl made about 200-300 of these in the 1930's. He made mallards, pintails, bluebills and other species. This little bluebill hen is 10 inches in the body. The head is permanently attached to a line that slides through the body. This line is pulled through the body and wrapped around a know recessed in the bottom of the decoy to hold the head in place. Although, not visible in the pictures, there are grooves cut in the compartment that stows the head/weight and actually wedges the weight to hold the head in for storage and transport. Ingenious!

Thanks to Bob Welsh for prompting this post... Great Decoy History...
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Now that is cool! I love stuff like that. Imagine what we would have today if places like Home depot and Lowes existed back then. I personally cant walk down any isle without scanning for stuff I can use for duck hunting or decoys.

Cool stuff. Thanks for posting.
 
thanks for posting Pat. Look at the similarity of the Stahl decoy and the KD decoy company out of st paul, Mn. I have always liked gimmick decoys.
 
Actually, alot of work in that little girl. And to imagine he made 200-300 in the 1930's with all hand tools, whoa...
 
I like the anchor cord tie off detail and the slot cut to hold the anchor. If you had an application where you hag to pack in 200 decoys, you could use this concept with the pink foam . Keep them around 12 inches long and get about 40 decoys per 4x8 sheet. the wheels are turning.
 
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