Rigged and ready...

Very impressive.
Do you make a new portion of your rig each year?
Do you retire the old ones or just keep adding to the spread?
 
Pat -
All you decoys are great, but those hens are outstanding. For some reason they really stand out. Thanks for posting the pictures!
 
Thanks for the kind words guys. Am excited to get these infront of my layout boat.

Sam - I love your question. When my great grandpa died in 1959, my great grandma sold his last two gunny sacks full of decoys to a collector. Consequently, our family was left with little to no decoys. I vowed that would never happen to my kids.

Years ago, when I first began selling decoys I found I never had any decoys for myself. For the most part, everything I made, I sold. So, around 1986, I began carving a rig of decoys that I set aside for my kids. I carved 6 divers and 6 puddlers every year but would not sell them as they were for my kids. I've done that every year since the late 1980's. I've upgraded at times but my base rig is still in tact.

I believe a carver needs to have a strategy with his rig. A rig needs a specific purpose. In my case, I have a teal rig for early season teal. I have a puddle duck rig for gunning puddle ducks in the marsh at our duck club. And, I also have a big water rig for gunning divers from a layout boat. Each rig has a purpose and, needs to be complete for use. Each rig has a good sampling of species including mergansers and species like shovelers, ruddy ducks etc. I've recently begun to replace some of my puddle duck rig with a vintage style decoy using patterns of the old masters specifically patterns of historic carvers who hunted on Clear Lake and the Liverpool area here on the Illinois River.

All said, true decoy carver should have a strategy and purpose to his rig. This is truly one of the things I admire about Jim Schmiedlin. He not only has purpose to his rig but, protects the integrity of his rig not selling off his decoys just for the money.

As far as my personal rig, sometimes as decoys get worn, I might replace them. I just carved some new goldeneyes and look to replace my wood ducks in the next couple of years. My decoys in my rig are my favorites. They have been faithful and have serviced well. Although I don't pamper them, I do cherish them. For me, there is no better compliment than when ducks light into decoys you made. That is why I do what I do...

Sam - I'm guessing this is more answer than you bargained for but maybe, because of it, we'll see more dialogue on this forum about rig strategy and, more pictures of completed and successful rigs... Here are a few pics of some of my rig... Take care and God bless! Pat
View attachment PICT0168.JPG
View attachment PICT0170.JPG
View attachment PICT0171.JPG
View attachment PICT0172.JPG
View attachment PICT0151.JPG
 
Last edited:
Pat,
Thats what I was asking and thats what I was thinking your garage must look like after what I have seen out of you the last several years.
Good luck this season.
 
To continue your rig strategy. What is your take on hens to drake ratio in puddle duck spreads and diver spreads?

Tight Lines ... Fred
 
Pat,

I agree completely on rig strategy and I'm glad you expressed it so well. I do much the same thing although I don't carve my own. I've been using foamers and precarved blanks.

I love having the option of a big water rig that is heavy on buffies when that's the bird or heavy on bluebills when they are in. It's great fun to sort through the decoys and try to match what will likely be on the water that day to create the most lifelike rig. Not just one that will work most of the time. Since I hunt the salt marsh a lot I often have shorebirds in my teal rig, sea gulls in my diver rig...

It all adds to the enjoyment and enriches the experience.

Gene
 
Sam,
your question created one of the most interesting answers on a rig I have heard, from Pat. Thanks for asking.
Pat thanks for the answer and the inspiration to think Rig vs Bird.
Esp. the part about Kids and their use of said Rig.

Very nice.
 
Great insight and perspective on your rig Pat. I got into carving so I'd be able to give each of my kids a rig of their own birds to hunt over when they're older. Well, my kids are now 14 and 16 and after reading your post, I think its time that I dedicate some birds specifically for their rigs each year.

Thanks for the inspiration!

Locke
 
Pat

Great looking rig. Thanks also for the great advice and reminder to put a few decoys away for posterity. I was going to do more for myself this year and haven't got around to it yet. You are a wise man!
 
Fred - I'm pretty traditional when it comes to numbers. Great grandpa always did 8 drakes to 4 hens in a dozen. Although, I like painting hens better than drakes, hard to beat that brilliant color of the drakes. I had drake sprigs lock on my sprig decoys last year. It was awesome! I'm guessing it had to be the drakes. However, personally, I don't think ducks are that picky. Just my opinion.

On the big water actually I think hens show up better on the gray backround. Honestly, I'm not very scientific that way. By the time ducks figure out I have too many drakes in the rig, I'm shooting and hopefully, they have a steel headache... :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top