with knowing how ducks eye sight.the older blocks of wood or paper decoys look very plain. they herters brand very simple not intracate detail as compaired to todays plastic. cork blocks again bland. now we know all these worked. Each float alittle different. In opinions what decoys are the most attractive to the ducks ? Is it the feather detail ,the way cork or wood rides compaired to plastic? or possibly the body posture? I try to create a scene of things in action. with plastic diff head poses are possible body language as resting feeding preening and greeting can all be achieved with wood or cork these other poses are very limited.now factor in cost. all opinions are welcome.
decoys
- Thread starter Jim Methe
- Start date
a civitarese
Active member
a good decoy is one which under a given set of circumstances best serves the gunner.
ralf coykendall wrote that line. many of your questions can be found in his book , Duck Decoys and how to rig them. It's an old book but alot of the material holds true today.
ralf coykendall wrote that line. many of your questions can be found in his book , Duck Decoys and how to rig them. It's an old book but alot of the material holds true today.
Gene Jr.
Well-known member
I do not carve due to limited time and talent. I prefer herters that are repainted. I prefer the repaint, I doubt the birds care much. I do purchase specialty plastic dekes, sleepers, feeders, and confidence decoys. You seem to feel plastics are the way to go and that's fine. I'd suggest you study the way wood and cork blocks move and ride on the water before writing them off as "plain" or "bland". I've personally been fooled by a lot more of these than plastics. They appear a lot more "alive" to me.
In my opinion, you have to fool them from a distance first. If they need to evaluate feather datail, they're welcome to but be warned about the load of #2's! I feel the look of the spread and the way the dekes float and move is much more important than the fine detail. I've killed my share of Blue bills over long lined econo mallard dekes (before repainting to blue bills!). The birds saw the signature long formation and cupped right into the hook. I know BB's are not the brightest SOME DAYS. Many puddle ducks require better blocks.
I feel strongly it is the "impression" a SPREAD makes more than the individual dekes. But when hunting with a handfull of black duck blocks, I want the closest thing to a live bird I can get out there. Let the situation dictate what you need.
All that said, as money allows I will always be upgrading my rigs to make them as life like as possible. I NEVER want to find out the hard way that my spread was just too crude. As we educate the birds they expect mroe from us every season. That is one of the reasons I try to stay with high percentage shots on single birds. I'd rather let a flock go that is a low percentage shot so they don't get educated more than need be.
It's more about what makes YOU happy in the individual block. I feel the birds care more about the feel and look of the spread. We duck hunters could learn a few things from the field goose hunters (gasp!) about setting up our spreads and the attitude of our fake flock. I know the layout guys give this a lot of attention but the average duck hunter does not.
Best wishes,
Gene
In my opinion, you have to fool them from a distance first. If they need to evaluate feather datail, they're welcome to but be warned about the load of #2's! I feel the look of the spread and the way the dekes float and move is much more important than the fine detail. I've killed my share of Blue bills over long lined econo mallard dekes (before repainting to blue bills!). The birds saw the signature long formation and cupped right into the hook. I know BB's are not the brightest SOME DAYS. Many puddle ducks require better blocks.
I feel strongly it is the "impression" a SPREAD makes more than the individual dekes. But when hunting with a handfull of black duck blocks, I want the closest thing to a live bird I can get out there. Let the situation dictate what you need.
All that said, as money allows I will always be upgrading my rigs to make them as life like as possible. I NEVER want to find out the hard way that my spread was just too crude. As we educate the birds they expect mroe from us every season. That is one of the reasons I try to stay with high percentage shots on single birds. I'd rather let a flock go that is a low percentage shot so they don't get educated more than need be.
It's more about what makes YOU happy in the individual block. I feel the birds care more about the feel and look of the spread. We duck hunters could learn a few things from the field goose hunters (gasp!) about setting up our spreads and the attitude of our fake flock. I know the layout guys give this a lot of attention but the average duck hunter does not.
