Thread: Decoys

I'm looking at buying some sets of Decoys, not wanting to be over the top here but I'm after a Really good set of Parries, a mallard set and a canada Goose set/goose set and would like to ask for some words of wisdom and advice as to what to buy/avoid....

I'm thinking of a set of 12/18 for each and want to have versatility for em like in relation to floaters/ground ones...

btw guys If any of you are attending the service rifle comp next sunday at clevedon I'll be there

Recent eNewsletters — Fish City

scroll thru to the decoys

Originally Posted by upnorth uplander

Recent eNewsletters — Fish City

scroll thru to the decoys

+1 to Fish City Hamilton, they had a box of Higdon full bod actives in stock, struggled (and succeded) to order in Higdon full bod feeders and the spinner winner remote decoy was the last one around from what I was told.

Fish City have the best price on the Higdons, I see Gun city have them a little more $$,

I brought a set of second hand GHG oversize canada goose shels 12pk, flocked heads, worked a charm the day after I brought them. Cabela's have them, I havn't seen the oversize shells anywhere here in NZ???

Parries, I have a cheap set of 16" floaters coming, I am planning to cut off the keel and make them into full shell actives on a set of Higdon ground stakes. I had a look at the foam shells for $99, in my opionon, they are shit, the set of floaters was $70.

As I was warned, it's additive!

Why does it change G u n C i t y automaticly to Gun Shitty? the 16" parries are coming from there, hadnt seen them for a week, asked where they were, they had been missed being sent out..........???

oooh I see,yea I refuse to buy from GS, number one reason: putting chinese parts in real AR-15's like bushmasters and dpm's etc and selling them as legit rifles.... I'm sorry but I cannot trust a thing they do now/sell/offer.... I'd rather spend my money elsewhere! even if its an extra $50 or so....


cheers for that guys!

Gun city

sorry, had to try it

I think the forum censors swear words like gun city.

Give us a bit more guidance about what you want because decoys, particularly goose decoys can consume a lot of money.

Are you looking to hunt on paddocks on on a lake edge? Are the geese decoys confidence decoys for ducks or goose decoys for geese?

Higdon is a good brand. The best goose decoys are full bodies.

I brought in a dozen storm front decoys ,they effectively made my old ones redundant.
With parries decoys being quite expensive & me being a tight ass I painted the old decoys up
& turned them into 16" Parries. Added a couple of wholes to each & a set of Primo motion stakes
that's a $100 saved & my old decoys with a new purpose in life
but weather they work guess will find out in couple of weeks.

Might work ,since added eyes & motion stakes

Oh well I'll be hunting a mixture of overland for all 3 and then some pond/lake shooting... I've been offered a spot in a mai mai at waikere

I've been told that parries decoy into Mallard spreads? and I'm to assume I'll need some sillhouttes for overland hunting?
reallistically I want it to be cheap but good ya know?

cheers guys!

Size is important so don't go buying 16 inch parries and 16 inch mallards. Personally I would get some mallard floaters one size bigger than your normal mallard floater (so 20 or 18 inch if you normally use 16 inch mallards) and repaint them. Parries will decoy into mallard deeks and most people don't run dedicated mallard spreads on water. Go and have a look at your mai mai and try and replicate the mix of birds you normally see there. It's good to have a couple of parries off to the side of your mallard spread just to mix it up a bit and also the solid color of the parries makes the whole spread a bit more visible.

Most people start their goose spread off with a dozen shells because you get a lot more for your money than most other decoy styles. Don't buy the Avery (GHG) Hot buy shells, the paint chips and they don't stack properly. You can use your shells on land or on stakes on the lake edge.

My next step was to buy four goose floaters (higdon magnums). I put my shells on the lake edge and the floaters on the water next to it. The floaters add some very realistic movement to the spread and geese tend to land on water when given the choice as the landing is softer. When shooting on paddocks I take the keels out and use the floaters as additional shells.

The step after that is to buy some full bodies. Much more visible than shells and a much more realistic copy of a standing goose than a shell on a stake which just looks like half a goose on a stake. They are a pain to transport though.

With mallards, try and get a couple of head positions to mix it up a bit and I would try and buy the big ones. 16 inch or even better 18 inch. Much more visible on the big water.

cheers Mass!

I bought some 16" Mallards from wills,12 of em for $80, its the waterfowler brand, floaters with everything ready to rock n roll...

Yea I was going to buy some like 4 of em, just for starting out I was pondering if a spread of 18 mallards and 6 parries would do the trick?

I'm also going to shoot my shotty on thursday arvo with some mad keen duck shooting family freinds of ours, I was told to shoot some heavy steel through it to loosen the action up on it abit... I think thats partially their way of saying man up and feel the power of a 12 gauge!
correct lol?

Standard recommendation with any new shotgun is to shoot a box of full noise game loads (steel or lead, doesn't matter) though it to loosen it up before shooting trap loads. It's also a good idea to bust a few clays with your hunting ammo before opening day. This only works if you have a thrower and some private land as it's strictly no game loads at all gun clubs.

Your decoys sound good but how many parries do you have on the spots you intend to hunt. If the answer is "I don't know" then spend a evening sitting by your spot watching what comes in before opening day. If you have lots of parries then fair enough. If not I would either buy none or two (depending on the size of the packs of deeks) and then buy either a parrie caller instead or more mallard deeks. Parries are more of a paddock thing and they will come into mallard spreads. This does depend on your spot though.

What size are the parrie deeks? Ideally you want 18" as real parries are quite a lot bigger than mallards.

hmmm yea cheers for that! I've bought some:RIO Royal Steel 32gram 2 3/4 number ones and a pack of Club Uno 32 gram 2 3/4 number 3's... that rio stuff should go well on most ducks?

I'll be trying it out on thursday after work, bust clays etc with a long time family freind and his son who are mad keen duck shooters!

Reallistically I'm after a load that will work well to realistic ranges(40m) and that will deal to parries,mallards and the odd Goose as a general purpose round....

There are plenty of parries on 2 locations but I haven't asked 1 and the other I can't shoot em..... by in large though there will be mallards and dependant on permission parries, like 30 or so on one property....

I was pondering about buying some silhoutte decoys? and some foam ones for the parries

oh really? well that does make sense being that their a shellduck so a bit bigger aye!

mint as mate

Not sure about your ammo choice there RRAH, I've never been a fan of the Rio steel as I trouble with it so changed (Im sure there are others that are opposite). Also 1's?? There probably a bit big a shot mate, especially in 2 3/4in. I don't know the figures but would think there are a better number of pellets per load in 2's or 3's.
Personally I shoot 3in 1 1/8oz 4's or 3's for ducks, I much prefer the pattern Im getting from these rather than they 2's or lower that we started with when steel came in.

puku