deadstick

I'd by the new Avery full-bodies (I personally have BigFoots and GHG's - the GHG's look better, the Bigfoots are more durable, and the Avery looks to me to have both for the same price as Big Foots - $300 per dozen). I'd start with a couple dozen of those and a dozen magnum shells. If you can't afford the Bigfoots, just get some shells. I personally am not a silhouette fan, although they are very manageable (don't take up much space) and somewhat affordable (overpriced for what they are IMO).

For ducks, the Flambeau enticers were my favorit until this year - Hardcore has some really nice ones (currently on sale at Cabela's I think - but also somewhat expensive).

For $500, you should be able to get 1 dozen fullbodies and nearly 2 dozen shells - I'd probably start there and then add fullbodies as you can afford it (that's what we did - started with shells and gradually bought full bodies until we had enough and barely use the shells any more).