It is still plenty workable as it starts to expand. I may try it out on a cheapo and bust it open to see the results. Multiple positions; contented, feeding and breeding. In all applications, paint or prime the entire decoy in one color, likely white or black depending on the outer color of the finished decoy; i.e., a white base for canvasbacks and black for black ducks. I have never used any two part foam to make decoys, I carve mine from foam and then burlap them. Combined with a light weight body, the rounded Dual-Keel design instead of a straight single keel allows a Heyday decoy to move much more freely when subjected to even the slightest breeze or current. The mold only cost about $12 to make and the cans of spray should give 1.5 or more decoys per can and each can was less than $4. Retail price is approximately $45. If you have a streak of Bob Vila in you, then this next option might be more your style. How to Make Your Own Ultra-Realistic Turkey Decoy If you have any questions just shoot me a PM. Whether it is the first time applying flock to the decoys or to complete touche ups, these kits will meet your needs. Thanks. Molded entirely from EVA foam, our HydroFoam line pulls double duty as both the LIGHTEST and most DURABLE decoy on the market. JavaScript is disabled. Thread starter jeffc; Start date Apr 6, 2018; Apr 6, 2018 #1 J. jeffc Senior Refuge Member. Extremely lightweight, flexible, and portable. Michael R. Shea Learn More . I make my own foamer decoys, you can find how to information on dedduck.com. Dixie Decoys Drifter Sport Shirt. Anyone here make/carve DIY styrofoam decoys? - Trapperman Forums I only use UV paint for decoys. For the stake, use an 18-inch length of 3/4-inch PVC pipe. I redid an aluminum boat couple years back and tried replacing the floatation foam. Homer Decoys are proudly manufactured in a small community located in Piqua, Ohio. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Some guys clamp the mold and plexiglass unit to a piece of shelving to force the foam to expand fully within the mold to get a slightly denser decoy. If desired, additional and reference lines can be added to make it easier to keep things equal, especially in areas where rounding will occur. Homer Decoys are designed and built to last a lifetime and withstand the harshest of hunting conditions. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. And, even with the weights, a Heyday Decoy is still lighter than a traditional decoy. Probably saved me from ruining a couple dozen decoys. Overall, have fun, get creative, and work to get better. Published Mar 8, 2010 9:02 AM EST, We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. So clear your Sign up for the Field & Stream newsletter and get the latest intelligence straight to your inbox. I like it! Paint these wing bars so they are approximately twice as wide as their original paint job (i.e., 1/4 in. We did the molded decoy thing, but quickly grew out of that and progressed into carving decoys out of foam and wood. Sign up to receive Popular Science's emails and get the highlights. Start off by taking minimal material with each pass, and increase this amount as confidence builds. These five homemade decoys are perfect for the waterfowler on a budget. You are using an out of date browser. Dixie Decoys, LLC is proudly owned by an active duty Marine. JavaScript is disabled. Slowly and meticulously, begin separating the skin from the meat. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Once the pattern is ready, trace it onto the decoy and carefully start cutting off excessive material with a band saw. I am considering . http://www.amazon.com/Pourable-Flotatio B0047R4AQW, Shotshell, Reloading, Ballistics, & Chokes. The Fora platform includes forum software by XenForo. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. Pretty Crafty there. This story was originally featured on Outdoor Life. [2] Drill four 1/8-inch holes in the butt end. Chris Philpot [2] Drill four 1/8-inch holes in the butt end. A lot of the reason I got into carving my own foamers was back in those days all decoys were the same. Duck hunting decoys dont have to cost you $150 per dozen. Think about a Croc that you can hunt over. wide instead of 1/8 in. To find decoy blank cutouts, parts, components and other items, check out the theduckblind.com. Here are step-by-step instructions for how. Be sure that the parting line is drawn along the exact center of the decoy. To touch up a mallard hen, use a small brush to lengthen and widen the two white wing bars on each side of the body (bordering the speculum). These centerlines keep things proportional by providing a good reference line so parts dont become asymmetric. Cut a keel from the furring strip and epoxy in place. How To Make A Turkey Fan Decoy | Field & Stream Sorry this is long, but I wanted to share a little project I am working on. Cut out a foam or wooden head and neck and attach it to one side of the buoy. Those are some sweet looking decoys! Please enable JavaScript to view the comments. I plan to burlap these before painting and will attach a small keel just for a little weight. Once the roughed-out decoy is complete, begin refining the shape of the decoy by drawing half lines down the center of the body, side of the body, and around the crown of the head. JavaScript is disabled. | Then, skin the turkey out. Start by attaching the head to the body in a predetermined location by using a screw or screws and some wood glue. I was thinking about filling some decoys with foam. The shape of the keel can be as basic as a rectangle or as detailed as a half-moon, but