icing up decoys

Steve W.

Steve W.

Member
I'm a newbie to duck hunting and especially the late season that ended yesterday. I noticed for instance out of the many strings, one of the string of 10 decoys on a long line, 8 went upside down due to the ice & weight of it on the decoy while 2 were staying upright barely. Grant it the winds were 20-25+mph and temps were below zero with the wind chill, but didn't know if there was a trick or a way to keep the decoys from freezing over. There had to be an inch to 1.5" coating all over the air side of the decoy.

I wondered if spraying them down with antifreeze would do the trick but messy.
Just wondered if anyone has a trick to solve the issue or help some.
 
Been there done that many times. Unfortunately, the only solution I have found was to motor on over and clean them by dipping them in the water. The harder issue I have experienced is salt water ice flows dragging them off. That is an even tougher problem.

Bill
 
I knew a guy (classic line) that used to spray them down with WD-40.....just made them slippery and messy. I dip them under the water as mentioned or gently pop them (plastics) together to get the ice to come off. Most times I don't worry about them icing over unless it's really sunny or they are starting to sink. Welcome to duck hunting. dc
 
The Trick,,,,,,


  1. Move to Arizona.
  2. Stop hunting ducks below 32 degree F
  3. Get your buddy to wade or motor out and clean off the ice build up....
  4. You wade or motor out and clean the ice off.....
  5. Train your dog to perform the ice cleaning decoy shake.....
  6. Go home at the first sign of ice build up....your wife might be happy with that approach--she misses you
  7. Install electric heat cable inside the decoys and run the power up the decoy anchor lines....use a generator....(side benefit-electrocuting unethical hunters when they stalk, shoot your decoys, and then retrieve them)
I have found #'s 3 or 4 to generally to be the most useful....

Good Luck with the ice

Matt
 
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View attachment 2010_0103icedecoys0001.JPGMatt....you are just full of fantastic ideas. Where were you this morning during my Missouri white out. The weather guy called for an inch......we have at least six so far. Everything iced up real nice today and had to break pack ice ten yards thick from the shore to set the dekes. The best part........never got a shot. They couldn't see to fly and I couldn't see if they did. These are my corks at 6pm and they have been sitting in my garage since 10am. It was pretty thick on them. dc
 
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UMM....ideas? heck I have been accused of many things but full of ideas? I thought I was full of sticky green/brown stuff from the dairy down the way......that is the normal accusation..

Sounds like you should have taken #2....

I was working this morning trying to meet a deadline...

On a side note Mr Dave..Where do you buy your cork for decoys?

Matt
 
a guy messaged me saying fill a spray bottle of rain-X and de-icer windshield wiper fluid and spray them down the night before that it works but you have to re-apply every so often because it will wear off
 
Never found a better way than just wading out, or using my decoy retriever pole, to dunk them and clean the ice off. I have decoys in my garage that have been iced over for almost a month now!
 
Waded out and thunked them 3 times today, ice pops off the plastic dekes pretty easy, you got to get to them before they become submarines.
18 degrees and 40 knot wind today, Nice.
 
Since your new at duck hunting and need practice shooting anyway ( don't we all ) Shoot it off...... Keeps the barrel warm.... Your cold anyway, might help keep you warm...If you have a spinning wing it will keep the ice off that too....

Now I got to warn you there is several draw backs to this method... Certain plastic decoys are brittle when it's cold. You need good quality decoys....but remember this method is a good excuse to get more decoys... When your significant other asks why you need so many shells... Well I'll let you figure that one out your self....

Now remember all this information is free and arrived at with some limited experience and much much much thought... Good luck..Wish you the best.. Anyone who hunts in that kind of weather will do all right....

 
Since these are conditions which can accompany our decoys through about 50% of the season, Winnebago area style decoys have high bodies , high heads, and the heads are set back a smidgen on the decoy.

