When I was taking people out for Scoters and Goldeneyes and Harlequins I had a heck of a rig of decoys.....half of the Scoters were E.Allens and the rest a collection of birds from a variety of carvers.....all of the GE's and Harlequins were cork or wood.....if I rigged the entire spread it was over 150 decoys.....on a typical morning the first cripple down, didn't matter who shot it, got pasted BY ME no matter where in the spread it was....my way of telling people that it was not only o.k., but expected, to KILL THE BIRD.......usually there was one of those..."you just shot a decoy(S)".....to which my reply was "when the decoy becomes more important than killing the bird its times to stop shooting anything but overheads"....
My rig showed the effects of that thought process....now no question I rigged birds so that the real treasures were in a portion of the rig where I didn't expect, and hoped they wouldn't, get shot but over time a few of them did.....most of those were honest, "concentrating on the bird and didn't see the decoy" or a "cripple down and departing" scenario.......over the many years and people that hunted with me my Allen's and my stuff came to resemble Tramp Steamers raked by angry Tigers....rust streaked and shot gouged....unless a tail or bill was broken I never repaired them...what duck "see's" shot hole or a little rust?....and especially so divers and Sea Ducks?......these were working decoys, and while some of them did sit a shelf from time to time they were WORKING DECOYS and I expected them to end up with the character that the accidental damage gave them......
The "time for a dog" thing always tickles me....people saying "my dog died at 18 and NEVER LOST A CRIPPLE".....or "don't shoot the decoys send the dog".....in a big deep water decoy spread, and triple this if there is a chop of any short, and quadruple it if there is current, (not to mention what low angle shots produce), if you wait for a cripple to clear the decoys there isn't a dog in the World that can swim down a lightly hit bird....maybe once...by luck...but not consistently......My experience was that "most times" you had a very short opportunity to whack a bird on the water before he made his first dive....every dive reduced your chance of retrieve.....and every yard he traveled did the same......losing "most" of what you knocked down and spending your time picking up a dog who lost site of a cripple in a wicked chop and an 8 knot tide isn't why I duck hunt......
So while I value my decoys I value the birds I hunt and the friends I take far more.....if you can't handle a "hit" or a broken bill or tail as others have said......leave em at home or behind the muzzles....
Quick story and I'll shut up......Tod Osier and I believe Gary Potter, (for those with long memories), in my boat on Saratoga Passage out of Utsalady......behind a rock jetty and the wind was howling....the waves were breaking against the jetty behind ups and there were ducks as many as stars in the sky......normally we took turns shooting and only shot singles due to the cripple factor and to extend the hunt.....NORMALLY.....that is until a large flock of Barrows Goldeneyes roared into the rig.....a young war broke out and there were birds down the width of the decoy spread everyone having done their job of shooting their zone.....I shot a cripple and heard someone else yell "cripple' and then "I'm out"....I looked that direction and saw what I thought was a hen Barrows making her escape......I literally ROLL HER OVER with the shot.....only problem was tat it was a Hank Garvey wooden GE hen...one of a pair that he had competed in the Worlds with......if you know Hanks work you know this isn't a bird you would want to have shot up.......OOOOOPPPSSSSSssss.......I could have sent her to HAnk to fix....I could have fixed her myself......but you know what....when I look at her I don't see a decoy....I see a wild melee of swirling G.E.'s and two good friends shooting and laughing and enjoying a great hunt.....and isn't that what its all about?.........
Steve