the important thing is that its size fits the bird. Most of the difficulty in making your own hand carved foamer decoys is in the knowing how, you can find that at ded outdoors. Drape Cape Waterfowl Hunters are extremely hard on Decoys and Homer Decoys has tested our foam decoys beyond any condition you will ever use them in to ensure theyre the strongest most durable decoy available on the market today. The weight of the foam decoy is less than half a pound. Float the decoy in a tub and add weight to the keel until the bird looks like it ought to in the water. How to make Decoys: ScoterZillias Update 3- Decoys for - YouTube Cut a keel from the furring strip and epoxy in place. Sanding can really make features stand out by creating sharp, precise transitions. This ready-to-use cured skin wraps around most foam decoys to give any faux bird the look of a shimmering, fully feathered hen or gobbler. If you like easy, simply plunk down a credit card at a major sporting goods store for a Turkey Skinz. How to Make Your Own Duck Hunting Decoys - Pinterest Published Aug 28, 2012 12:09 AM EDT, We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Cool you put some thought into it cant wait to see finished product. Michael R. Shea/ Outdoor Life This is also a good time to at least begin fitting a keel, if desired, to the bottom of the decoy. Join PopSci+ to read sciences greatest stories. They make incredible Halloween decorations and are perfect for scaring away specific birds that can harm small pets and gardens. Because delicate skins dont always hold up to the rigors of the turkey woods, check out MOJOs Fan*Tom. Spray Foam Decor Is Having a Moment Among Designers and DIY'ers Once all details have been completely drawn out, drill the holes for glass eyes using a drill bit that is very slightly larger than the diameter of the eyes intended to be used, making sure they are parallel side to side and front to back. They also clean up with water, making them easier to deal with, and mistakes can be easily wiped away. While its still wet, sprinkle 20 Mule Team Borax liberally over the skin and let dry for a minimum of two weeks. The Fool 'Em Finish - yet another reason Heyday's lifetime duck decoys work so well. 15 Foam decoy carving ideas | decoy carving, decoy, carving - Pinterest Plus, every Heyday decoy is painted in a photorealistic manner based on aerial images taken of real ducks. Removing the UpRight Weights transforms the decoy to an unprecedented level of ultra-light. Front and rear stainless steel Easy Attach Eye Bolts that will never fail. It should be dry and ready for Steps 2 and 3 in two weeks. Great stuff is open celled foam and will eventually absorb water no matter how you cover it up. How to make effective duck hunting decoys for under $10 However, I work at a taxidermy supply company and we make forms from two part expanding foam and the stuff is pretty easy to use. This foam is far superior to the EPS type foam. | But theyre also pricey and a pain to carry. [1] Remove the entire fan by cutting around the fleshy base of the tail. Your mold is awesome though and I bet you won't have to worry about it blowing away.lol. Even the best carvers started out with basic decoys, so dont get discouraged if your first bird looks more cormorant than canvasback. The problem with the mold release is that it gets into the foam and makes it impossible to get the glue to stick. My wife had the decoy in the blind, so as soon as she stepped out she was covered up by the silhouette of the decoy. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. Once the two components are solidly attached and the glue has dried, use Apoxie Sculpt or another type of sculpting material to help blend the neck and body joints and touch up any big divots in the body. You just mix it 50/50 and pour it in and the stuff goes a long way. Wrap a layer of burlap over the foam. Walking into the hole, you might forget they are there as our EVA foam reduces noise in transportation to an almost eerie quiet. Save money by making your own waterfowl decoys. HydroFoam Mallards - Light as a Feather, Lasts Forever $149.99 - $299.98 HydroFoam Flocked Mallards - Light as a Feather, Lasts Forever $159.99 - $319.98 After one or two base coats have thoroughly dried, start working in outer colors and details using appropriate colors and techniques. By utilizing pre-made cutouts or kits, you can make decoys with minimal tooling investment, allowing anyone to whittle out a few special blocks for the upcoming season during drab summer months. Start with the basics and work in whatever details your hands can create. Foam board; A realistic 13"x17" strutting tom picture; Two 1/4" wooden dowels; Gorilla glue/X-treme Elmer's glue; . On sale. Once you get the amounts dialed in you should be able to mix and pour and have it out of the mold in 30 minutes or so. http://workingdecoys.net/workingdecoysforum/index.php, Shotshell, Reloading, Ballistics, & Chokes. These decoys are great for hunting crows, but many people use them in their backyards and gardens. Start this step by using 80- or 100-grit sandpaper to smooth the decoy, making sure to get inside all the nooks and crannies to contour the decoys shape. Gee String If you have been hunting long enough you probably have some old decoys laying around. | While decoys can be made a variety of ways, for the purposes of this instruction, the equipment list below focuses on generally available tools that you might already have around the garage, helping to minimize initial investments. Drill a couple 1 1/4" holes in the bottom of the decoy with a hole saw (fore and aft), and a 1/2" or so hole on the bottom of the head, figure out how much foam you need with the expansion rate, pour it in, trim off what comes out of the holes. Make floating decoys from foam buoys by cutting the buoy in half and attaching a wooden keel to the bottom to keep it floating properly. Most of the difficulty in making your own hand carved foamer decoys is in the knowing how, you can find that at ded outdoors. