I wanted to follow up on my decoy project and offer at least one improvement tip to those who might use the 1936 Popular Science Magazine pattern*. My alteration was to include three dowels to pin the wings together, as I thought this would increase the wings’ durability than if simply glued on. I used Titebond III glue as recommended by my old church friend who helped me out by cutting the pieces out using his band saw (three at a time) and other tools in his shop. This is the same fellow I mentioned last year, who flew B-25s in WW II and is a nationally-known master at making architectural models. What a privilege to work with this man!
I cut the dowels from shish kabob skewers. Drilled the holes using my Dremel press. Most important was to line up the two wings with the holes drilled along the proper line on the body. Glued the skewers in one wing; then though the body, and attached the other wing. I added an extra bead of glue between the wings and body. The silhouettes were easier, of course. I made a total of 15 3-D decoys and fifteen silhouettes. Including the five I made last year, I now have more than enough to attract the “bad guys’” attention. I also bought a $6.00 full-bodied plastic decoy to be the sentinel bird, atop my 40 foot “hot stick” on permanent loan from another friend in the electric power transmission business. I also use the largest binder clips available as “feet” for the 3-Ds. They double to permit them to be clipped to a corn stalk or bush.
Cost: a bottle of glue, two cans of spray flat black paint, and binder clips. ¼” plywood and copper wire for hangers was from last winter’s basement finishing project. i.e., “cheep-cheep” just as I like it.
Here are a few photos of the above process. I'll show a complete set-up with these guys the next time I go out and get lucky enough to drop a few bandits.
*Available by Googling “crow silhouette decoy pattern.”
They look good man. Let us know how they work for you.
Thanks. The five I used last season worked well. But I did not think there were enough decoys to simulate a "crow fight" call or other large crow gathering. Looking at other fellows' photos on the Forum, I saw they were using many more than I. So, it should be better now, especially with some in the trees and one up real high. Also going to use a real blind.
Will make a report, I hope sooner than later.
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"Arms are the only true badges of liberty. The possession of arms is the distinction of a free man from a slave." -- Andrew Fletcher 1698
Nice work OA. Not many people these days have the time nor drive to make their own decoys. Guess things are so readily available from stores that the need to retain these skills has for the most part been lost.
I once in my youth made 6 cedar mallard blocks with white pine heads. These were carefully hollowed out and glued back together. Sadly these were stolen out of a shed at a hunting camp. Later I made a dozen bluebill deeks that lured in thousands of ducks in-which many met an untimely end.
Dug out from the back of the garage and attached a pic of a couple crow decoys I made from cedar when I was a kid. These too are hollow and worked best fixed to a fence post. Haven't used them in decades, guess I should have cleaned the dust off them first.
I still feel though, that the best crow decoys are dead crows themselves!
I really like how they look and after looking at the plans to build them think I am going to give it a try. I think not counting my time as money I think that these can be built for a good bit less than those plastic ones you buy. But after reading the details where they made the wings of metal I thought of another way to attach them. I was thinking that if you put them on hinges with a piece of wood to hold them at 90 degrees they would then fold up if you carried them from the bottom. I was thinking that you could drill a hole on the bottom for a dowel to slide them over so you could carry them easily. Even without the hole I think you could put them upside down where they would be perhaps a little thicker than an inch so you could store quite a bit in a duffel bag or backpack so they are easy grab and do not take up much space. I have old rubber from a truck tub that I might try as part of the hinge or just get some small hinges. That would add to the cost but I think it would make them easier to store away where even a small storage box could probably hold more than a dozen easily.
Just an idea and not sure when I will give my idea a try. Finding that plan that you could scale up and print proved to be impossible so far. So rather than printing it and then transfering it to some graph paper of the right scale I have been making enlarged copies and I think I found the right method to match the 1" box size. I do not suppose that a little bit one way or the other would make much of a difference but I am trying to be close. I know there are cutout programs where you could put this plan and get a layout that allows you to waste as little wood as possible.
