Youngest son got his dead mount back

That is awesome! ^^^^^^
Sweet boat too.
 
Just for “because”. The guy in the pic with gun and rod is my best friends nephew. He is the proud owner free of charge for about 250 decoys. I gave him everything I had but the 12 cork black ducks deks I carved.

I told him I’d borrow them some day, but haven’t.

If I ever give up deer hunting again I might borrow them. can’t do both. I’m all in or not in.
 
I agree on the true black. We shot lots of white pin strips and threw them in the black duck bucket.
Only one I ever mounted was banded. Unfortunately not a good band story. It was banded the year before about 10 miles away.

now I did kill an Atlantic brant that was banded in the north west territories of Canada. He was far from home.

How far south do the black ducks go in your flyway? Rare for them to reach Virginia on the Atlantic. Could be wrong on that. I just know most southern hunters never see them.

i know it’s not his flyway but I’ve killed one in southern kentucky and was on a hunt where we killed one in middle Georgia. I think they can make pretty far south in the Atlantic flyway.
 
i know it’s not his flyway but I’ve killed one in southern kentucky and was on a hunt where we killed one in middle Georgia. I think they can make pretty far south in the Atlantic flyway.

that’s pretty cool.. in our salt marshes their the predominant duck. For us a mallard is rare.
 
Just for “because”. The guy in the pic with gun and rod is my best friends nephew. He is the proud owner free of charge for about 250 decoys. I gave him everything I had but the 12 cork black ducks deks I carved.

I told him I’d borrow them some day, but haven’t.

If I ever give up deer hunting again I might borrow them. can’t do both. I’m all in or not in.

Post up a pick of your black duck dekes if you have one. It’s neat to see what others are using especially hand made.
For whatever reason it seems like black duck decoys will pull in rig shy birds later in the season, maybe they just show up better in low light?

I am a decoy nut, I got into collecting a little but it’s normally just wood Cans anymore.
I even put out an all wood rig late in the season for a good dose of nostalgia ..but it stays closer to the boat to try and keep them from getting more shot up.
 
Post up a pick of your black duck dekes if you have one. It’s neat to see what others are using especially hand made.
For whatever reason it seems like black duck decoys will pull in rig shy birds later in the season, maybe they just show up better in low light?

I am a decoy nut, I got into collecting a little but it’s normally just wood Cans anymore.
I even put out an all wood rig late in the season for a good dose of nostalgia ..but it stays closer to the boat to try and keep them from getting more shot up.


Most of them are in my sneakbox hanging from the rafters.

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here’s a couple that are down. Nothing fancy these are working birds. Chipped, dented, muddy and dusty.

Cork glued to marine plywood with a pressure treated keel. The heads are carved cedar with glass taxidermy eyes.

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Oh here is my my banded black duck.
January afternoon. I took a sky busting shot with a long lead and actually hit him...
had to mount him with some leg showing. :emoji_relaxed:


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Awesome sneakbox Bill!
Love those corks, banded black is a trophy for sure and a great story to go with it.

Here is a big black cork an old hunting buddy made for me years ago that I still try and hunt with every now and then.
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Here are three of six that I made, foam burlapped with wood heads.

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Part of my little wood Can rig that I put out when I want to go old school. The two front left are cork.
Pretty much all of these were given to me over the years by friends back when I was guiding, seven of them made by a very good friend.
Most of the time they just decorate my man cave with some old wood antique Cans.
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I’ll throw a pic of this one in too, hollow drake redhead mason given to me by the same guy that made me the cork black duck. We actually hunted with it in the rig about fifteen years ago had an awesome diver shoot on lake St Clair and he gave it to me at the end of the day.
He passed about five years ago and all the great times we hunted together come right back to me when I handle those dekes.
Too many of my old hunting buddies are gone now along with a few really good duck dogs...sucks getting older. But I sure had some good shoots fun times and made some history with them.
Not that I’m that old, looking back I guess I hunted a lot with guys that were older than me that should have taken better care of themselves.
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Nice collection!
I’d be hesitant to throw them in the water. But it is what they were made for.

The hollow one is cool, you just don’t see those very often.
 
This is the stuff I normally use hunting out of the boat.
We have a 10’X14’ shed pretty much filled with diver duck decoys, most that I made years ago.

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Lots of herters burlap. I ran one over once and it was fine.
 
Lots of herters burlap. I ran one over once and it was fine.

I actually had a couple Herters and Restles molds for a while. Keeled most of mine with marine grade plastic.
 
C03E1937-5A33-4EF5-A848-8F0C5DCE0605.jpegBarneget bay. Original oil painting. In my basement. Reminded me of my boat and dog. So I bought it.

You have to have, duck hunted a salt marsh to get it
 
That is cool! You just have to love that boat design and local looking scenery.

I've got this one called "Fence Line Memories" that I picked up at a banquet years ago because it reminded me of how we hunt late season around here at times, not an original like yours but a signed numbered addition.
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Was thinking about Banegent Bay and the marshes out from Atlantic City the other day, on how we shot mallards and a few blacks back in the marshes but their flavor was nothing like our mallards and blacks here. The ones from the coast kind of tasted like the dark salt water mud smelled...here they almost taste like domestic birds all the grain that they eat late season.
If you are ever this way late in the year stop in and I'll get you under some fat northern birds.
 
You guys are making me jealous. I would love to get my hands on a vintage Herters decoy. I live not too far away from the old factory in Beaver Dam, WI. I remember when i was knee high to a grass hopper dad taking me when they would have their annual sale. Building is still standing, once and a while ill pass by to relive the memories. Anyways, if you guys ever make it to the mighty Horicon marsh id love to take you guys out there!
 
The ones from the coast kind of tasted like the dark salt water mud smelled..


South Jersey salt marsh duck recipe:

Build a fire.
Fill a rimless old tire with ducks
Throw the tire on the fire until it's smoking really good.
Pull it off the fire, throw away the ducks and eat the tire.

Green wing teal and wood ducks are our best eating ducks. Everything else need lots of butter and garlic....
 
You guys are making me jealous. I would love to get my hands on a vintage Herters decoy. I live not too far away from the old factory in Beaver Dam, WI. I remember when i was knee high to a grass hopper dad taking me when they would have their annual sale. Building is still standing, once and a while ill pass by to relive the memories. Anyways, if you guys ever make it to the mighty Horicon marsh id love to take you guys out there!

I wish they never sold. their decoys weren't as pretty as some of the new molded plastic ones, but they were indestructible..
 
South Jersey salt marsh duck recipe:

Build a fire.
Fill a rimless old tire with ducks
Throw the tire on the fire until it's smoking really good.
Pull it off the fire, throw away the ducks and eat the tire.

Green wing teal and wood ducks are our best eating ducks. Everything else need lots of butter and garlic....

I feel for the guys that shoot sea ducks all the time and eat them, I get that they may not have better birds to shoot. They make great mounts and are fun to hunt but man are they fishy/clammy tasting! And they bleed like stuck hogs and the blood smalls like fish!

I wish they never sold. their decoys weren't as pretty as some of the new molded plastic ones, but they were indestructible..

Cabela's bought them out same as Restle sold them for a couple years and shut it all down.
Guy in our duck club worked out a deal and bought everything Herter and Restle from Cabela's. They brought a full semi load of stuff down...decoys/molds/heads/hardware, he sold off the decoys and we made all the decoys we wanted then he sold off most of the molds.
 
Sounds like me. I bought an old mold for the barneget bay sneak box. It sat in my yard for years. I finally sold it and never made a single boat.
 
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