Flush keel on E Allen Mallards

Steve Sanford

Well-known member
Good morning, All~


A friend just asked me what keel-style I would out on E Allen Black Ducks - for gunning on the south shore of Long Island (tidal saltwater bays). One tradition there was begun - as far as I know - by Mister Decoy - Al McCormick. He put his keels wide and flat so that the decoys would remain upright when the tide ran out and the mud or sand was exposed. As many of us have found, one can still shoot Black Ducks and other puddle ducks in such conditions. So, I recommended a flush keel for my friends Allen decoys.


I have just a few E Allen decoys: 10 "Mallards' (painted at 6 Mallards and 4 Blacks) and 3 Wood Ducks. These decoys are used on protected waters and are often carried in. So, they have both unballasted keels and light anchors. ng



BTW: Self-righting is a desirable trait in "big rig" decoys - especially Broadbill. But, I always place my puddlers on the water - instead of tossing them. So, the absence of self-righting is not a problem. Later in the season - when frost is in the air - I am very careful to not get the topsides of my decoys when when rigging pre-dawn.



Here are the 4 Blacks - after I coated them with epoxy+fine sawdust - then new paint.


View attachment AFTER - Flock A.jpg



I use pyramid or bank sinkers for such rigs - each weighing an ounce or 3. These have about 4 feet of line. I like a relatively heavy (1/8-inch or 72#) tarred nylon for handling and tangling resistance.



View attachment E Allen Black Duck - high-head.JPG



Note how the White Pine keel is taller at each end - for maximum adhesion (gluing surface) in the molded slot - but only a full inch or so in the middle - to save weight.



View attachment AFTER - Keel.jpg



I have not tried these in heavy seas, winds or currents. I would experiment with external ballast keel weights - starting with maybe 6 ounces. Their added dimension would still allow a high-and-dry decoy to sit upright.


The lower :"factory" keel weight has a single mounting hole. They need 2 to prevent spinning. I bore new holes - countersunk - in each end for positive attachment via s/s screws.



View attachment E Allen - Keel Weights.JPG



Molds for such weights are very easy to make with a core-box bit in a router and some hardwood.


View attachment Homemade Keel Weiught with Oak Mold.JPG



Anyone else use flush or flat keels on open water decoys?


All the best,


SJS









 
I find that they are pretty poor riding decoys due to the hollow bottom, the best riding ones of the smaller birds I've seen were those with a bottom board added. The big ones like the scoter and eider ride ok once they sink down in a bit. I dislike decoys that bob around wildly and I'd rather watch an aqua keel Flambobber.

I think that will be a great skinny water protected rig. I like the concept. Easier to pick up the broken bills in skinny water too.
 
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Steve,
I hunt almost all E Allen diver decoys with the bottom open as you show in your post. However, I add an inch and a half by three quarter inch keel glued and screwed to the flat bottom. I then install a lead weight about five inches long to the keel. Similar to what you show. They self right and ride the water exceptionally well. Curious to see how the flat bottom with lead weight works for you.

RVZ
 
Steve, I put in deeper keels to stop the bobbing. I drilled 3 3/4 holes in the keel and counter sunk both sides [like a barbell], put in a ss nail through the hole and filled with lead. They ride real well, for what I need.
I hunt back creeks and only use 6 decoys, so there is no storage problems. Mostly puddle duck areas, so less decoys.
 

Like ANY other decoys, keel material density and depth of keel, as well as weighting amount and placement are all needed to adjust the center of gravity to get a decoy to ride right in open water. Swing keels work best at naturalizing their ride, but this results in a heavy decoy that is relegated to being transported via boat. I have a rig of mallards that have light pine keels and minimal lead weight that I carry in a 100D cordura decoy poncho when I am in NoDak on walk-in hunts. I once used them to keep my torso bouyed above the gumbo when I walked into a pothole following what I thought were my brother's and nephew's tracks from two days prior, only to discover it was a now-dead deer that served as a reminder of my future for over an hour as I worked my legs slowly free and crawled over the decoys while I sequentially flipped the bag over until I got back to where I could walk the rest of the way to shore. After stripping off my muddy coat, I set the birds in the "right" pothole washing my hands off as I put blocks out with Cooper on stay next to my gun. I was surprised to discover that I never broke a bill on those birds. Pretty sure they saved my life. Mud stains are still deeply imbedded in that poncho, as well as the Cabelas wader coat. All because I turned my headlamp off to save some "juice". After we finished that morning on ducks, Cooper and I walked out to the Souris flats to try at some pheasamts that were clucking and crowing in the distance all morning. He put up the first bird at twenty yards, then the second and third birds flushed on each report all in easy range. Just like someone was throwing dinner plates in sequence up in the air.. One of two triples on pheasants I have ever made, making the close of the hunt far more fun than its beginning.

I'm pretty sure polyurethane foam decoys with the same hydrocarbon "skin" fall under the heading of plastic decoys, too.

