Decoys-Cork vs Wood

Chuck J

Chuck J

Well-known member
I am looking for opinions. I bought enough Basswood to carve two ducks figuring I would see how I liked it and decide if I wanted to get wood. Well, I am enjoying it and have started the second bird, and I am thinking weather I want to buy more Basswood or give cork a try. I have read some pros and cons of each, but I'm still on the fence. Thinking maybe I'd get one sheet of cork and see how it goes. These are to be gunners.

So what do you use, and why?

Thanks
Chuck
 
Get the cork and see if you like it. instead of getting a whole sheet of cork, maybe just get enough to do another 2 birds
 
to me.. it just depends on whether you have a boat or not. a cork rig is definitely heavier than a wood rig unless you go through the pains of hollowing each cork bird. There is no way i would walk into an area with two dozen cork birds on my shoulders, but would try with hollow tupelo birds

i can make a tupelo mallard sized bird as light as a plastic decoy.

it takes me about 15 minutes to carve a body from cork... 3-4 times longer from wood. so i prefer cork to carve, but wood to hunt over.

so there's three comments that may confuse you even more :}
Jeff
 
Jeff

I was looking at your website and some of your cork bird looked to have undercut primary feathers. Does the cork stand up well like that. I had always assumed that decoys with the primarys undercut were wood and people who carved cork just left them raised and not undercut.

Nice bunch of decoys, and thanks for the info.

Chuck
 
I pretty much agree with Jeff's statement except I know a couple of folks that hollow their cork birds and I imagine it's not any more painful that hollowing wood. As a matter of fact, I've been hunting with a Jason Russell hollowed gadwall this year and it's very light and I would be happy to carry a dozen or so through the woods if he'd be willing to "gift them to me". :)

In all seriousness, you're off to a great start by carving wood first because cork is so much easier to work. I started out with cork and I've been slow to do wood birds because they take so much time. A sheet of cork is not that expensive, especially when you compare buying a few blocks to buying a whole sheet. Most suppliers will make you pay for the extra work they have to do.

19Jan07__2limit Day_edit.JPG
 
Once you get the hang of it, wood doesn't take any longer than cork to carve. Wood let's you put a lot more detail on the bird if you want and wood is easier to repair. I like both but have been using Tooba wood because of cost and availability. I think cork floats more like a duck but that only matters if you hunt big water.
 
lee, hafta disagree on the repair aspects, although some of my experiments did not take much to repair this year--will explain that later for you---
there exists an interesting phenomenon regarding hollowing--at least, with cedar. Two seasons back, on a gentleman's wager, i made two widgeon, one hollow, one solid--same pattern, basically the same size and weight when checked at onset--after hollowing one, both were sealed, painted and floated---much to my amazement, the solid drew little more than the hollow deke-the interesting note here was that the hollow was MUCH lighter when weighed! go figure!
Granted, a hollow wood deke should BE much lighter than a solid cork one, but in rough weather, the solid cork will outperform the lighter counterpart, imo--Hollow is spiffy when one needs to carry stuff into semi-remote secret honey holes and the like. if you are tossing stuff into a boat for transport, solids will survive longer!
 
That's why I said I like cork better on big water. I had a hollow teal blow up in my hand when I ingeniously put my blow gun on the screw hole in the bottom to see if the weird looking glue joint between top and bottom was actually sealed..forgot I had the compressor set at 120lbs...it was in about four shards when I found all the fragments..after dancing around reciting every cuss word I have ever heard while squeezing my throbbing hand with my good hand...glued the pieces back together..sanded a little bit and viola..good ta go. Shot holes? jest a tad of filler and a smidge of paint..shot rakes? smidge of paint.. I'll stand on the easier to fix than cork. Interesting on the floating of the hollow and solid..how much difference in percentage do you guess?
 
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I like cork, it is more forgiving for my carving blunders. Cork seems to keel out and float more "duck like" in my opinion as well.

What I dont like about cork or wood is the weight. I primarily hunt from samller boats and rig weight is an issue.

Here is something I am doing with my cork, I dont think it is original but has worked for me.
Sutton sent me a cool widgeon from his rig carved by Alan Eastamn, this thing weighs less than any plastic I have held, it was hollowed cork. There was a problem with it though, some chunky whinner in WA steped on it and it had cracked, on account of the hollowness (of course to Steve's dismay "envision the tongue lashing on this one").
I wanted blocks this light in cork and decided to build on this idea. When I finish carving a block I hollow it to about 1/4 all the way around and then seal it inside and out. After it is sealed a squirt of expanding foam goes in the void. Once the foam is dry, trim the excess. A light bottom board of 1/4 poplar or pine (sealed both sides) epoxied on the bottom and a keel or disc weight and you are good to go. I have a rig of about 24 teal in this method and they dont weigh any more than a plastic rig.
 
Chuck,

It's kinda like "Ford vs Chevy". There are advantages and disadvantages to each.

