Who Flocked their Flock??

Scott O.

Scott O.

Well-known member
I know its almost that time of year because I am getting the urge to do something unnecessary and expensive in anticipation of the upcoming season...and I think I have the urge to do something even stupider than usual.

I see these flocking kits on E-Bay that promise to convince an otherwise discerning goose to plop down into my spread so that I can spend 3 bucks really fast then watch the glory of his nature honkin' off toward the horizon with all of his honkin' buddies.

Is flocking worth it? Is it difficult? Is it fun to do? Should I just send a check to the United Way instead?


(I'm looking for full bodies too so let me know if you want to sell some)
 
I flocked the heads and tails on my geese. It does make them stand out better. I can't say it was fun to do, but wasn't difficult or expensive. Don't mess with the flocking aplicator bottles, just put it all in a tub and grab a handfull and throw it on the head in the tub.

It is well worth doing.
 
I agree it wasn't hard or fun but it looks great. My hunting buddy s now flocking not only goose heads and butts but his mallards as well. i bought a flour sifter at the grocery store. I fill this with flocking and gently tap the edge. this allows a nice even coat of flocking to fall on the glue. Just like anything else you results will directly reflect you prep.

Good luck
Colin
 
We had a decoy workshop the other weekend and a friend brought some geese to flock. I had wanted to try it but assumed the mess wasn't worth it. I was wrong. He made it look easy and the mess was managable. I agree with the flour sifter idea, that's waht he used and it worked well.
 
Just look at any of the "huntin" photos that folks post up of the bloody aftermath and you can see the really black heads of the decoys are the flocked heads. That black flocking looks real to our eyes and to the camera. I gotta believe that the camera view is what the geese see.... but then again who the hell really knows...

At any rate,as the other good folks haveposted already, flock theheads of your decoys is neither, difficult nor all that fun, and the prep can be a a bit tedious but it's all well worth it.
I've not used the flour sifter but that does make a lot of sense as I think about it....

Use a card board box about 18" square and do the flocking inside that as it will catch the excess flock and you can reuse the flocking.
 
I did mine a couple of years ago, before Bigfoot flocked their heads. Make sure you wear gloves and a mask. I was coughing that stuff up for a few days.

It would also be a good idea to do it somewhere other than the dining room. My wife was NOT happy.
TH
 
i was thinking that stuff would look real good on my drake ringneck ducks, wild ringneck drakes look soo much blacker than decoys.
 
a buddy of mine is in the process of doing his golden eye bodys and bluebills. he bought green flocking for his mallards and extra black so he can do any decoy gthat has black in it.
 
I just purchased some black flocking from Lee Valley to try out on some Canada geese heads. I am going with flat black Krlyon Fusion as adhesive and I am going to try and spray it through my Nordson powder coating gun... Should be interesting. I'll post pics tonight if I get one done.
 
Brad
I flocked some of my geese using Fusion and it only lasted for one season before it begain to peel off. Thought you might like to know before you try. I hope you have better luck.

Colin
 
what a FLOCKing mess!! The powder gun was a no go. I'll spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning up after that.

As for the results of the flocking, I'll let you decide. I think my old man would consider this "Polishing a turd" for lack of a better term. After you start making your own dekes, plastic seems so junky.

The goose on the left is what we have hunted over for 15 years. I gave the heads a quick sandblasting before painting to get rid of the dirt and loose paint. The one in the middle is just paint and the guy on the right is flocked with black.

I like the results of the flocking. I think I am going to try a spray on adhesive over the paint to get a better transfer of flock...


DSC02461.jpg


DSC02460.jpg

 
Last edited:
well I got a dozen or so done tonight. I ended up going with krylon flat black for primer and then used some industrial PPG black for the the adhesive that I brushed on thick. It's a bit messy but worth doing. i just threw it on over a cookie sheet and patted it down. It cost me about $1 a bird and an evening to do 12. I only have 2 dozen shells so it won't take long :-) I wonder how long it would last on my floaters?

One of these dekes does not look like the others...

DSC02464.jpg

 
How exactly is flocking done? i understand the primer and basic flat black but what is flocking? is it a velvet shaving or something? I bought a dozen flocked shells this past weekend because they look so good. I've got 36 new ones that aren't and it's a big difference.
 
finely cut fibers. It can be synthetic or natural. The paint is basically a replacement for the glue. All the flocking that I found was made with rayon.
 
Well I bought a kit supposedly big enough to do "50 Bigfoot-sized heads" and I proceeded to do a dozen of the FA shell (heads only) that I just found on E Bay.

I used Lou Tisch's flat black FME as my wet base and flocked the snot out of those guys and I AM IMPRESSED!! Plus I have tons of flocking left to do my full body Hig's and I'll see how far I can get into my 24 G&H shells.

I was surprised how easy it was and how well they turned out. On top of that, using FME has to be a major plus considering how that stuff stands up to the elements.

If you like having fun preparing to hunt as much as I do, especially this time of year, I wouldn't spend the additional money on factory flocked decoys.

I'll post pictures later
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top