More progress

[MLBob Furia]

...on the bird I posted on Hitch's picture Tuesday post. Went doen to the shop at about 11 last night intending to spend a few minutes and ended up painting 'til 1:30 a.m.
Didn't know how the spatter painting would do in capturing what I see on the head of a woody hen, but I was really pleased with how it "popped" while still fitting what's going on with the rest of this decoy.
Going to attach a "naked" and "thus far" picture so you can see how things develop.




Probably three more sessions or so.

 

[Chris Hagenlocher]

Awesome! I particularly like the palm frond shape... Well done!

 

[Bob B]

Your work never stops. That bird is coool. I like the pose and the head detail. Do you set the woodies up by themselves or do you mix the spread with other birds? I have a new, "Just Wood Duck" spot and will have to do some experimenting this year.
Bob Butler.

 

[MLBob Furia]

Bob,
Thanks for the nice comments.
The woodies will be "mix in" birds.
In my experience they seem to be a bird that decides to drop in on other puddlers whether or not decoys of their own kind are present. Most of the occasional species birds I make are used that way - rotated in with the mallards and blacks that are the "base" for the rigs I hunt during the season.
The good wood duck spots down here are oxbows full of dead trees, and the early shooting is pass shooting or occasionally comes with tramping through the growth and muck to jump them up. That being said, if you made some wood ducks, and have a spot they seem to like, don't hesitate to bring them along. Sure couldn't hurt. Besides, decoys you made always make a hunt more enjoyable.
The shoot Joe Wooster used to host every fall was in woods that the DNR flooded near his Ashley home. No decoys..... just wading in and hugging a tree.