Cork probably rides the water better, especially big, rough water. A solid cork bird will absorb shot and still float, where a hollowed bird hit hard enough can take on water, crack, etc. Cork is much easier to carve; you don't have any grain to deal with, and power tools will absolutely grind through it quickly.

Wood, especially tupelo, cedar, etc. can be carved in almost the time of cork once you get the hang of it. You can hollow a wooden bird and get it light; if you had the right tupelo or white cedar, for example, you could really feel the difference. This is an advantage if you have a weight limitation, or are hunting areas with shallow water and light winds...lighter decoys move easier.

What you carve really depends on where you are, what species you gun, and what you want out of the decoy. Does it see 50 days of a 60-day season, or 3? Do you gun flooded corn/rice/marsh, flooded timber, Lake Michigan, or either coast? Are you going to use individual pocket decoy bags, or throw 'em in a gunny sack or the floor of the boat?

Materials cost may be an influence, too. If you can get basswood, cedar, or tupelo for $1 a board foot, kiln-dried, carve wood. If it's working out to $50 per bird in just the wood, think about cork to ease up on your pocketbook. I'm exaggerating on both ends, but you get the idea.

Try the tan cork. Chances are that it will be cheaper than the basswood blocks you're buying, and you can learn without fighting the grain. Think of them as "learning blocks" too - you wanna try something new, try it out in cork first...
 
Okay, I'll jump in here also. I've been carving for about 15 years now on ducks. Started out with textured decoratives and have migrated to gunners.
Observations:
Tan cork is easier to carve than wood.
Cork is just as easy to hollow as wood.
Black cork is as light as hollowed tan cork but you get plenty of black buggers for your effort.
Both should have a bottom board for attaching keels/weights/line attachment.
For shallow protected waters no ballast should be required.
Cork generally is cheaper than wood.
Wood can take on more detail if desired.
Wood when painted with oils will take on a nice aged look with time.
Wood is generally more spendy than cork
Wood should be hollowed to avoid checking/splitting with some age.
ALL hand carved decoys should be given more care and attention than plastics.
All handcarved decoys will require some repainting at some time in the future.

Thems just some thoughts. Try all mediums and see what you enjoy working with the most. Try power carving or with traditional knives, draw knives, rasps, etc.
A block or two of tan cork would be a good place to start and compare to the 2 wood birds you are doing. It all boils down to what satisfies you the most and what works best for your hunting situations.
Enjoy.
 
again, when hollowing cork, one tends to defeat the propensity of the material to float with more of a "duck" attitude.
Hollowing cork will certainly make it lighter, but are you considering the sealing nightmare for the inside?
Most of the post wiley material has some wicking problems-tan, anyway, and playing with bsc in that manner is just courting problems.
Lee, as far as bouyancy is concerned, there may be maybe a two to three percent advantage with hollow---as foa as suitability in rough conditions, the solids seem preferable---perhaps that is why the chesapeake bay decoy was seldom if ever hollowed, as opposed to the barnegat style, which were intentionally made life size of smaller to accomodate the bbsb's and conditions consistent with the two disparate areas----Nice little backwaters are just the I T place for hollows, while the solid would seem the deke of choice for bigger water conditions--Have seen some light stuff become airborne this season during windy conditions, while the solids seemed to ride just fine!
The bottom line in this whole discourse is simple---do what suits you and your conditions best--there is a place for rounded bodies and flat bottoms, as well.
 
Since we're talking about how decoy types ride...
What about the hollow "shell" decoys that I've seen. I've never seen them used, but is there an advantage to them? And yes, I'm talking about the wooden ones.
 
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wood decoys will increase in value more down the road,thats way I as a profesinal carver changed from cork to wood, Bill
 
Wow, that is alot to digest. Some things I had read before, but alot of new ideas, information and opinions. I am going to give the cork a try, not that I've given up on wood. I'll get a sheet and see how I like it. I figured it will be cheaper than the Basswood I bought (at retail) but if I continue to carve wood, I will definately look for a more cost effective approach, but then if cost were the only factor I'd be buying plastics.

So far I'm enjoying it, and I definately appreciate all the insite.

Thanks
Chuck
 
George, I would have guessed they rode deeper than just a couple percent. I agree that heavier is better when the winds of November are blowing hard. ..is that why they are supposed to self right? I wish I had a bunch of nice white cedar or tupelo to carve with..but...with two barns full of premium western spruce from La Pas BC out back..it's tough to dig into the billfold for that luxury.
 
Damn, thats one nice gadwall decoy. I'd love to have a couple of dzn to use down here.

That picture reminds me of the "good old days" here in Mobile. From about 1987 to 2001, limits of gadwalls were almost too easy. Now it's hard to find enough in one spot to shoot just a couple and they are blind shy as it gets.
Maybe when our grassbeds grow back and we have a real winter again, the good old days will return.
 
Carl - Thanks. He does awesome work. I know what my christmas presents from the wife and parents will be every year from here on out... :)
 
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