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DIY deeks and what works

27K views 26 replies 16 participants last post by  Levi.markley1998 
#1 ·
So im in college and got permission to hunt three new fields back home for snows. The problem is im a broke college kid, just as the rest of my crew is, and we need more deeks. currently we have 30 shells and 4 dozen sillosocks plus 2 dozen silhouettes. This is a common question and i know its prob been posted before but i want to focus on a few things ive heard as DIY decoys.

1. milk jugs... hows it work
2. make your own sillosocks... has anyone done this and whats the approx. cost to do so with tyvek
3. silhouettes... i have access to tons of cardboard, old canadian silhouettes i can paint into snows, and old election signs. But how many is too many? i know its a numbers game but im afraid of overdoing and having a spread of 400+ deeks and the majority of them are just silhouettes and not moving.
4. The old tires cut into four and painted white... We tried it last year and couldnt cut through the meta ring in the tire even with an all purpose "cut through anything" jig saw blade. has anyone successfully pulled it off?

And finally, with todays competition of hunting against guys that have 18 foot trailers filled with fbs and multiple ecallers, has any one had decent success with spreads made of mostly these home made do it yourselfer decoys. Im not expecting to go out and have those days where guys need to go get another truck to bring all the dead birds home like you see on youtube, but i dont want to go through all this work if im going to get lucky to kill three birds. Please send me some advice on whats good calls and bad calls in regards to the DIY deeks. Thanks in advance.
 
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#3 ·
Handouts? Im not asking for handouts. If I was I'd be the spot shark internet scouter you find on here who end up turning half the guys into paranoid DHC members afraid to even say what state let alone what section of a state they live in for fear of losing a spot. i was simply asking if any one has tried any of these things and had any advice. it is a site of waterfowl hunters i figured someone has to have tried these things and may or may not have a few tips as to what they found successful or how you can improve on these techniques. and just throwing it out there we went ahead and made the decoys anyway 200 silhouettes... Il be sure to post how hunting over a spread of mostly DIY deeks, and other decoys we had to work hard to get or make, so other people with a similar question to mine can hopefully take a little bit out of my experience and hopefully save themselves a little hassle.
 
#4 ·
snowline said:
there is only one way to find out - forget about trying to get a stranger on the internet to convince you of your own ideas - the sport requires a little work - a little trial and error - and a lot more then the interent alone can offer. Get out there and experiment - find out for your self and stop asking for hand outs.
Causing **** in every forum you are in, eh? Maybe keep your stupid remarks to yourself for awhile.

To the OP - Im working on my own windsocks right now. I've heard quite a few good ideas this past year im going to try. One of which is getting a stack of styrofome plates, painting x's on them, then throw them when geese are nearby. A guy at work says they work well, and keep good motion in your spread. Good luck to ya! :beer:
 
#5 ·
Thanks bud... Its a few bad eggs that ruin the bunch... Weve tried everything from garbage bags to canadian fbs with white socks on their heads mixed in with out sillosocks. Apparently the canadians with the socks look like blues? idk last year was rough but we got our ecaller together and about 3 400 deeks scavenged together hopefully well be able to pull a few off here and there. There are just a few in my area and the 100 we used last week only would pull the straggler snows off flocks of canadas hopefully our additions will be able to bring in a small flock or two
 
#7 ·
If I was going to make my own on a budget, I would find a place that sells bulk tyvek sleeves and a place that sells aluminum metal rods. I would sew one end and then cut my own rods, and spraypaint the ends of the tyvek sleeves with some feather detail.
 
#8 ·
Weve been buying the economy sillosocks and painting them they work and we plan to keep at it. its just all these other ways can add a good number of fillers at a price next to nothing thats why we were curious about them. Like i said tho we went through with the silhouettes hopefully theyll help and buying sillosocks as the money comes. Thanks for the advice guys
:beer:
 
#9 ·
snowline said:
so now your better off? you got stupid ass advice, styrofoam plates?! seriously?

Buy some freakin silo socks you cheap bastard, if you cant afford snow goos'in then wait till you can,
This thread was started to broaden horizons on DIY decoys. I HAVE posted a DIY decoy idea. You have not.

It's not about the money, although I'm sure someone as obtuse as yourself can't possibly fathom that. At the end of the day, and a pile of birds later, I can look back and say "Yep, MY HOME MADE decoys played a part in this." Your egotistical, self-righteousness is not welcome here, we have enough as it is. I suggest you learn to either be more observant and keep your dim-witted comments to yourself, or you just stop posting. You have yet to gain any bad marks in my book, but aren't so lucky with others. Don't burn bridges you have yet to travel.
 
#11 ·
These where made of scraps left over from 1/6" fiberglass panels and scap aluminum for stakes and the cheapest house paint I could find. I have about 5 dozen. Two dozen of which are painted as snows on one side and blues on the other to add what I hope is a multi dimentional spread. These were done before chloroplast (political signs) was readily available and now I would use that instead due to weight. These get mixed in with my windsocks and seem to work pretty good. The link attached is a supplier for solid fiberglass rods, which calculated would get you 2' stakes for about .50 or less depending on size.
FWIW If I would be competing with FBs I'd fight it with numbers



http://www.goodwinds.com/merch/list.sht ... fiberglass

With elections coming up lots of signs may be available after primaries. Also talk to convenience stores. The soda companies use that for their signs also. And if you're really looking to add whatever you can hit up construction sites/dumpsters for plywood scaps.
 
