"how to" make a feathered decoy
03-15-2008, 09:37 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 451
"how to" make a feathered decoy
How to turn your average decoy into the perfect decoy
I got tired of watching my decoys scare birds away, some times they work and most times they wouldn’t. A lot of the time it wasn’t the tom that figured it out, it was a hen that got too close to the decoy and freaked out. I finally decided to do something about it…
How to taxidermy the skin:
First you need to separate the skin from the meat. Take a semi sharp knife and slowly separate the skin from the meat. Starting from the belly to the back, the skin on the back is easy to tear so you have to be careful. Make sure to take off as much fat and meat as you can but be careful not to tear the skin.
All you need is “borax” and “mineral oil.” The process will take 2 days to 1 week.
In the mornings I spread borax over the skin, and in the evenings I clean it off and rub in the mineral oil. I sometimes flex and stretch the skin lightly while the mineral oil is soaked in.
Fitting the skin on the decoy:
First I took my old “delta” turkey decoys and cut off the tail and stuffed it full of old Walmart bags, the plastic bags are far lighter than newspapers, and I needed the decoy to be stiff.
Next I took light wire and shaped the decoy the way I wanted it. Note: the jake didn’t need to be shaped. The two hens had a huge hump behind the head that didn’t work with the cape.
Next I took the skin and fitted it on the old decoy. I used wire to poke through the skin and then through the plastic decoy and twisted it tight.
It isn’t an exact science and I asked my taxidermist how to do it a year ago, I have been real happy with the results as I have watched toms mount my hen, jakes loose control of body functions, and hens puff up and strut for dominance.
The one best thing that can be added to this is to tie a fishing string to the decoys head and then loop it to the spot you are going to sit and then back to the tail end of the decoy. You can easily spin the decoy with a hidden hand and you will get more reactions from a tom watching it move than his reaction to your calling.
I got tired of watching my decoys scare birds away, some times they work and most times they wouldn’t. A lot of the time it wasn’t the tom that figured it out, it was a hen that got too close to the decoy and freaked out. I finally decided to do something about it…
How to taxidermy the skin:
First you need to separate the skin from the meat. Take a semi sharp knife and slowly separate the skin from the meat. Starting from the belly to the back, the skin on the back is easy to tear so you have to be careful. Make sure to take off as much fat and meat as you can but be careful not to tear the skin.
All you need is “borax” and “mineral oil.” The process will take 2 days to 1 week.
In the mornings I spread borax over the skin, and in the evenings I clean it off and rub in the mineral oil. I sometimes flex and stretch the skin lightly while the mineral oil is soaked in.
Fitting the skin on the decoy:
First I took my old “delta” turkey decoys and cut off the tail and stuffed it full of old Walmart bags, the plastic bags are far lighter than newspapers, and I needed the decoy to be stiff.
Next I took light wire and shaped the decoy the way I wanted it. Note: the jake didn’t need to be shaped. The two hens had a huge hump behind the head that didn’t work with the cape.
Next I took the skin and fitted it on the old decoy. I used wire to poke through the skin and then through the plastic decoy and twisted it tight.
It isn’t an exact science and I asked my taxidermist how to do it a year ago, I have been real happy with the results as I have watched toms mount my hen, jakes loose control of body functions, and hens puff up and strut for dominance.
The one best thing that can be added to this is to tie a fishing string to the decoys head and then loop it to the spot you are going to sit and then back to the tail end of the decoy. You can easily spin the decoy with a hidden hand and you will get more reactions from a tom watching it move than his reaction to your calling.
03-15-2008, 12:39 PM
#7
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: chiefland Florida USA
Posts: 5,417
RE: "how to" make a feathered decoy
thats really good.
I made one about 20 years ago , before decoys were popular.I made the body from sheets or styrofoam,took paper towels and dipped into Elmers glue thinned to 1/2 with water.wrap the body , let dry, then painted with latex black paint.
then I took feathers from birds I had saved.cut the fussy part off , about 1/2 of the feather.took flat black oil paint and dipped the tip of the feather and laied it on the decoy, the next feather was laied over that one about 1/2 way and so on till the whole body was covered with feathers.
took the wing and tail feathers and stuck into the styrofoam body with paint on the tips.
I put glass eyes and a beak from a bird I killed.I made the legs from a small rod,(about the size of a pencil lead)the leg was shaped like a Y.I took black catgut fishing line and ran to the leg,tied one line to each side of the Y and went out about 25 yards.I used a fishing reel to reel the line up when the hunt was over.you run the line out to your setup and pull one line and it turns one way,pull the other line and it turns the other.
I used it every hunt until some IDIOT shot my decoy.I haven't used a decoy since.been about 10 years.(I still have the old rag eared beatten decoy)
sounds like a lotta work,but onlt took about 2 hrs. total to finish.
sorry don't have any pic's that I could find,to post.
I made one about 20 years ago , before decoys were popular.I made the body from sheets or styrofoam,took paper towels and dipped into Elmers glue thinned to 1/2 with water.wrap the body , let dry, then painted with latex black paint.
then I took feathers from birds I had saved.cut the fussy part off , about 1/2 of the feather.took flat black oil paint and dipped the tip of the feather and laied it on the decoy, the next feather was laied over that one about 1/2 way and so on till the whole body was covered with feathers.
took the wing and tail feathers and stuck into the styrofoam body with paint on the tips.
I put glass eyes and a beak from a bird I killed.I made the legs from a small rod,(about the size of a pencil lead)the leg was shaped like a Y.I took black catgut fishing line and ran to the leg,tied one line to each side of the Y and went out about 25 yards.I used a fishing reel to reel the line up when the hunt was over.you run the line out to your setup and pull one line and it turns one way,pull the other line and it turns the other.
I used it every hunt until some IDIOT shot my decoy.I haven't used a decoy since.been about 10 years.(I still have the old rag eared beatten decoy)
sounds like a lotta work,but onlt took about 2 hrs. total to finish.
sorry don't have any pic's that I could find,to post.
03-15-2008, 06:15 PM
#10
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Kansas
Posts: 451
RE: "how to" make a feathered decoy
that is pretty cool "tree climber", my next step will be to make it from scratch.
xxxrory7xxx: i knew someone would say that... i have had gobblers hang up and sprint off out of range, sometimes way out of range because they have incredible eyes that can tell the difference. educated or older birds have a 6th since for fake decoys. plus i have had numerous times where you have a group of 20 birds or so coming in and one hen strays away in your direction to check out your decoy and suddenly she starts putting, and then the jig is up. after seeing the difference in results i wouldn't have the confidence to bring out a decoy without feathers. besides for me it is just for fun, i like to see what crazy things the turkeys will do for a decoy hen up close.
xxxrory7xxx: i knew someone would say that... i have had gobblers hang up and sprint off out of range, sometimes way out of range because they have incredible eyes that can tell the difference. educated or older birds have a 6th since for fake decoys. plus i have had numerous times where you have a group of 20 birds or so coming in and one hen strays away in your direction to check out your decoy and suddenly she starts putting, and then the jig is up. after seeing the difference in results i wouldn't have the confidence to bring out a decoy without feathers. besides for me it is just for fun, i like to see what crazy things the turkeys will do for a decoy hen up close.