I have heard of a paraffin recipe to keep ice off of decoys, but I can't remember it. Pete McMiller might post it, as he is always threatening to try it.
 
This was after about an hour in the water although I've been out when it's been worse than this also.

IMGP0126.jpg


I usually wade out and chip as much off as I can just using the side of my hand. If it is blowing and freezing water all over the decoy like you described, I haven't found a good way to combat that. Maybe a road trip further south????

Actually I did do that very thing one day. I had been hunting near the Iowa/Missouri border and was 3.5 hours from home. Everything in and on my boat was all iced up. I elected to drive another 1.5 hour further south to my brothers home in Kansas City. Spent the day thawing out, then headed back to Iowa to finish my hunt before eventually heading on back home.

Treated my brothers two daughters to a meal of fresh duck while I was there. I think it is the only meal of duck they have had to date.
 
As was told to me about 40 years ago and I still haven't tried it - but I'm gonna "someday".

With your pocket knife, shave a block of parafin, the same stuff you use for canning, into half a coffee can of diesel fuel. Heat gently (outside) until the wax is melted and totally dissolved in the fuel. Use an old paint brush and brush it on your decoys. Set them aside to dry and the diesel fuel to evaporate. I got the impression that it could take a couple of weeks to dry and get the stink down to a manageable level.

Seems to me that it would be great to find some other solvent to melt the wax into as the diesel fuel has way too much odor to it. There are quite a few but many would also take the paint off your decoys.
 
A summary of the suggested tricks....(boredom is setting in...thus wasting time creating a summary)



...so far it seems the majority of people dunk em and thunk em.....and of course the silly suggestions from shooting to electrical....

1. Move to Arizona.
2. Stop hunting ducks below 32 degree F
3. Get your buddy to wade or motor out and clean off the ice build up....
4. You wade or motor out and clean the ice off.....
5. Train your dog to perform the ice cleaning decoy shake.....
6. Go home at the first sign of ice build up....your wife might be happy with that approach--she misses you
7. Install electric heat cable inside the decoys and run the power up the decoy anchor lines....use a generator....(side benefit-electrocuting unethical hunters when they stalk, shoot your decoys, and then retrieve them)


“thunked them 3 times today, ice pops off the plastic dekes pretty easy”


“Shoot it off...... Keeps the barrel warm.... Your cold anyway, might help keep you warm...If you have a spinning wing it will keep the ice off that too....”

”I have heard of a paraffin recipe to keep ice off of decoys, but I can't remember it. Pete McMiller might post it”….


“I haven't found a good way to combat that. Maybe a road trip further south????”

“With your pocket knife, shave a block of parafin, the same stuff you use for canning, into half a coffee can of diesel fuel. Heat gently (outside) until the wax is melted and totally dissolved in the fuel. Use an old paint brush and brush it on your decoys. Set them aside to dry and the diesel fuel to evaporate. I got the impression that it could take a couple of weeks to dry and get the stink down to a manageable level.”

“I knew a guy (classic line) that used to spray them down with WD-40.....just made them slippery and messy.”

“a guy messaged me saying fill a spray bottle of rain-X and de-icer windshield wiper fluid and spray them down the night before that it works but you have to re-apply every so often because it will wear off”
 
What is needed is a product that will either sheet or bead water on plastic. What Pete mentions in his comments on disolving paraffin in diesel is doing exactly this, putting a wax coating on plastic. Choosing the proper parafin is important here as the lower melting waxes will not work as well and may actually increase the chances dirt will stick to your decoys - this is not a good thing.

