# Prince of the Marsh



## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

So, I heard a rumor there were a bunch of Canvasbacks up north. Turned out to be untrue, as I only saw a handful. Turns out that they decoy really well, though. I had pintail dekes on both sides of me, and 1/2 dozen G&H can decoys right out front. Shortly after getting set up, two hens landed right in the can decoys. I thought about it, but as their numbers aren't great, gave them a pass. In fact, I typically give ducks a pass if they land. It was a very slow day, nothing worked me, including the hen and eclipse drake ruddies. I texted a buddy saying I should have gone up for grouse. Then later in the afternoon, these two plopped into the can decoys without warning. I didn't give them a pass or use a 28.





Turned out to be a nice day after all. They're juveniles, but they're also the only duck my wife actually likes. I'm thinking Canvasback veal.


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

You are doing better than a lot of guys, and quality birds to boot.8)


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

Beautiful birds. Hard to complain about those two.

Sent from my SM-G928T using Tapatalk


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

You have some good eating ahead of you! Congrats! You get double points for the old G&H pinner decoys, I actually have the same ones.


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

I've been targeting cans this yr. very interesting bird. Had them all around the blocks, just not in the blocks. I'll get them dialed in. Sure love carving and painting up the fakes...


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## JuniorPre 360 (Feb 22, 2012)

king eider said:


> I've been targeting cans this yr. very interesting bird. Had them all around the blocks, just not in the blocks. I'll get them dialed in. Sure love carving and painting up the fakes...


Those sleepers look cool! I haven't seen any around my area yet. But the buffleheads and redheads have shown up.


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## Idratherbehunting (Jul 17, 2013)

king eider said:


> I've been targeting cans this yr. very interesting bird. Had them all around the blocks, just not in the blocks. I'll get them dialed in. Sure love carving and painting up the fakes...


I think carving some of my own decoys is going to have to be added to my list of things to do.


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Idratherbehunting said:


> I think carving some of my own decoys is going to have to be added to my list of things to do.


Do it! Not much is more satisfying than shooting birds over decoys you made yourself. You don't have to be any kind of artist either, the birds don't have the same sense of aesthetics as we do. My favorite thing about making your own blocks is that if you gave 10 guys 10 blocks of wood to carve a mallard decoy, you will end up with 10 decoys that look like mallards but all have their own distinctive style. It's so much fun!


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## paddler (Jul 17, 2009)

Eider, those are beautiful! That's something I'd like to do as well, but no time right now. Just got off the phone with G&H, another dozen are on their way. I've heard that lots of different species will decoy to canvasbacks. We'll see.


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## curlycoyote (Sep 11, 2015)

Would you mind sharing where you get your blocks from and what kind of wood you use. Also what you use to carve them. I would not mind giving it a try. thanks for any info you are willing to share.


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

curlycoyote said:


> Would you mind sharing where you get your blocks from and what kind of wood you use. Also what you use to carve them. I would not mind giving it a try. thanks for any info you are willing to share.


I am definitely not a great decoy carver, but I have a ton of fun doing it. 
Easiest way to get started is to make foamers, I glue pieces of 2" blue foam board together to make blanks. When you get the shape you want, thin some Titebond 3 wood glue down a bit with water, paint the decoy with the glue mix, and then roll it in sawdust a few times. Here are some foamer bodies in progress:


And here they are painted, cans and redheads:


If you love making foamers, then after a while you will be tempted to make some wooden decoys-here is my first hollow wood decoy, a bluebill made from cypress, with a walnut keel:



This redhead is hollow basswood in the head and body:


Lots of guys like to carve with white cedar, but it is expensive to get around here. Basswood is a good compromise, and you can always try cork too. There's a ton of tradition in decoy carving, and a lot to learn! It's especially fun when you end up with results like this:


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

Oh boy where to start....

So carving my own blocks has been an adventure. The learning curve has been rather interesting. I've progressed well through some aspects and other parts I've been pretty slow. 

The bodies are carved out of HD cork I get from the duckblind.com. they come in a large sheet that I can get 9 or so decoys out of. I'll be ordering a few more sheets this spring so if you want in on the order stay in touch. About $120/sheet. The heads are carved out of white cedar I get from a guy in wisconson. I have a band saw to cut the blocks down to size and then use a foredom to carve. I use a Godin pattern for the uprights, made my own pattern for the sleepers. Have 13 more sleepers in process now. The brighter cans are painted with acrylics. The hens and one sleeper are painted in oils. All my birds will be painted with oils going forward. Slower, but better color and far more durable. Cork blocks are not cheap. They cost a lot to make and a boat load of time. But very very fun!! Still working on bettering my carving. Especially the heads and bills. It's tough! I have a couple guys that help me. But they live back east so it's limiting.

