Whats your opinion on flocked decoys , worth the money ?noticed a difference with duck reactions ?longevity ?
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Whats your opinion on flocked decoys , worth the money ?noticed a difference with duck reactions ?longevity ?
We run all flocked spreads now. Water and field.
Easily get away with painted on water if you do everything else right. Field shooting different ball game unless it’s low light. Quite often get mallards landing in the spread at early arvo on the maize stubble. Bloody expensive these days though.
We went without any flocking for years and still did well.
They seem to hold up well for us, we started off double bagging them but that got old quick. Now they just get packed into the slotted decoy bags, haven’t noticed a lot of wear and we hunt pretty regularly during the season.
All depends on whether you do all the other basics right. Get those down and then look at flocked gear. Buy a dozen a year, doesn’t take long to build up.
Yea same as above, only run flocked decoys, it is expensive but what isn’t these days. You can do it yourself, half the reason all ours are flocked plus you can customize your own colors and hen/drake ratios to suit. And I second what above said, if you hunt water and land start with your land decoys, that seems to have the bigger impact on results/duck behavior. I still love the look of them in water but with shine and glare everywhere seems to make less of a difference.
Cheers guys no need for alot of decoys anymore so will check them and prices out once the season draws closer
Store bought flocked decoys wear quick. My mates ones are looking bad after 30 hunts. My home done ones are on their 8th season at least and have held up way way better.
With the price of flocking and the paint it doesnt seem that economical to go down that route ?how much flocking does it take per decoys ?
It seems an expensive outlay to get into flocking as you buy everything up front but I worked it out and with base paint/ adhesive, then flock, then air brush paints I was averaging around $5-7 per decoy depending on what I did. The biggest commitment is time if you go down that road rather than money, definitely look and last better than store bought but not for the time poor. Also take into account weather you have access to things like an air compressor.
I have approximately 50 flocked duck decoys…(dakotas) they are the cost of doing business I reckon… my boys beat them up,shoot them,etc etc… they hold up fairly well…whether they attract more ducks/geese/etc is debatable…. But decoys attract,so I can shoot… that’s what it’s all about
Any particular Dakota ones ?
Yeah mate …we have a mixture of xtreme fully flocked,xtreme mallards,quail and geese…….and just your basic painted cheap ones as well …mallards ,Resters,and a few others my oldest boy has chucked in….no idea where he got them ……..12-15 Black ones as well…Quote:
Originally Posted by Quackers
My boy reckons ducks respond to the black ones on a low overcast cloudy day..reckons they are extremely visible to the ducks overhead..Ive seen him call ducks flying over the top,to turn ,fly back and land …they work….he strategically places geese and quail groups,never amongst the duck decoys but 2-4 metres away from the main group…..it works,we’ve gotten our limit within an hour with 4 shooters……
The big thing we are into now,just this year ….decoy raft waterfowl platforms….with so many ducks,its a pain in the arse to undo all the weights ,place them,mud and waders get old….with .the mats we clip all the ducks to them depending on what we are hunting ,quail,geese ,duck etc……and then just roll them out with “one” anchor point…bloody tits!!!!!……the roll up even easier…….using the boat to get to several spots walkers cant get to makes the platform system even easier…,
@McNotty hits it right on the head….get a few every year,build up the stocks,good decoys are a must…they work….reckon its about how extreme etc you are into bird hunting,…my oldest boy is a nutter about it…”.has to be done right” he reckons…….me,….Ilike to duck hunt,like the meat,enjoy the whole thing….as my kid says….dad!!its an “active” sport…pulling the trigger and harvesting birds you either get or dont
Going to a slow upgrade. Get rid of all the old ones and slowly upgrade.
photos of this magic mat are needed......
The best description I heard of flocked decoys.. "they turn 30 yard ducks into 20 yard ducks" Paul Stenning, probably hard to disagree with what he says re duck hunting.
That extra 10 yards can make the world of difference with my shooting some days !
The back pack bags we use to carry the flocked ducks have individual pockets to accommodate them…..helps prevent damage……
@Micky Duck ….standby for magic
Decoy Raft Waterfowl Platform
$279.99
Each Decoy Raft is 145 inches long x 62 inches wide (just over 12 ft. by 5ft.) and allows the Hunter to attach up to three dozen industry standard decoys, depending on the desired configuration. The design of the Decoy Raft allows for multiple Raft attachment for supreme versatility in the field and reduction of anchors. With over 15,000 stitches and 80 connection points, it’s built tough.
Each Decoy Raft Waterfowl Platform includes:
One Decoy Raft Waterfowl Platform
One Decoy Raft Carrying Bag
32 Stainless Steel Clips
@Micky Duck…..please reference said website……we have 3 of them…plenty of photos ,plenty of magic……they work ….its all about makingthe join easier…….using the boat to go to inaccessible spots is where these platforms get the “gold medal” for me
interesting concept indeed....we tried a longline so could clip em on then drag them out..worked ok but too uniform small lines of 4-5 worked ok... but we went back to single sinkers and long nylon as depth varies a LOT.
That mate…is why these platforms were designed the way they are…..MAGIC!!!……THEY WORK!!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Micky Duck
ONE ANCHOR…..doesn’t matter how deep it is
But arguing about the decoy placement and spread with your shooting buddy is what it’s all about haha this would take all the fun out of it on the Friday night before, out in the shitty old 8ft fibreglass dinghy that once was a a little sail yacht. Finding decoys in the bags that you suppose to re rig the season before but never got round to it. Bloody good times.
lol…yeah mate…theres that side of the coin too…….
Those decoy rafts look awesomely useful. In one of the scrubby gorsey pine infested ponds full of logs and eels and weed we shoot that would be perfect.
I try not to get caught up in all the hunting flashy marketing jazz, but that is something I mite get this season.
@jamie…. I can vouch that they are practical and work… not in all situations ,but they have a place
a bit of # wire in a long shallow U or W will teather 2 or 3 together with single anchor point...same advantage as the mat...close together but cant bump each other....a bit or shadecloth with some sort of frame would work the same as that mat... snap swivels will clip through weed mat easy enough...options are endless.
Well… it seems the “mat” has given you ideas….. I just presented what we are doing….
Yea the “mat” idea would suit the bush pond we shoot. Got a few months to make up something like it, or save up and buy one. We used to drag in 25mm black alkathene water pipe in big hoops and connect decoys to that and throw in the pond, but getting the hoops in to pond was like an all in brawl thru the scrub, like bulrushes and crap 6ft high. The mat with decoys attached we could fold up and drag and slide thru our tracks. Awesome pond to shoot, mongrel to acces. And the decoys get bashed around taking them in there.
@jamie ….awesome mate…. No.8 wire .. kiwi ingenuity stuff going on here…..
I’ll bet my bottom dollar that @Micky Duck is already in his shed banging up one as we speak!!!
hang on a minute you have flocked quail decoys for one and for two what you decoy quail:O_O::wtfsmilie:Quote:
Originally Posted by A330driver
@gsp follower….”.typo”…
No quail decoys….
thank god for that i was thinkin i had missed something.Quote:
Originally Posted by A330driver
you know like how big the mai mai would have to be or the wing spinners