I've been having some fun building some motion decoys. I hunt a couple of areas that the water is pretty still, and I needed something that can give the decoys a little life to them.
click on the pics to watch the videos
The first one that I built was a feeding butt decoy. I tested it out in the bathtub.
(http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae68/byerscustomcalls/th_duckbutt.jpg) (http://s958.photobucket.com/albums/ae68/byerscustomcalls/?action=view¤t=duckbutt.mp4)
The next one that I built was a swimming decoy. I mounted the bilge pump to the keel of the first decoy, and mounted the battery in the body of the second decoy. I attached two more decoys in the train, just to slow down the 800 gph pump and give it a more lifelike appearance.
(http://i958.photobucket.com/albums/ae68/byerscustomcalls/th_swimming3.jpg) (http://s958.photobucket.com/albums/ae68/byerscustomcalls/?action=view¤t=swimming3.mp4)
I've got a 10 foot lead rope attached to the front decoy, and then attached to a 5 lb weight & swivel, so it can just swim in circles until the battery runs out.
Brian
Clever thinking. Nothing ventured nothing gained so why not give it a try. :yoyo:
nice, you see the price of them swimmin dekes ? I bet you saved a bundle !!
Brian,that is toooo coool never seen anyone do that before keep us posted on your success with these. :yoyo: :yoyo:
How long did it take you to train the four ducks to follow along like that? :wink:
Jerry
Now THAT is a GREATidea !!! :yoyo:
That is a neat idea for sure! :congrats: Let us know how it works in a hunting situation this fall. :readthis:
Very clever indeed :yoyo:
I can't take credit for the feeding duck project. There are lots of plans out there on how to make one. I don't know if I saved any money by making it myself, but it's always fun making it yourself thinking you saved money building it yourself. :alscalls:
Quote from: Silencer on August 08, 2010, 04:39:47 PM
nice, you see the price of them swimmin dekes ? I bet you saved a bundle !!
I've seen all sorts of swimming dekes, ranging in price from $50 to $250. If you can find dekes for cheap, this system isn't too costly at all. To float a battery, you will need an supermag decoy. The biggest one that I could find was the G&H oversized supermag. It floats the battery just fine and has great stability with the 12 volt battery tucked in it's belly. The other dekes are green head gear, as I like how they "swim" in the water. If you can find a bilge pump for cheap/clearance, then that will help with the cost too. It's about the end of the summer boating season, and wallyworld will start putting their boating supplies on the clearance aisle, as they run about $19 normally. And if you can find a deal on a 12 volt 7ah battery, that helps too.
Brian
I'd make some but we cant use them here, just the old pull string.
I'd seen the swiming dekes on the live duck hunting feed last year, man I wish we could use them lol.
I like the lil train of ducks. Thats darn cool. :congrats: