Decoys

Rich T

Rich T

Member
I was very disappointed last year with the foam herters decoys I bought from Cabellas and sent them back immediately....

I have been looking for quality cork stools and increasing my rig a little each year...

Anyhow, I hunt southwest michigan and found some cork stools that were designed by George Soule they come in

Coastal Cork, Magnum 25" x 9.5" x 7.5"
Coastal Cork, Standard 18.5" x 7.5" x 6"
http://www.llbean.com/...gId=-1&cat4=1115

I read a SI article written in 1968 about them....
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/...MAG1080737/index.htm

anyone have a suggestion to size for mallards on southwest mi marsh... Is cork worth the extra bucks...
 
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Is cork worth the extra bucks?
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Well that depends on what you are looking for.
If you simply want decoys to hunt over, don't care if they get banged around and treated bad, I would say cork is not worth the extra money. There are plenty of good quality plastics out there that work just fine & if you break one, you aren't out a $50-100.00.


Now, if you want really nice custom decoys that ride great, look great, might be worth more later than they are now, and dont mind the extra weight (cork dekes weigh a good bit more than cork or foam, magnum corks weigh even more), and you have the money to spend on cork dekes, then go for it.

I personally use all plastic or foamers in standard size (no magnums). They work for me & my budget.

E. Allens from Lou at Lock, Stock & Barrel are another option, unsinkable foamers with a custom "cork look". More expensive than plastic, cheaper than cork.
 
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Carl summed it up pretty well. I have no cork blocks that I hunt with. I do hunt over a lot of Herters foamers. I have not purchased any new finished decoys from them. I buy used or buy unpainted bodies and heads. I don't care for most of herters paint schemes and repaint them. I have been burlapping them as they come up for reconditioning.

If I'm using a small rig, like a 2-6 bird black duck rig, I like magnums. If I'm trying to go light for divers I have 6 magnum blue bills that pull birds well. I'd rather run 8 doz. standards with a few magnums around the edges when time and manpower allow for divers.

What was your main concern with the Herters? Like I said, I have not purchased any new finished decoys from them. For big water I think they look more "birdy" than plastics when a big blow comes in and gets things rocking.

Gene
 
(Herters Foam) Three of the heads didn't fit correctly, two of them the paint was was scuffed and scratched... Anyhow, I heard from various threads on other forums that since Cabellas took them over the quality isn't the same as in years past... I never had any before so I don't know...
 
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Rich,
At the risk of starting a fight...cork is worth more than plastic. No two ways about that.
However if you want cork birds post here and ask if anyone would be willing to make some
for you. I have seen a lot of the recent Bean corkers and the quality is poor.
There are a lot of guys here who can make you better decoys at competitive prices.

The Bean decoys arent what they were sadly
 
Gene JR,

A couple of threads I read on another site suggested herters heads ghost up in the cold... Have you experianced this... also what is the durability of the foam herters decoys... how well do they float.... how well do the burlaped decoys perform...

Thanks
 
The toughest deke I have ever seen has been a properly burlapped Herters foamer. Their heads suck and I wouldn't give a plugged slug for a hundred of them. Use the heads from the MLB or Tom Schabold(sp?), get some raw bodies, burlap them, paint with FME and you can shoot them all day and use them tomorrow. The burlapping gives them some weight so they float better than plastics but not as well as a cork deke that was properly made. The old Herters corkers were BSC (Black) cork and I always wondered how they could sell so many with the sparse paint job on them.
 
Rich,

The only head issue I've had was ONE head that I broke because I got lazy and tossed a goose decoy and the weight smacked the head and busted it, it did shatter to pieces.

The burlap is a HUGE upgrade in my opinion. The plain foam bodies do get dinged and dented. Burlaped are much tougher than the plain foam and the paint looks better on the burlap IMO. The burlap does nothing for the heads though. You could put other heads (E. Allen...) on the bodies as well.

