Anyone tried making their own decoys?

[Tartan_Terrier]

A mate and I are off to try our hands at decoying crows tomorrow, as we've got permission to shoot them until the middle of this month (they're out of season here). Looking around the net, they seem to cost about £5 each, which can end up costing quite a lot if you want a good few decoys out.

Doing a bit of Googling I found that some people have had success with home made silhouette decoys, so I decided to try and make a few myself. I based them on the same idea as shown in this article from 1936.

http://www.popsci.com/archive-viewer?id=WCgDAAAAMBAJ&pg=59&query=Crow%20decoy

I'm looking forward to see if they fool the crows tomorrow!

T_T

 

[willowbank]

Hi TT we used to make some good durable decoys out of plastic guttering, using grey for pigeon and black for Corvids. Obviously these would have to be painted with a Matt paint to give a little detail, they also stacked inside each other and were very light.
A simple hole and peg provided movement, all made out of a length of scrap guttering, cheap as chips.

cheers WB

 

[Tartan_Terrier]

That sounds like an interesting idea. I might try that.

Cheers
T_T

 

[Chasey]

I used bin bag crow decoys.

They are easy to make and work fine

ATB

Mark

 

[FrenchieBoy]

I used bin bag crow decoys.

They are easy to make and work fine

ATB

Mark

+1 on this. There are plenty of videos on Youtube about making "Bin Bag Crow Decoys".
They are cheap, easy to make and you can carry a few dozen in your game bag without even noticing the weight or bulk of them!

 

[ELMER FUDD]

Try making some silhouette decoys out of ply wood. Made some years ago and painted them black and they really fool crows, pigeons etc.

Once you have made one simply place over ply and trace around with a pen then cut out so you can make a lot in a very little time and when it comes to the field they are very easy to carry. What you should end up with is a side on view of a crow and the leg part which is pointy sticks in the ground to make them stand up. I have shot hundreds of crows and pigeons using these.

 

[takbok]

I had the bright idea of buying a couple of pigeon decoys. I tried to make a mould of one of them using silicone sealant - the silicone didn't cure properly and stuck all over the decoy and that's as far as I got! I was planning to fill the mould with expanding foam... I think I'll try the gutter method next time!

 

[Tartan_Terrier]

I like the bin bag idea! Lots of decoys for not a lot of money!

It was silhouettes that I made Elmer, but with the addition of bits on the sides too, so they weren't invisible from above.

 

[Tartan_Terrier]

I had the bright idea of buying a couple of pigeon decoys. I tried to make a mould of one of them using silicone sealant - the silicone didn't cure properly and stuck all over the decoy and that's as far as I got! I was planning to fill the mould with expanding foam... I think I'll try the gutter method next time!

That's funny, my mate and I were talking about trying something similar on the way home today. Sounds like it's best avoided!

 

[takbok]

That's funny, my mate and I were talking about trying something similar on the way home today. Sounds like it's best avoided!

I think I just went about it the wrong way. On second thoughts, I might try covering decoy in clingfilm or grease and using mortar or plaster of paris to make mould halves. The problem with some of these wise ideas is that they sound really easy to do in one's head...

 

[rick6point5]

Made a few from paper mache and painted them, looked good but they were not long lived, used the clingfilm over a decoy method for the shape.

 

[gelert]

I had a go a few years ago making foam geese decoys, normal sheets and also using two part polyurethe marine grade liquid foam for ducks, then painted mat.
Worked well.
I even gave the silosocks a go with some tyvek.