I do insert an epoxy coated finishing nail through their bills prior sanding and painting...far less work than Restle coating a foam body. plus you can readily achiev different poses and head angles by simply cutting down a neck to lower and change the head angle.

But then, I have never uderstood why hunters are so enamored with Herter foam birds either outside of the nostalgia factor.
 
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All~


Rick~ Great tale of perseverance and survival - although "thinking on your feet" may not be apt in this instance!


All~ Interesting observations on the Allens. Like many of you, I'm sure, I have have more rigs than I need. Viz. being "enamored" of particular decoys - or boats or guns or any of the many pieces of gear "required" by our grand passion - beauty is truly in the eyes (and hearts) of the beholder.



My favorite Black Duck decoys for hunting the Atlantic Tidewater (south shore of Long Island) are my own birds - made from burned Wiley cork in the mid-80s. They have ballasted conventional keels - Southern Yellow Pine with the lead poured right in. They are not "carry in" decoys, to be sure, but meet the classic "half-a-gunshot-away" test with flying colors and "ride in a sea like a hove-to Gloucester schooner". They were the last thing hundreds of Black Ducks ever saw. They are ready-to-hunt - but up in the loft for a few years now.



View attachment Cork Rig - Drinker.jpg



Among just my puddle duck rigs, I have batches made by: E. Allen, Herter's (early balsa Model Superiors, later Model 72 and 63 durlon bodies), Wildfowler (balsa Superior models), Wildfowler (cork bodies). My few Beans and McCormicks are shelf-riders. But, I appreciate each of them - and they add that certain something to any hunt.


All the best,


SJS



 
View attachment Drake+wigeon.jfifView attachment Drake+wogeon1.jfifView attachment Drake+wigeon2.jfif

This is an E. Allen bird that I retreived a little over a year after I lost it on the Lake Michigan shoreline. I found it about a little over a half-mile from where I last had it set. From what I can discern by tooth marks, my guess is that the bill damage was induced by a mink chewing on it, striking the finish nail insert and epoxy before it gave up. The other nicks are likely black crowned night heron and great blue heron induced, along with some herring gull 'hits'. After close inspection Idetermined that the four "deep incisions" are the result of a bald eagle attempting to fly off with it in its tallons. When it likely blew away I was jump shooting the shore to the north where I discovered the black crowned night heron rookery in a small cove to the north of my spread. There are three actie eagles nests strung-out along that shore as well. A handful of years ago I got lazy and decided to let the wind bring a drake pintail that dropped well-out on open water when I did not bring a dog. While watching the bird in the binocs. as it slowly blew back toward the decoys an eagle swooshed through the scene and altered my plan.

Actually,Steve, I was generally upright when I hatched my escape plan. After trying to extract an individual leg, only driving my other foot deeper into the marl, I quickly realized that I was working my way to flat-out exhaustion with no hope of anyone missing me until the next morning. The rigidity of the E,Allens along with their physical displacement and bouyancy provided a fulcrum point under my lower back to work my legs back to the surface. My last ditch option was to try and work my legs out of my waders and crawl to shore, then walk over mile through a frozen marsh on water filled deer trails to get back to where my truck was parked, hopefully not succumbing to hypothermia along the way. Prior the Souris River floods, this marsh complex was a favorite since you can shoot anything from pheasants to huns and sharpies in the adjacent field windbreaks, cranes, and ducks, as well as pass shoot crippled white geese as they ply their way back from Canada wheat fields in the early afternoon as they head back to the Federal Refuge.

Like you, I own a variety of decoys. Why? I "bite" each time because I like what I see. I can strive to rationalize it under the broad heading of Personal Preference/Utiity. Though, at the core, like the principal driver that moved me to take-up carving: on slow days the decoys floating around in front of me or arrayed in a field spread are very close approximations of the live birds that I seek and pursue, both for sport and personal consumption. Pretty pleasing to my eye on either side of the ledger! Working on E.Allens enabled me to learn how to paint decoys at a faster pace and cheaper total cost versus a cascade of cork and wood birds I could construct during that interval.
 
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Bill~


Looks good! Have you conducted sea trials yet? Hereabouts, they would just bounce off the ice now.....


All the best,


SJS

 
I had some E Allen Blacks and Mallards that I installed the swinging keels that MAD decoys used. A torpedo sinker cast on a copper wire, maybe 8 or 10 ga. I liked that they bagged well and would sit flat, but I was not a fan of the noise, though once in the water, they made no noise.
 
But then they would sit FLAT [smile]

I have not tested them yet. I did add 6 ounces of lead as recommended not 5.9 or 6.1
 
I don't hunt E Allen decoys but I hunt Ralph Thompson urethane foam decoys. Not on big water but on wetlands, lakes, and backwaters. I was taught to push the decoys down in the water and tip them to the side under water to burp some air out from under them. It makes them stick to the water if conditions are windy or rough. In calm conditions when you want movement don't burp any air, let them ride high. View attachment 2013-03-019509.20.58.jpgView attachment ralph mallards.jpg
 
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