Posted: Sun Feb 01, 2004 10:58 pm
Benny, I'm with ya. I got a dozen Herters I been plannin on doin the same with. Thanks for the kick in the butt I needed to get started.
Back when I was younger and hunted basically every field in every direction for 5 miles from the family farm, back when there wasn't any "no hunting signs". I had two decoy techniques that sure were different and light and highly effective. Back in the 3-wheeler days. Anyway here they are:
1. 8 or 12 of those "enhancers" those full body standing dekes. Used the day after it rained in a mud puddle bean field. Couldn't beat them. Talkin' duck standin' water only. When a duck would land you couldn't tell which was a duck and which was a deke they would land somewhere in the line. You'd have to jump it up just to know which one to shoot.
2. My other technique for a poor farm boy was 20 bleach bottles painted black and half full of dirt with the lid back on. I just tied to the handle to keep them there if needed, but more often than not they just sat on bottom. Throw in about 6 normal dekes and wallah' you got some serious feeding going on.
This was also back in the days when I made my own camo patterns by spray painting my dad's ol' farm shirts. I'd get a big kick out of seeing the Memphis sports come in with their cool quad parka camo patterns and steering wheel boats smoking big cigars. I'd make it a point to see how many ducks they got which was usually little or none and then take them to the back of the truck and show them what a poor boy could do with bleach bottles and painted on camo.
Now I'm just like those sports minus the steering wheel and not killing any ducks. Course I can't go just anywhere I please.
I do like good painted and high floating dekes and duck butts. They do work better.