Making scoter sleds - a rough tutorial...

Nice sleds Nate. I made my first scoter sleds last summer, after receiving a pattern from Steve, that apparently came off an original Bill Wassan design.

I tow my decoys in to position. My sleds did not tow; they dove.. Pete McMiller said I had to change how I put out my decoys....Pete now has possession and ownership of my sleds. It is too hard for an old dog to learn new tricks!

I do think the roller paint suggestion by Steve is a good one. Unfortunately he withheld that suggestion, so I found a 9 year old daughter is an easy approach, if you can with stand the tongue lashing for destroying a perfectly good set of clothes!
 
Just finished my 7 sleds this morning. I used barnboards (pine), 7/8 thick planed down to 5/8" thick. Needed some eidah decoys. How do you attach them to an anchor line. Drill a hole in the front board? I hope to make it to Massachusetts this fall with my new Dominator. Caz
 
Hi Caz,

Glad you made a set for yourself. I drilled a hole in the front middle of the sled and attach a dropper line of 120# tarred line about 3" long. To the end of the dropper, attach a long line clip. Do this for each of your sleds. The length of your mother line will depend on where you hunt and the water depth. I make up a few 40 footers, some 60s, and a few 100s. Put your mother line in the water, give it some extra scope, and start clipping and tossing your sleds in the water. You will want to space them about 4 to 6 ft. apart. Also, I usually clip off a full body decoy or put a large lobster buoy on the line BEFORE my first sled. That will help keep the line up and prevent the first sled from diving or getting pulled under.


Hope it all works out for you.


Nate
 
Hi Wendell,

The pattern is a hybrid of a Yukon Mike and Rick Lubensky eider/scoter decoy. It works pretty good and shows up on the water. You can easily sketch one out from photos of live birds, and I'm sure it will work fine. Make them big!




Best,
Nate
 
Thanks for the info, Nate. I need to hook up mine individually, as using the dog will make a difference. I hope to get to Mass this fall to hunt with my new Dominator and the sleds. Wendell, if you want a pattern email me your address to cazrussell.com and I will send mail you a couple.
 
Soon as I get them painted, I will post a pic. Thanks for the info on this site. Peaked my interested in making sleds, which I have been wanting to do for a long time. Thanks.
 
I must say thanks for a great tutorial.I made a set for scoters during the off season.Finally got to use them last Saturday on the Chesapeake.Took ten minutes after set up for the first surf scoter to pitch in right over them,just wish I would of gotten a pic.Birds were coming into them and my repaints with no hesitation.
 
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