Best wishes,
Gene
honestly, ducks will come into milk jugs. an awesome hand carved very detailed decoy is only for the gunner. you could put a bunch of solid black painted black ducks with lighter heads and no eyes and do pretty well. if you want pros and cons here you go.
pros....
cork, easy to carve, absorbs shot, can still hold a fair amount of paint detail and floats very well.
wood, lighter then cork(if hallowed out) holds a great amount of detail and floats well
plastic, lighter then wood, cheap, available by the bulk and you dont feel to bad about shooting one up.
foam, lightest of the bunch, absorbs shot well, available in bulk and still wont feel to bad about shooting one up.
cons...
cork, not available in bulk, harder to maintain then plastic
wood, harder to carve(imo) harder to maintain and requires more care in transport.
plastic, paint usually flakes after a few seasons, sinks when shot up and does not take paint well and floats like a plastic duck.
foam, (herters) tend to not hold paint well, (custom foamers) i have no idea ive never hunted over them.
sorry, power went out here had to finish this later.
eddie
pros....
cork, easy to carve, absorbs shot, can still hold a fair amount of paint detail and floats very well.
wood, lighter then cork(if hallowed out) holds a great amount of detail and floats well
plastic, lighter then wood, cheap, available by the bulk and you dont feel to bad about shooting one up.
foam, lightest of the bunch, absorbs shot well, available in bulk and still wont feel to bad about shooting one up.
cons...
cork, not available in bulk, harder to maintain then plastic
wood, harder to carve(imo) harder to maintain and requires more care in transport.
plastic, paint usually flakes after a few seasons, sinks when shot up and does not take paint well and floats like a plastic duck.
foam, (herters) tend to not hold paint well, (custom foamers) i have no idea ive never hunted over them.
sorry, power went out here had to finish this later.
eddie
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harry whitley
Well-known member
Hi Jim,
I too made my first Blue Bill decoys by painting hen mallard dekes I bought from the big box stores at the end of the season for about a buck apiece. They worked like a charm.
There are a bunch of good carvers on this site (i'm not one of them). so you may not get as unbiased a reply as you want. Having said that, over the years I've hunted over wood, paper mache' , rubber inflatables,cork and plastic dekes. I've hunted over store bought and home made. Some of them as simple as milk jugs painted black or crab floats with a wooden head attached. I agree with others that placement is more important than detail and most important of all is being where the ducks want to be. More than once I've hunted in a location that looked perfect as to wind and tide only to see nary a duck in range. Conversely I have hunted sites with the wind and waves in my face and done extremely well (got extremely cold too). Scouting is time well invested and I mean time that is the time of day that you hope to be shooting.
I have made goose and swan decoys out of juniper, wire and canvas and have made duck decoys out of cork and wood and the big kick there was I was decoying them with something I made myself. It was kinda like shooting them with shells I had loaded myself (don't do that anymore either).
Nowadays, i just don't have the time or energy to make my own dekes. I do keep them painted and I feel that I do just as well with those as I would with any other deke.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in awe of some of the decoys that the folks on this site make as they are true art.I even have some wooden dekes on my mantle etc. Just don't think you are hamstrung by having to use plastic decoys to hunt over.
Even if they sink you can recover them and patch them with RTV etc., paint them and put them right back in your spread.
Just my $.02 worth,
Harry
I too made my first Blue Bill decoys by painting hen mallard dekes I bought from the big box stores at the end of the season for about a buck apiece. They worked like a charm.
There are a bunch of good carvers on this site (i'm not one of them). so you may not get as unbiased a reply as you want. Having said that, over the years I've hunted over wood, paper mache' , rubber inflatables,cork and plastic dekes. I've hunted over store bought and home made. Some of them as simple as milk jugs painted black or crab floats with a wooden head attached. I agree with others that placement is more important than detail and most important of all is being where the ducks want to be. More than once I've hunted in a location that looked perfect as to wind and tide only to see nary a duck in range. Conversely I have hunted sites with the wind and waves in my face and done extremely well (got extremely cold too). Scouting is time well invested and I mean time that is the time of day that you hope to be shooting.
I have made goose and swan decoys out of juniper, wire and canvas and have made duck decoys out of cork and wood and the big kick there was I was decoying them with something I made myself. It was kinda like shooting them with shells I had loaded myself (don't do that anymore either).
Nowadays, i just don't have the time or energy to make my own dekes. I do keep them painted and I feel that I do just as well with those as I would with any other deke.
Don't get me wrong, I'm in awe of some of the decoys that the folks on this site make as they are true art.I even have some wooden dekes on my mantle etc. Just don't think you are hamstrung by having to use plastic decoys to hunt over.
Even if they sink you can recover them and patch them with RTV etc., paint them and put them right back in your spread.