I think they ride well in the water. Plastics on long line rigs just don't look great to me in rough water. The heavier Herters "bob and swim" realisticly to me. They take stray shot well also, I have a few with pellet holes in the heads that did not shatter.

IMHO they are a good value. They work well, last long, don't cost an arm and leg. That said, I will probably start infilling my rig with E. Allen's to get different poses/postures into the spread.

Gene
 
At the risk of starting a fight...cork is worth more than plastic.
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Definately agree with you on that. If you have the money to buy cork dekes or have the talent/time to make them your self, they are definately worth more than plastic, they ride the water better and will last a life time (barring some catastrophic event!).
 
I forgot to mention burlap foamers. I dont have any, but I've used some a buddy of mine has and have read a ton of posts on here about them. Like others have said, they are definately a step up from plastic and plain foam and much less expensive than cork. A good middle ground. There are some great tutorials around to show you how to do it. Get some foamers, burlap them & then get some FME paint from Lou & paint them up.
I had planned to convert my whole diver and coot rig to burlap Herters foamers but family matters put that on hold for a while!
 
Rich,

There is an awesome decoy carver right in Grand Haven. His name is Marty Yonker.
Give him a call about a rig. He and or we can even get you started on making your own if you have any interest in that dept.
Shoot me an email and I'll set you up with Marty's number. If anything you could drive over and take a look at Marty's stuff and get a break from being around the Coastie Madness.

Ballard
 
Everyone responding has given very good advice. My two cents worth after 35 years, many thousands of dollars, and always searching for the perfect decoy is that you have to taylor your decoy choice based on budget, hunting situation, and personal satisfaction. My rigs for the various situations are as follows as I have yet to find one perfect rig that works for all conditions:

Open, big water - (Lake Erie, Sandusky Bay, Lake St. Clair, and larger reserviors). Size, numbers, and stability most important. Use 60 Restle goose bodies painted as mallards and blacks with Super Duck heads. Or 60 Older Bean coastal puddlers. The corks ride the best while the Restles have the best visibility. If budget dictates, the G+H magnum ducks workwell. Burlapped Herter's ride well but I had trouble with the keels and wrapping them efficiently. They may have wooden keels now which would help. They are certainly the most durable.

Marsh - GHG puddlers with mallards, blacks, widgeon, gadwall, pintails, and teal. Weight and portability are major issues. Corks are nice but heavy, and numbers limited if use individual slotted bags to keep from damaging.

River - GHG if portability and weight an issue. If using boat then prefer corks.

Smaller lakes - Corks with boat accessibility.

For geese I've preferred my 6 old Bean corks and then will use Bigfoot floaters for numbers.

My white cedar rig sits in the basement as I can't bare to see damage to the blocks.

Just some thoughts.
 
Rich

Given my druthers I'll hunt cork/wood every single time. Weight or no weight. Personal opinion here, but the Bean decoys are not what they used to be. More of a folk art thing than a nice gunning decoy.

If you want some foamers that look good and hold up:

www.doomdecoy.com

www.toledodecoy.com


If you want cork there are several folks on this site that can make whatever you would like, myself included.

Good luck in your search!!
 
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I have been looking for quality cork stools and increasing my rig a little each year...
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Here is how I see it:

If you have more money than time, pay someone (like Josh or one of the other great, experienced carvers here) to make some quality cork decoys for you.

If you have more time than money, give carving a try. It's fun, a great way to increase your duck addiction to a year round habit, and highly rewarding to hunt over your own decoys. With tutalige from local carvers or the internet, you should be able to make something that will fool the ducks, and that is what really counts. Get that phone number from Brian, visit an experienced carver and see what it is all about. If you want to see the learning curve in action, I can show you how to make a big pile of dust on the floor and track it into the house...

We were out your way the other night, I lived in Grand Haven for about 5 years, every time I start to miss it, I go and visit, then I don't miss it any more ;)

Chuck
 
I was loking at the dooms decoys and was wondering what the “suc duc” decoy style was... pro's cons...
 
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