What I do is wax the decoys. One can choose from a variety of waxes but the one I use is the 3M Perfect It Show Car Paste Wax. Couple of reasons for this choice - I get it free, I know what is in this product and the chemicals are not hyped at all. I developed it to smell pretty when applying so my wife didn't complain about how I smelled like solvents everytime I came home from work. I tried the fragrance "beer" for a hoot and did that one really stink up the lab. Sprayed some of this fragrance around the lab after an all nighter party the college students who worked in our lab attended. Should have seen the green faces when they sat in their seats. Stale beer smell and really strong. Sent a few of them to the bathroom a couple of times. Too funny.....

http://www.properautocare.com/pershowcarpa.html

What is nice about this wax is that it contains both a silicone and a fluoropolymer so the coating will repel both dirt and water. It also has a couple of othe goodies that will really bead the water and with any rocking motion of the decoy, sheets that water off the decoys.

Other options that I have tried with varying degrees of success:

1. Cross Country Ski wax. Mostly paraffin with varying length of polymer chains. Good water beaders, not the easiest to apply and wipe clean
2. Rain-X (and Prestones version of Rain-X) windshield coating. Works OK depending upon the material used to make the decoy. This coating is formulated to stick to glass, or a component of glass. If it sticks to the decoy, this makes a good coating.
3. Mr. Clean's car washing detergent. This contains a unique set of surfactants that actually will sheet water which is actually a better choice than beading water. This works well but needs to be applied frequently. Also doesn't work very well on a surface that is less than perfectly cleaned.

The best coating, if I could find out what it is, is used on Lexus automobiles on their side windows. Whatever this is, it really sheets that water and would be perfect for coating decoys.

Oh yeah, I don't know how any of this would work in a salt water environment.

Mark W
 
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[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]"1. Cross Country Ski wax. Mostly parafin with varying length of polymer chains. Good water beaders, not the easiest to apply and wipe clean"

OK a purple Klister or a?? Please don't say a klister....nasty sticky stuff, gooey, only cleans off with a solvent,,HAHA. So maybe a polar? or one of the modern fluorocarbons?

Maybe a use for left over chunks of ski wax.....seems there are a few hanging around my office.


Matt
[/font]
 
Now we're getting somewhere. Thanks for that info Mark. Is that 3M wax available in most car care sections or is it so high end and specific that I'd need to order it?
 
One use for car wax....I have waxed the outside of blued shotguns and rifles for use during bad weather.....the barrels, outside of the action and the wood stock (don't think it would work on the matte finish firearms)....so you could have a matched set.....waxed decoys and waxed shotgun and they would all smell alike.

I am going to try some of the left over ski wax....the harder stuff..not the klister. Just rub it on lightly and buff vigorously.

Matt
 
[font=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]"OK a purple Klister or a?? Please don't say a klister....nasty sticky stuff, gooey, only cleans off with a solvent,,HAHA. So maybe a polar? or one of the modern fluorocarbons?

Maybe a use for left over chunks of ski wax.....seems there are a few hanging around my office.


Matt
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Click to expand...


The harder the wax the better it will be in general.

Mark W
 
Now we're getting somewhere. Thanks for that info Mark. Is that 3M wax available in most car care sections or is it so high end and specific that I'd need to order it?
Click to expand...


You can find the 3M Car wax at most specialty auto places (Pep Boys, O'Reilly's, etc...) I'd call first. Other options are to find the same product in the marine section of places like West Marine and so on. I don't know what it is called on the marine side anymore but it comes in a metal container. This one would probably cost more than the auto version. Sometimes you can find one or both products at Walmart and other X-Mart stores.

Please remember that I use this product cause I get it for free and I know that it repels both oil based contaminants and water based contaminants. I'd be willing to bet that most auto waxes would work for this application in a similar fashion to the 3M product. Might want to try those first before spending any money on the 3M stuff.

Also, some of the common car waxes contain optical brighteners. I'm guessing this would be a bad thing for coating decoys. I wonder what that new Flambeau coating is on their decoys? Claims to do something special with the sunlight making the decoys more attractive to the duckies.

I'm also looking into some other options where some 3M technology could really make a diference in this application. Meeting a guy tomorrow to see what he knows. Expert on this sort of thing.

Mark W
 
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