Good luck. I bought three of them a number of years ago. Clothespins fell off first then the seams at the breast split wide open in the cold weather of March. I threw them away and consider them junk. I would reinforce the seams with a hot glue gun and spray paint after, then hope for the best.
-- Edited by nhcrowshooter on Monday 15th of July 2013 04:53:22 PM
New to chasing Crow so maybe this has already been discussed but thought it might be of some use to someone along the line. Looking to try crow hunting out on the cheap I purchased 6 of those foam decoys that have clothespin clips that allow you to hang it from a tree branch. They used crap ones so even though I have not even used them a single time two of them are already broken. But to my point, I read lots of posts about how to get them back into shape as they crush pretty easily. Most posts gave generally the same advice to hit them with a hair dryer and then blow into the little hole at the rear of the decoy. It got them more or less back into shape but even after I used a golf tee to keep them in this blown up state they often would get out of shape again.
So I got my hands on some packing peanuts, the Styrofoam kind and cut a T shaped slit on the back bottom of the decoy and jammed as many as I could into it. Some crushed into smaller pieces, some were foam so I think I was able to get them filled pretty tightly. Oh I jammed the tail with the peanuts too. Got some quick set Epoxy and glued the slits closed. Thankfully the epoxy did not dissolve the foam. Some went really easy and some especially those that were probably overfilled took a bit more effort. I did it while I was watching TV so one I got the epoxy in the the slit I held it in place so everything lined up as good as I could get it. It is on the bottom so it was not all that necessary to get it perfect. I later went back and epoxied over all the ones that had some unglued sections or did not form a really tight bond. Just layered it over the slit. I did not use even a half of the epoxy tubes to do all these steps. The hardest part was mixing the epoxy for each bird. I guess if I filled the decoys less you could just apply the glue and line them up and they would be tight enough for the epoxy to do its job and you could mix enough to do all the birds at once. I wanted them packed tight so I had to mix and glue each one independently. The glue sets in no time at all so it was not that bad holding them until the glue set enough so they held tight.
I also considered filling from an old pillow and bean bag chair filling. I thought about that expandable foam but thought that if I used just a bit too much it would split open the decoy. I had access to free peanuts so that is the way I went and the decoys still are very light which was my other concern.
For me I consider it a success and do not suspect that they will get out of shape in a significant way ever again. Next task is to find a way to attach something to replace those cheap clips that were installed on them.
I would not suggest that anyone get them but since I have them I tried to do the best I could to make them potentially usable. The clip are hard to even get at and if you can get at them they break. I was thinking of putting a small piece of wood inside and outside with a hole so I could use either better clips or tie it with that cord that looks like a big twist tie. I think that if you are a die hard hunter who is out there every day with your decoys that they do not stand a chance of surviving. I think you would have to be very careful in your handling of these so just tossing them in a decoy bag probably will destroy them in no time.
I used them sparingly. they had to be painted a flat black to begin with as they were grayish or silvery...next I pulled a fast one on the crows with it. I put them on the corn stalks and the heavier decoys on the ground. It was comical seeing a crow trying to land on the top of a cornstalk before I shot them.
Durability? No. I'd call them the throw-away decoy indeed....none the less I like what you did to them(yours). You might have changed all that.
Nothing you do will make them work or last!!! Junk total waste of time and money!!!! Sad but true!!! Pay for 1 flocked decoy GHG or flock your own and you will have beter hunts than you would with 2 dozen of that foam crap. Been down that road, If you fill them with the foam or anything they will simply come apart at the seams..............Trash em before you waste more time and money on em. Not to mention they have a terminal shine to them that will flare a bird from 100 yards..........
I have used flocked foam decoys as a part of my spread. They are really not that bad -- if you cut a quarter-sized hole just above the clothespin, you can stick your index finger inside and open the clip with no problem. If they do fall off, hot glue gun does the trick. I also have some of the shiny gray colored ones -- I have used my flocking kit and made them look pretty good. My goal was actually to have a small arsenal of the foam ones that I could intentionally flatten and stack for easy transport - kind of like foam turkey decoys.
I also have taken several and cut out the clothespin entirely, making a one inch slot on the bottom from front to rear. Then, I melted holes in the top of the decoys and made my own stakes to put them on the ground or on top of corn stubble. This way I can adjust them for feeding or standing positions, and like a turkey decoy, they move a little with the slightest breeze. I have even done the same with some full-bodied Lambeau plastic decoys -- cut off the stake, cut a slot in the bottom, drilled holes in the top at balance points, and made my own stakes. They even move a little in the wind.
As far as crushing the foam decoys in my decoy bag, I just put the foam ones on the top in the bag, and they hold up fairly well.
-- Edited by Rook-ie on Wednesday 7th of August 2013 02:46:38 PM
-- Edited by Rook-ie on Wednesday 7th of August 2013 02:47:13 PM
I tried blowing them up after they were in my hunting box for a while and even tried the hair dryer trick. They expanded but not really all the way. I am thinking of buying those spring clips at harbor freight to clip them to branches. Those clothes pins are so beyond cheap. I do not imagine that I ever will be a diehard crow hunter out there hunting every day that they are in season so I think they will hold up well enough. I have them so no sense to toss them away, although I bought the solid decoys which I probably will mostly use. So far all six still have their shape and no I am not going to try crushing them to make them smaller for carrying but with the Styrofoam peanuts in them they are still very light. I carry them in another bag so I suspect that as I probably will hardly ever use more than 2 of them at a time it will be a while before they are damaged beyond repair.
I will never buy them again but I I think this fix will at least allow me to get some use out of them before they go in the garbage. I also was thinking of using that stuff that is like a thick twist tie to clip them to a branch. For those who might be interested I will post when I get those clips. I think you get like 6 for a dollar so it is a pretty chip experiment.
I have those foam decoys and have used a length of wire that goes from the center part of the clip at the bottom (wraps around the clip through the center of the wire spring) through the decoy and out the top through a small hole that you can cut. then form a hook and hang them from branches that way.
Nghilliespie... no issues with the seams but I did it a little at a time because the foam expands so much... so I filled them...them let it set over night and filled them again ...