Just my $.02 worth,
Harry
Charlie S and Titan
Well-known member
Most attractive to ducks - call ducks. LOL. Second to that MLBobs decoys.
I use herters foamers for divers because they float nice, take shot and are relatively inexpensive. For puddlers, the greenhead gear decoys are really nice - since they based them off hand carved decoys, that makes sense.
The couple of times I have hunted over nice homemade decoys they seem to work really well. For example, I hunted with Eddie Gagne this season and the GEs totally keyed in on the awesome hand carved bull whistler. Seeing that, I'd love to have a rig full, but two things stop me money and talent.
Realistically I would definitely hunt with all cork or wood if money were no object or I had the skill to carve up a nice rig. For now I hunt puddle ducks with plastics (and a couple I hacked out of cork), divers with foam and don't feel bad about it.
Charlie
I use herters foamers for divers because they float nice, take shot and are relatively inexpensive. For puddlers, the greenhead gear decoys are really nice - since they based them off hand carved decoys, that makes sense.
The couple of times I have hunted over nice homemade decoys they seem to work really well. For example, I hunted with Eddie Gagne this season and the GEs totally keyed in on the awesome hand carved bull whistler. Seeing that, I'd love to have a rig full, but two things stop me money and talent.
Realistically I would definitely hunt with all cork or wood if money were no object or I had the skill to carve up a nice rig. For now I hunt puddle ducks with plastics (and a couple I hacked out of cork), divers with foam and don't feel bad about it.
Charlie
MLBob Furia
Well-known member
Why, Charlie.... Thank you for the kind word!
Lets not forget the lowly palm frond. Just finished up another sleeper - this one to be a mallard drake (or does my little embellishment give that away?)
Wait 'til I show you guys the little ringer I just made from a frond.
Lets not forget the lowly palm frond. Just finished up another sleeper - this one to be a mallard drake (or does my little embellishment give that away?)
Wait 'til I show you guys the little ringer I just made from a frond.
well thanks charlie, i aim to please and to make bull whistlers jealous.
gw...the rain wasent bad but i got 3 80' cottonwoods that stand over my power lines and some of there branches gave way under the ice and wipe the lines out. if it were up to me i would have gone out on the town saturday night but everyone i called was staying home, so i decided id get caught up on some homework.
eddie
gw...the rain wasent bad but i got 3 80' cottonwoods that stand over my power lines and some of there branches gave way under the ice and wipe the lines out. if it were up to me i would have gone out on the town saturday night but everyone i called was staying home, so i decided id get caught up on some homework.
eddie
IMO, location is far more important that the "quality" of your decoys. If you are where the ducks want to be, you can have out black milk jugs and do fine. If you are in the wrong spot, you can have a spread full of the finest cork from the DHBP carvers and still not pull the trigger.
Second most important is your blind, need to be hidden (from the ducks point of view), then comes how you set your spread for the conditions.
Last, is decoys.
I use all plastic. Unless you count the buffy & GE y-boards I use. Yep, you read right, ALL PLASTIC! Probably 90% or more of waterfowlers do too.
Dont have the money buy a/or time to carve a/o weight capacity to haul 6-9 dzn corkers around. Don't have the money to replace them with hand-burlapped and painted foamers (planned too but then I got married and had a baby!). Got more important things to spend the money on than new decoys. Like shells, snacks, new waders, diapers, formula, son's college, etc...
So, for now, my spread of flambeaus, carrylite & G&Hs will have to work. And they work great when I set up in the right spot and we actually have ducks in the area.
Second most important is your blind, need to be hidden (from the ducks point of view), then comes how you set your spread for the conditions.
Last, is decoys.
I use all plastic. Unless you count the buffy & GE y-boards I use. Yep, you read right, ALL PLASTIC! Probably 90% or more of waterfowlers do too.
Dont have the money buy a/or time to carve a/o weight capacity to haul 6-9 dzn corkers around. Don't have the money to replace them with hand-burlapped and painted foamers (planned too but then I got married and had a baby!). Got more important things to spend the money on than new decoys. Like shells, snacks, new waders, diapers, formula, son's college, etc...
So, for now, my spread of flambeaus, carrylite & G&Hs will have to work. And they work great when I set up in the right spot and we actually have ducks in the area.
harry whitley
Well-known member
Carl,
What you said.
Best,
Harry
What you said.
Best,
Harry