Old Decoys

[hawkeye]

Fellows, I have a decoy that seems pretty old, but I was wondering if it actually was. It says Animal Trap Company of America on the bottom of it, made by Majestic Decoys. Any info would be appreciated.

[Wildfowler]

Check with Hambone on that one. He's into really old, worn out looking, terribly used, horrible condition, no paint, sun bleached, spark plug weighted, tangled string, listing ship, nose diving, arson survivin', melted, shotgun blasted, great-stuff foamin', shoe goo-patched, caved in, broke keeled, 4th hand used decoys.
Why I'll bet he's still sore at me for spotting that partially rat chewed Herters decoy that he must have missed, while pilfering through a pile of someone elses cast off, rat infested/chewed up decoys.

Animal trap sounds right up his alley.

[jebster]

That is probably a decoy made at the old Animal Trap Company in Pascagoula. Is it a plastic decoy ? If so, it will not have the same value as the older, wooden ones that were made at the same factory. I believe that the "Majestic" models were all plastic, among the very first decoys made in plastic.

I grew up in Pascagoula and my life long hunting buddy and I use to buy the "seconds" from the wooden production. We paid .50 cents a piece for them and had a quite a collection at one time. Man, were they evr heavy! If we still had them today, they would be worth about $150 to $200 each !! I still have two of them, really almost rotten. But they are among my most prized possessions.

[Delta Duck]

I have a half dozen of those. I thought they were made on the East coast.

[ August 15, 2002: Message edited by: Delta Duck ]

[Hambone]

Hawkeye, how many brand new G&H swivelheads would it take to trade for that Animal Trap Company decoy? Wildfowler, what's the deal with the disparaging remarks? In contrast to your description, my decoys are CLASSICS, and they WORK, at least as long as I can keep 'em floating!

[Wildfowler]

I know, they're like magic decoys. I'm just jealous that I don't have them all to myself. The name "animal trap" struck me as terribly funny last night. It immediately reminded me of the rat-damaged decoys that you (and I) acquired and still use.

No ill will intended.

[wngrog]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Wildfowler:
<STRONG>Check with Hambone on that one. He's into really old, worn out looking, terribly used, horrible condition, no paint, sun bleached, spark plug weighted, tangled string, listing ship, nose diving, arson survivin', melted, shotgun blasted, great-stuff foamin', shoe goo-patched, caved in, broke keeled, 4th hand used decoys.
Why I'll bet he's still sore at me for spotting that partially rat chewed Herters decoy that he must have missed, while pilfering through a pile of someone elses cast off, rat infested/chewed up decoys.

Animal trap sounds right up his alley.</STRONG><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]Ba Ha Ha Ha Ha, thud.

[Delta Duck]

Hambone

What is the deal with the decoy. If you know something tell us.

[Wingman]

Hawkeye,
Check to see if it is a Victor decoy. Some of the Victors have Animal Trap Company of America stamped on them, out of Lititz, Pennsylvania.
I bought several on e-bay last year, because I had some old, chewed up Victors that I had found or either somebody gave me.
A Victor D-9R has the swivel head. Mine were made in '67, I think. The identifying characteristics are the boxed tail and that MEAN look on the head!
A Victor D-9 has a straight head. Both D-9 and 10 are older than D-9R, I believe.
A Victor D-10 is similar to a D-9, but mine has a wider bottom with three anchor ponts in front, one in back. Mine has Majestic Decoys stamped on it. I think the Majestic logo may be the model...not sure.
I have a set of mallards, drake and hen, with swivel heads in very good condition. I saw a set of pintails I would have LOVED to have had, but the bidding got out of my price range. Also saw a set of bluebills that looked really cool, but again, the bidding went crazy.
Check out ebay; they have a pile of old decoys on there and you can learn alot about them.
But the best thing is, find some old lady selling her husband's old stuff, and you'll find some great decoys. I found an old cork mallard hen last year up at Charleston with a swivel head. Really neat decoy!

Wingman
ISAIAH 40:31

[hawkeye]

Wingman, it is indeed a Victor decoy, and says D-11 on the stamp next to the logo. Don't know if that helps out any. It has a swivel head, and does not have a boxed tail.

[Hambone]

Delta Duck, I just like the classics because they remind me of duck hunting when I was a kid. You remember them...the ones you used thirty years ago, with names like Plasti-duck, Ozark Featherlite, Victor and the ones that were made in Italy and bought oin stores like Woolco. There is some minor collectible interest in them, but not a great deal of market value. The ducks don't read brand names - those oldies will still bring 'em in with flaps down at ten yards!

[GulfCoast]

I have a buddy who has written a book on Animal Trap and a lot of the other local decoy makers in Pascagoula. There were quite a few of them. I will pass this info on to him and see what he says.