Nice foams pumpgunner. Tried foam and it kicked my butt!!


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

A few photos to share with you.


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## curlycoyote (Sep 11, 2015)

Thank you guys for sharing. I would really like to try this but will probably not start until the end of duck season or at least until me and the grandson get our swans.

I really do appreciate all the info and will PM you if I do not buy some material before spring. Thanks for the offer.

They all look awesome from both of you.


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

king eider said:


> A few photos to share with you.


Those are looking really good King! I have a half dozen slabs of black cork in my garage right now, waiting for me to get some time to try them out. It's a lot coarser than the tan cork but I like the kind of rough, vintage look it gives the birds-it must be OK if LL bean has been making them that way for a century! There's no other decoy that rides the water as naturally as a corker, it seems like the perfect material doesn't it! I really like the blending on the head of that sleeper can!


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## king eider (Aug 20, 2009)

Pumpgunner said:


> Those are looking really good King! I have a half dozen slabs of black cork in my garage right now, waiting for me to get some time to try them out. It's a lot coarser than the tan cork but I like the kind of rough, vintage look it gives the birds-it must be OK if LL bean has been making them that way for a century! There's no other decoy that rides the water as naturally as a corker, it seems like the perfect material doesn't it! I really like the blending on the head of that sleeper can!


Post up how the black cork goes for you. I've only messed with that for a very brief time. It was different. My foredom just mowed through it like it was foam. Although blocks do look really good when they are all done. So far tan or high density cork is home for me. Hope to have 6 or so dozen cans to hunt behind. Most will be sleepers. Probably a 3/1 ratio of sleepers and 4/1 ratio of drake to hen.


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## rjefre (Sep 8, 2007)

Dang, I see a lot of talent there! I hope you guys keep posting pics of your blocks. Nice!
R


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## Fowlmouth (Oct 4, 2008)

Pumpgunner, 
what kind of glue do you use when stacking the foam board?
what material is used to make the heads?
what do you use for a keel?


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## Clarq (Jul 21, 2011)

Great thread! I'd be really tempted to carve decoys if I had any artistic aptitude whatsoever.

And to the OP - nothing wrong there. Lots of Canvasbacks would be nice, but two is all you need.


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

Fowlmouth said:


> Pumpgunner,
> what kind of glue do you use when stacking the foam board?
> what material is used to make the heads?
> what do you use for a keel?


Fowl-If I'm doing foamers, I glue everything with Titebond 3 wood glue, it's waterproof and not that expensive if you buy it by the gallon jug. Often when I'm building boats I will have some decoy bodies ready to go and if I have any leftover epoxy from boat building I will use it to coat my decoys, they come out literally bulletproof if they are epoxy-coated.

I had a bunch of plastic Herter's heads that I used on my early foamers, now I will usually carve the head out of basswood or balsa wood. If I can find some good clear white pine it makes a nice decoy too. If you're doing sleepers a lot of times you can carve the head out of the same block that the body is carved from so it can all be one piece.

There are a bunch of different ways to do a keel, on some foamers I will not have a keel and just make a suction-type bottom so they will move around in the wind. Other times I will carve a channel in the decoy bottom and set in a hardwood keel, this is the most traditional way to do it. Also I will sometimes make a bottom board from 1/2" white pine and glue my foam on top of that, that is more fore decoys that are intended for big open water where they need some extra stability. There are a ton of ways to skin a cat, one of my favorite things about making my own decoys is experimenting with new ideas, it gives you the chance to try out some crazy schemes without spending too much money!

Honestly the best way to get started is to make up some foam blocks, find a decoy that you really like, and try to copy it. That will give you and idea of how the different curves and lines come together, and proportions and such. Once you get the basics down you can change things up however you like, and I guess that's how you develop your own style over time. Best thing is if you carve a dozen ducks, they will all be slightly different and to me they look a lot more natural!


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## Pumpgunner (Jan 12, 2010)

I was going to say that another thing I love about carving decoys is that you will really start to pay attention to the subtle differences between species of ducks, and really study the way that birds sit on the water and the poses that they take. Also you will start to notice how decoys are often embellished in order to be more visible and more attractive to birds! For example when Canvasbacks sit on the water their bodies are usually barely above the surface, and their long head and neck sticks up like the Loch Ness monster-however if you made your whole canvasback rig like this they wouldn't be nearly as visible to passing birds so you make the body stick up out of the water more. Divers in general tend to sit really low, with their tails almost in the water, but bluebills almost have a puddle duck body and their tail is usually held higher like a mallard or gadwall. It's really an endless progression of observing and learning, it's so much fun if you tend to be an obsessive nerd like me!


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