#12 ·
you can buy coroplast (plastic sign material) relativly cheap. what gets you is the shipping. so I found a company that offerd it in pre cut 18x24" pieces (you can get 2 dekes per piece) and if wait till they have an online deal for free shipping if you spend enough $. I believe I had to spend $200. I stacked them up about 14 pieces thick and had some really long screws to hold them all together so that I could make one cut and have 14 decoys. just be sure to pay attention how the grooves run. I had mine run up and down so all I had to do was slide in a piece of 3/16" diamater steel rod in for the stake. I believe the name of the company i got the coroplast from was US plastic. The steel rod can be a little tricky to get but still relativly cheap. best choice is to find a steel supplier, or metal scrap yard. If no luck there ask around the local machine shop to see if they can order it for you. I believe I paid about $75 for 1500feet. they come in 10-20' bars so you will need a bolt cutter to whack em off. I hunted for a few years over nothing but 1200 of these sign decoys and did pretty good. Remember sillouettes give the illusion of movement. I have heard from a few hard core snow hunters that they use different sets one with full bodys, one with silosocks, and one with sillouettes. they just dont mix the different types. they say it causes too much difference in the color or look of the spread if you mix em. I dont know if there is any truth to it.
good luck
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the advice.. actually im kind of lucky we have 200 old canada silhouettes i got from my step dad and we are just going to use the rods from them. I actually talked to the local 6 pack shop and the owner said once a month they usually get new signs. so they should be getting more in a week and il get all his January extra gold lager on sale for $7.50 a 12 pack signs haha.
 
#14 ·
SQUAWK,
I am trying to find some good DIY decoy ideas, too. I hunt around Springfield, MO so there is no competion from me for any hunters on the forum. Sorry one bad apple can be such an ass. I joined this forum to learn and share to make hunting better for everyone. I googled homemade snow geese decoys and found a few things both most of it was kinda crappy. I am putting two daughters through college and understand about money! I found some Hunter's Specialties rags for $40 bucks for a hundred. They seemed really cheap. They were just white plastic. The dowels were not included and the store was sold out, but the guy said a hundred pack was about $50 bucks. We may only get two or three days of snows in my area so hunting ain't much. Otherwise it is a three hour trip to snow goose land. I am kinda thinking that a guided hunt may be cheaper than buying decoys at this point, but I would rather do it on my own, too... Good luck! If I come across any good ideas, I will pass them on...
 
#15 ·
you can make home made tyvek socks but it is honestly worth it to just by the economy socks the plastics silhouettes work pretty well you just don't want to many of them. I use mostly carry lite shells that I made stakes for that they can move around on with some wind. Just wondering but where are you hunting?
 
#16 ·
SE pa we get a nice flooding of them coming back from nj this time of the year. its just been rough this year with school. luckily i have an earlier spring break than most where i can get on them a few days before they move all the way through
 
#17 ·
Im collecting milk jugs right now paint the jugs white take welding rods, soak um until the stuff falls off and cut out plywood heads, paint them and put the rods on the heads, put the rods through where the lid is, drive the rod through the ground, the the wind will make the jugs swing back and forth. The geese see the movement and the white :welcome: :wink:
 
#19 ·
Look into those plastic signs you see all over the place for politicians, I heard of some guys using those and cutting them to shape and painting. Not vastly durable but a cheap way to make silhouettes. You can try a sign shop as well for similar more durable material and they may cut you a deal and be able to cut it to shape for you in dimensions you need, who knows?
 
#20 ·
I am 14 and feel your pain. I can't even work so I really have to get creative. I use walmart sacks. I'm sure you have some. I buy a sheet of styro board at the dollar store for $1 for the heads. It also is used for reel wings And silhouettes. I use a sharpie and draw feathers and the black X's on the back where the wings cross. I have a 12 gauge wire running through the decoys heads to stick in the ground and for support of the bags or the "back bone". The heads will turn in the wind so I rubber band them on top and around the base. The reel wings are just the 12 gauge wire and a sheet of styro board cut in a 10-12 inch oval about 5 inches across with both sides on the top and bottom colored black. Leave about 5 inches white on both sides inbetween what you have colored black. Then get about a 10 inch long price of fishing line and tie it on the top of the wire and to the top of the reel wing. Bend the top 90 degrees and have the bended part about 5 inches for Clearence of the reel wing. Have about three feet off the ground. Put in back of spread so it gives the birds something to look at while lighting in. I also use a home made e-caller. There's an app called snow goose e caller. I have one on my iPad and phone and connect to a 6 dollar tiny speaker with a cup around it for greater sound. My buddy does the same so we have 4 going. Also on Knutsons decoys you can get 300 Texas rags for $100 and collapsible snow geese decoys for 67 a dozen. Also if you have old duck decoys paint then like snows. I have 2 dozen old decoys painted like snows. This is what I have found that works for us broke people. Hope I helped. Good luck!
 
#24 ·
Might try Texas Hunting Products. I purchase rags from them direct; also I am buying 2nds or imperfect rags by the pound. Sometimes they came in a big roll with imperfections in the printing of the wing tips, other times they were just a huge wad with imperfect sizes.
Here in Ca. we take a 3" long piece of 3/4" PVC, find the opposite corner from wing tip print, insert a 3" long x 3/4" PVC piece in corner, fold corner, and secure with a white zip-tie. I have 4 bags with approx. 600 rags in each that I keep in my decoy trailer.

I regularly put out 2 bags along with full bodies and flyers by myself. Really easy to put out, just open the bag and start throwing them down. We use a long stick to pick them up making piles to be stuffed in bags.

I am a firm believer that most of the time quantity beats quality when it comes to snow decoys. The only downside is the wind, anything around 20 mph or so and you better pick em up or you will be chasing them into the next county, lol !!
 
#25 ·
Shadow- can yo still get Texas rags? Everybody seems to be out, and since Chuck Barry passed away, not sure the company will go on? I assume you put the pvc for weight? I cut 4" pieces of 1/2" pvc at sharp angles and tie the head part of the rag through it so I can jam the pvc into the ground like a little stake.
 
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