Duck decoys

[rosscrazyelk]

I aquired a couple dozen mallard decoys. They are not in the greatest shape. Do ducks really care what shape the decoys are in? If so how would you go about  painting, fixing them? Or is it even worth it?

[vandeman17]

If you have the time and depending on what kind they are, I would sand and/or prime them and buy some paint. You can find different paint set ups and then paint them to look like the species you want to. If it were me, I would just make them look decent and use them as fillers with good decoys.

[brew]

a lot of the research these days says that ducks don't distinguish colors as they see in the Ultra Violet light spectrum.  don't know if its a scam to get people to buy more/different decoys but they say that paint schemes with a higher concentration of UV light "reflection" attract more ducks.  something to consider.  As everyone else I've had greater success in positioning myself where the ducks want to land rather than what color my decoys were

[Sprig58]

I think it comes down to where and how you hunt.  If you have a private spot somewhere and you dont hunt it too often, then those decoys would probably work.  The flip side is when you hunt public, and maybe you aren't in the perfect spot.  That's when your decoys need to be the best that you can get.  Your not only trying to fool the birds in that situation, but your competing with everyone else.  Your concealment, decoys and placement, and calling need to be spot on.  I can go to this little private spot that Special T has been to, use the oldest blocks in my rig, and kill ducks all day.  But anywhere public I bring the best I have.

[Camp David]

Painting deks is challenging. Lot of time and effort to get them looking good...not like the cubscout pack was trying to earn a "painting" merit badge. Also the paint, that I've used in the past, peals off in a short time. Buy some new ones and throw the ugly ones in the flock to add bulk. 

[CP]

Early season it doesn’t matter what shape the coloring is.  The ducks are in the eclipse phase anyway and they aren’t yet decoy shy.  Later in the season when the birds color-up and wise-up more realistic decoys can help get them in closer.

[Special T]

Preasure wash, wipe down with acetone, flash with a torch, then use krylon spray paint as the base, and then touch up with the rest. Buy Americana titanium white for the UV reflection... I have hear this works reasonable for the ammount of time, OR you can buy GHG hot buys and protect with the flat clear coat from Krylon.     at $3 ea for hot buys its kinda a toss up... I know one guy that turns all his old dekes into seaducks or hens because he can just spray paint them....  If they are super mag ducks you could turn them into snow geese, Brant decoys, or sea ducks. 

[ellensburgpo]

There are a ton of threads bout this on duckhuntingchat.com. I just repainted a couple dozen bluebills last month. I used the cheap spray on bedliner that you can get for like 7 or 8 bucks a can as the black base. It was recommended by several guys who repaint as better than spray paint.  It's really easy if you have a buddy or two to help. The flaking issue can be minimized with several coats of clear coat.

For your first time I would recommend picking one or two practice decoys to try all your methods on. That way when you screw up a color or step its not on a dozen deoys.