Crow Busters Forum

nhcrowshooter · Guru

Need info on Buster II motion decoy

Big Honkers · Guru

I have one but have not used it in a few years. I do just as good without it. BUT, I will say that I never felt that it hindered a hunt and some guys swear by them.

Some have reported that their durability is suspect.

You are on the right path with a flapping wing decoy VS a spinning wing. I have never tried a spinning wing decoy but nearly everyone that uses them does not really care for them.

Alternatives? Other than the flapping bat posted above I know others on here that have used the Edge wounded woodpecker painted flat black with success.

BH

-- Edited by Big Honkers on Thursday 19th of January 2012 08:20:10 PM

tarponfan · Veteran Member

I've been looking at what I can find on motion decoys and it looks like the buster II is fairly well known to the folks on this forum. What could I expect as far as uninterrupted flapping out of a fresh set of good batteries? Are there any other reasonable alternatives as far as this type of decoy? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Mainehunt · Guru

tarponfan wrote:
I've been looking at what I can find on motion decoys and it looks like the buster II is fairly well known to the folks on this forum. What could I expect as far as uninterrupted flapping out of a fresh set of good batteries? Are there any other reasonable alternatives as far as this type of decoy? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks

Welcome aboard, you'll love it here. smile

You should get plenty of answers on this. I know of one guy on here who did not have very good luck with his. I had one and I loved it. Worked very well for me, but it was stolen out of the back of my truck a couple years ago. I can't remember the battery life, but it wasn't bad. It worked well for attracting crows.

Kev

<><

Rook-ie · Senior Member

Have a Buster II -- I modified it with the instruction on this site with about a 100 foot wire. Now it has an on/off switch and the batteries are replaceable during the hunt if they run low. I have had limited success with it, but that is more me than Buster.

gearly65 · Senior Member

I have two of them and have had mixed results. Sometimes they seem to work and sometimes not so much (which could be my set up). The battery life is about 6 hours from what I have found.

Mike27 · Senior Member

I hav'nt used mine in a while, but when I did I purposely put used batteries in it to slow it down and extend the life of buster.

Mainehunt · Guru

Big Honkers wrote:
I have one but have not used it in a few years. I do just as good without it. BUT, I will say that I never felt that it hindered a hunt and some guys swear by them.

Some have reported that their durability is suspect.

You are on the right path with a flapping wing decoy VS a spinning wing. I have never tried a spinning wing decoy but nearly everyone that uses them does not really care for them.
Alternatives? Other than the flapping bat posted above I know others on here that have used the Edge wounded woodpecker painted flat black with success.
BH

I have one of the wind powered spinners. Around home, (Central Maine) it works somewhat. However, up North on the Canadian border, that thing draws in crows like you wouldn't believe. Worth its weight in gold up there.

Kev

<><

wingmaster · Senior Member

I use buster 11 by hooking it right under my hawk decoy. I fold one wind in have the other one flapping in front of hawk. Works fine for me with drying call.

tarponfan · Veteran Member

Thanks very much for this info - ordered one yesterday off e bay - 11 bucks and change delivered - gonna try it with an owl close by at ground level and 5-6 crows in nearby low trees, will experiment with calling.

Shotgunner · Member

To get motion, I put the Edge Expedite wounded woodpecker inside a hollow plastic crow decoy. i simply cut away as much of the crow body as necessary to get it to work. I also painted the woodpecker wing black. I use it with just one wing installed thinking that it would look more like the crow had one bad wing and one that he could still flap. Maybe it would work better with both wings. What I like about the woodpecker is the constantly varying motion of the wings which looks like a real bird. I use this decoy with the "Wounded Crow" Johnny Stewart sounds with pretty good success. At least I thought it was pretty good until I read about how many some of you guys shoot on an outing! :)

Pickwick · Member

Tarponfan, where did you buy a buster 2 for 11 bucks?? I would get 3 of them if that was all I had to pay! I used mine this weekend and killed 39 crows with it and 2 regular flambeau decoys. The crows seemed to lock in on that thing when they came in. I like it and will continue to use it until I notice otherwise. 39 crows around my parts of Arkansas is a respectable number, I can only imagine shooting at the numbers of crows some of you guys shoot at!!

Mike27 · Senior Member

PW,

I'm going to go with that is glow eyed bat pricing.

tarponfan · Veteran Member

You got it right - see nhcrowbuster's post above - it is the bat. Some outfit with an e bay store sells them for about six and a half with five bucks shipping..........go to e bay, plug in "flying bat" and follow the trail to the store.

Pickwick · Member

Thanks for the heads up! May have to try em out!

Pickwick · Member

Where is the on off switch modification? I would like to try this with mine, I think it would work good if I could turn it on and off from the blind!

Mike27 · Senior Member

Pick,

Your instructions are in the advanced section.

lawncrow · Member

I've used both Buster and Buster II. Both worked well, and I think, helped the setup. Battery life was good even on continuos use. The only problem I had was that the flapping motion quit after a couple of years use on both decoys. I suppose you can repair the motor if your handy that way but it was just easier to use them as static displays.

motiondecoy · Guru

If the battery runs out; they still work well as static decoys...but I always use fresh batteries and that is just one of the different techniques I use....for any techniques to work you need lots of crows -period...fresh new crows. Crows won't magically appear no matter how hot your set up is without any crows.
I use fancy techniques like that one when it's later in the season and crows are more educated!

nhcrowshooter · Guru

lawncrow wrote:
I've used both Buster and Buster II. Both worked well, and I think, helped the setup. Battery life was good even on continuos use. The only problem I had was that the flapping motion quit after a couple of years use on both decoys. I suppose you can repair the motor if your handy that way but it was just easier to use them as static displays.

Just buy one of the flapping wing bat toys like this. Wrap the head in black tape to hide the lighted eyes and use a hot glue gun to put a spring on the battery cover if you want to use the wood stake like a Buster II and it will work great.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/FLYING-BAT-scary-halloween-bats-items-supply-spooky-party-jokes-fake-NEW-toys-/231362698217?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35de4a9be9

Island Shooter · Guru

It was my experience that the flapping did not spook incoming crows, but it did not seem to draw them in. Size wise they are about a third to half-scale of a standard crow. IMHO, good blinds and calling are more important than motion decoys. Demi

Hizzoner · Senior Member

Go to amazon get an Expedite woodpecker they run on 3aaa batteries spray paint them Black! I have two and use one on ground and the other on my "Crow Tree" They are the Balls!!!!!! biggrin biggrin