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. You would probably still want to burlap the finished product just for extra durability. A few suggestions would be to not do the burlap method and restle coat them instead and use the saved cash on a few gallons of polyurethane foam. Published Jul 7, 2020 1:46 PM EDT. Decoy Flocking Kits - Flocking Unlimited Just let them drain and fill the holes with a squirt from a hot glue gunIf you are really OCD drill out the hole a little bigger to remove the rattling shot, that can be a game in itself :lol3: .Just a warning, that 2 part expansion foam is an absolute mess. Turn a Heyday floating mallard decoy over and you'll immediately notice the HollowCore body. By Cut one end at a 45-degree angle so you can easily drive it into the ground. Painting is a skill learned over time, so start simple and add more features as your skill increases. How To Take Care Of Your Decoys | BestHuntingAdvice With over 20 years making decoys the hard way we understand what is it takes to create and make a durable economically priced foam duck decoy the right way. Cinch another tie at the top of the stake as a collar to keep the fan from sliding off the top. Actual Hen image printed on to durable 3DFoam. Chuck was a great friend and unfortunately passed away a few years ago. If you want to use the mold you made it will either need mold release or to be super smooth. Dixie Decoys FrogSkin Camo Timber Neck Gaiter $19.99. Only weighs 7 Oz. Not long. How to Paint Decoys | Cheap Duck Decoys - YouTube Foldable plastics. HydroFoam Duck Decoys | HEYDAY Waterfowl Hunting A single 1/4" hole under the tail feathers. Next comes the tricky part. Spray foam is a type of insulation that expands after you spray. Blending coats and white. I want to start building a foam decoy spread and steadily replace my plastic decoys with them as I get groups of them completed. Because these weights are positioned both low and wide, they make the decoys self-righting every time and offer maximum decoy stability in extreme weather conditions. Homer Decoys are designed to withstand the harshest conditions possible. Hardens nicely and makes them very durable. A forum community dedicated to duck hunters and hunting enthusiasts. This enticer employs feathers mounted to a stake that raises and lowers a convincing tom fan with the tug of a string. This is the same material (a closed cell EVA resin) used to make Crocs. A real gobbler fan costs nothing and packs easilyand can be as effective as the full-blown fake. wide). Carve a duck head from the basswood or find a plastic head online. Homer Decoys - Foam Decoys and Decoy Heads - Made in the USA Hunting. Sunday is gonna be good. The fun thing about the foam trend is that you don't have to be too precise and it's super-affordable to DIY, yet it still looks like a very original, unique statement piece. DIY homemade duck decoys can do the trick - Farm and Dairy Its a simple task, but these holes really bring a decoy head to life and allow carving to commence. A good way to avoid the bill becoming disproportional is to carve the majority of the head before even rounding the ends of the bill. 2. Youre almost finished. Just $1 per month . I also have my own magnum mallard mold that could be trimmed to more accurately depict a diver shape. It's easy to hook up your Texas Rig decoy anchors to your Heyday Decoys thanks to our built-in stainless steel, reinforced Easy-Attach Eye Bolts tested to withstand in excess of 165lbs. 2023 Heyday Outdoor | All Rights Reserved. Duck Hunting - FOAM FILLED DECOY ( DIY ) True Southern Waterfowlers 1.92K subscribers 3.7K views 2 years ago #duckhunting In this video I fill my older decoy with foam to help make them. Welp, go to Big lots in the summer and buy a case of the pool noodles, bundle them together and VOILA safety at its finest. Decoy Flocking Kits allow you to minimize glare, creating a realistic look from the sky. Items included are: flocking, applicator, brush . Cut along the underbelly, making a slit from the anus to where the feathers end just below the beak. Finally, take your favorite decoy and adhere your dry skin to the outside using an all-weather adhesive such as Gorilla Glue. A timing system is used to sequence the . With a roughed-out or cutout kit, most of this work has been done for you. Because the HydroFoam material itself floats, and because it's so durable, weight is further reduced by hollowing out the entire decoy body. Proprietary Photoform process using actual imagery of a turkey. Our SmoothMove Dual Keels on the bottom of the decoy creates less resistance in the water for better decoy movement and allows our decoys to sit flat in a field application or on ice. Dixie Decoys FrogSkin Timber Camo 1/4 Zip. I went back on my old foam decoy thread and realized I never did a step by step like you mentioned in that thread. While fine feather details are great in hand, from a distance, they make absolutely no difference to the birds so dont get hung up on them if things arent perfect right away. Here are five waterfowl decoys for divers, dabblers, and geese that you can make yourself. M.D.

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