Finding the perfect buffie decoy

R

Rob M

Member
Ive been searching for what I feel is the perfect buffie decoy for some time and not havening much luck. The all seem to be too big in my mind, I tried Storm Decoy company and the paint and quality was amazing, but once they arrived I was surprised how large they were, I have been running my tanglefrees just cause they were cheap and I have them. A friend of mine has the old Herters 63 buffies with the hard coatings, those in my opinion are darn near perfect yet Ive been on the search for a little over a year now for them. My whole rig has slowly been migrating over to all hand carved in lieu of plastic which, but I feel like most of the hand carved Ive seen locally are also on the magnum side. What have you guys liked running and if anyone has something up for sale that may suit what Im looking for, please let me know! Thanks
 
my favorites are solid pine bobtails
only about 11" long, they sit real well in the water and
I seem to do great with them
6 or 7 drakes and one hen in a small tight group
 
Interesting. I spent some time with 4-5 bufflehead splashing in my spread this weekend and was taken back at just how much bigger my GHG oversized decoys where than the real McCoy. As I was making the same observation and wondering if it was detrimental, I came to the conclusion that they had decoyed in to and stayed within a few yards of said decoys. I hunt big water and resign to the added benefit of oversized decoys for drawing birds in. However I have never been happy with my bufflehead decoys and also am looking for a few to replace what I have.
 
I mean, its kind of like the ford vs chevy debate, I know some guys that love to run magnums of everything, some say larger buffies have more white and attract more birds, hence why most plastics only come with drakes. I more prefer to hunt along the lines of realism, plus the more I get into waterfowl the more proud I am to hunt over a fine decoy
 
9 1/2"L X 5"W X 3 1/4"H has worked very well for me since 1982, on big water or small, no matter where. They still toll the birds that I no longer shoot but enjoy to watch.
 
I have a few life size teal decoys that I came close to repurposing into bufflehead because it was the only duck I could think of close to size. Might be time to try it out.
 
Rob,
Not to sound self serving....but.....I will. Have you had a look at our Buffies. We have a Standard size as well as 2 magnums.
www.lockstockbarrell.com
Price sheet is out of date but I can email the price sheet to you if you'd like.

Size is "different" to birds. We look at a large decoy and say...hm, that's big. Birds "look" at a large decoy and say....hm, I'm close.
Size relates to distance with birds.
Otherwise, how would we be able to hunt from a 6 1/2' goose decoy/blind.
Let me know if we can be of service.
Lou
 
Lou beat me to it. I have one of his regular size buffies and they are close real life size as I think you can get in a "commercial" decoy.

I made a few foam/mastic ones this summer. I'll try to get some pics.
 
Rob - Your a NJ guy, and NJ decoys are some of the best in my book. Get a good pattern, or find a NJ carver that will make you five "Dippers" that will serve you very well. Plus - be darn good Decoys to look at working, or on the shelf & in hand, when ya get Old. Make yer own waterfowling history with well made Decoys. You will not regret it.
 
Those GHG decoys are huge. They are as big as the GHG goldeneye decoys, and those are oversized for whistlers.

That said, I don't own a single buffie decoy, but hunt a lot over a 6 rig GE spread that include 3 LL Bean corks that are about lifesize whistlers, and 3 GHG plastic whistlers, and the buffies dive right into them.
 
I'll never forget the time a long while ago set up with my Dad on the bay with a good wind blowing a white styrofoam cup that seemed to pop up out of nowhere along the bay and a big drake bufflehead stooling directly into it...food for thought...
 
Couldn't agree more with you Vince. Over the last year I have been getting more and more into hand carved decoys, as like you said its something to remember and as I get slightly older in my still young years I greatly can appreciate the time, the detail and the story that goes into a handmade stool. I would like to start trying some on my own, don't know where to start though, how to learn etc... Growing up with a family of non-hunters both in deer and waterfowl has been an interesting journey full of trial and error.
 
Rob - I give ya lots of credit for becoming a waterfowl and deer hunter. Safety first, and for all of us it is a interesting journey, even from a long line of hunters. As for doing your own carving, many of us are self taught, others had mentors and took some classes. I would imagine that you should be able to get all the help you need from NJ carvers, and their organizations. Where to start is where many of us did, with a decoy blank, one knife and a Stanley Sur Form Rasp, oh and some Band-Aids.

There are many good and great Decoy carver/makers on this site, that can and will help you get started.
 
Good morning, Mr Greco~

From my experience, those Styrofoam cups just don't hold up under hard use....

But - a couple of coats of epoxy, some burlap and tile mastic - and then heavy spar varnish under the finish paint will keep them going for many seasons.

All the best,

SJS
 
Not far from Steve's suggestion was a long line rig I saw in coastal Maine some years ago. A group down in Troy's Saco Bay country were targeting GE's and buffies off the beach with a V-rig made from two strings of "decoys". Every third space on the string, and the 8 or so spots closest to the "landing zone" at the apex of the V, were plastic GE's, buffies, or eiders. All the rest were white bleach and detergent bottles with a splash of black paint. Some of them were painted duckishly, but many were just a black blob on the "back".

Judging by the pile of divers they had laid out in the sand, it worked pretty well.

Location matters with divers. They were set up on a sand spit at the mouth of tidal river, and a pretty constant stream of birds was winging around the spit as they moved from the open ocean into the salt marsh behind a barrier beach.

I am fairly certain that the two GE's in the Winslow Homer painting I use as my avatar were inspired by hunters on the seaward side of the same spot. It's about a half mile from the house Homer owned for most of his painting days.
 
Vince thank you for the kind words. I was hoping to pick up a few blocks of cork at this years tuckerton show after working our Delta tent, but I didn't seem to pass any. May just have to put in an order with some band aids and start shaving !
 
I would agree that "perfect" is in the eye of the beholder...er, hunter but last Sunday provided more examples of how buffies are really drawn to "their own kind" whether a Styrofoam cup or well-carved deke. I had six groups of 6 to 15 buffleheads come by and all of them attempted to land within about 10 feet of two Model 63 drakes on the edge of a larger widgeon spread. That's all I've ever included in my spread whether using a majority of fake puddlers or divers. Call them easy or dumb but they weren't nearly as gullible as the drake ringneck that "decoyed" straight to a dropped drake buffie sprawled on the ice well away from the decoys and open water. ;)
 
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