[CLUTCHfan]

Which decoy?​

Flambeau "full limit " mallards	6	15.79%
GHG "hot buy"	32	84.21%

 

[CLUTCHfan]

I will be buying some inexpensive decoys, but haven't had the opportunity to see either decoy outside of the catalogs.

 

[ol' yeller]

I would go for the Avery Hot Buys. Cabela's is having a sale on them right now for $25 a doz. The paint holds up much better than the Flambeau's and the paint job seems more realistic to me.

yeller

 

[mallardhunter]

I got to go with the hot buy decoys, just because I think they look way better.

 

[CLUTCHfan]

Great, thank you. I just didn't want to buy the wrong ones and regret it later on.

 

[ks_waterfowler]

I would buy good decoys rather than inexpensive ones. The Hot Buys Cabelas sold me are the 03 models and not the new and improved 04 models. Remember, there is a reason decoys are cheap. I went the cheap decoy route 2 years straight and struck out both times.

 

[CLUTCHfan]

I saw some of the Sport Plast' decoys in the cabelas catalog and they looked pretty nice, but I couldn't tell how much they weighed and wasn't sure if I'd be able to pick up a dozen or if they were worth the price. I hate buying things unless I can check them out in person. Has anyone seen or used them.

 

[DuckSleuth]

Flambeau, in my humble opinion, SUCKS! The paint has way too much glare... Who has seen a mallard duck with a lime neon green head?? Greenhead gear represents the best compromise between performance and price, but if you are looking for the best, go with G&H decoys.

 

[donell67]

i would buy ghg. they do look better.but g&h is the best.

 

[ks_waterfowler]

G&h are the best for durability. Guy I hunt with has had some for 5 years and except for being dirty look the same as they did new. Another buddy got some cabelas real image. They are the most realistic decoy out there, but they cost an arm and a leg.

 

[quackkiller]

I would definately go with the GHG. I love their decoys. I hope nobody ever gets those bass pro decoys. I made that mistake about 2 years ago. they look decent but u can sit their and scratch the paint off of them with ur fingernail. After having them about a week they were so scratched up I quit usin em.

 

[gracenjohn]

has anyone tried to preserve their paint b4 scratching it off with their finger nail? I've used it on older decoys, and will try it on the ghg. a can runs $3.95 and i covered 3 dozen this summer.

John

 

[CLUTCHfan]

What do you use to preserve it?

 

[Poke Boater]

What do you use to preserve it?

He said Verathane in his subject line. That may be similar to what I covered a steel "game" (water) ball for fire fighters playing "Water Ball" here a few years back. It was our watermelon fest, and I painted the steel ball tan/orange/ with lines with an overlay of netting to make it look like a cantaloupe. Not bad I thought and to prevent 150 lbs of fire hose water pressure from ruining the paint I sprayed it my wife's craft sealer.

A flourescent sp? orange "target" spot was put on the middle. I finished the melon ball at midnight. At 2:00 the melon was being hit for 3 minutes with 150lbs of water pressure. Two hours later the flourescent paint was barely chipped, and no melon paint was washed off.

The polyrurathane spray hadn't dried as long as recomended. It was shiney, but sanding a decoy sprayed with Verathane may dull the poly coat and keep the paint on. I may try it.

gracenjohn, How did your 3 dozen look after the sealer was used?

Poke Boater :thumbsup:

 

[DuckPlayer]

I kinda like the design of the flambeu's ,but like everyone say's the paint generally sucks, about 2 years ago I bought some unpainted ones 2 doz. from cabelas at the end of the season sale tinkered with them over the summer painted them all with a good plastic primer (rust colored) then I just got one at a time out and gave them a coat of krylon ULTRA-FLAT tan paint used a small painting kit to hand finish them off and they looked pretty good ( I,m not very artistic ) ,but they worked great just make sure to use flat paints for everything except the eye then a drop of high-gloss looks good. I think I ended up with about 24$ invested in 2 doz dekes I didn't think it was too bad! It also gave me somthing to tinker on in the non-duck shootin' time of the year :laughing:

 

[98ramtough]

Were the old flambeaus a better product? I bought a few dozen magnum decoys a while back out of the paper used. A few dozen were herters magnums made in 1991, and a dozen were flambeaus made in 1992. All these decoys look great with no paint chipping off after 10+years.

Look in the papers and classifieds for used decoys, preferably built in America!

Mike

 

[Hunten E Guy]

the ghg hold up pretty good for the price i would go with them

 

[DucSmoker]

I bought 5 dozen ghg decoys last year and the paint didn't stay on worth a durn . Flambeau are made in the great US OF A. Ghg are made in china. Not hard decision for this american. :thumbsup: :smile: [/img]