FB mallard suggestions...

[Rick Hall]

My admiration of the GHG motion sytem on a store self overcame my disdain for magnum decoys, and I bought and deployed some FB mallard feeders today. And having used them, I still feel they're too **** big but the motion is the best I've seen afield to date.

May learn to live with a handful of giants in my spread, but it turns out the round stands aren't big enough to stand up to stiff winds and the stakes are at least a foot too short to be of use for wet or dry deployment in my part of country. (Don't care where all the pro-staffers have found them not just adequate but "awesome," just sayin' a northern front was knocking my stands over today, on flat bottom, and the stakes are too short to gain adequate purchase for wind, much less hold their decoys above stubbles.)

Not sayin' they're junk, just that they could be much better. (And smaller.)

[Rob Jepson]

Rick,

Thanks for the feedback. Today was our opening day for geese and I had my first opportunity to use the new FB Mallards and FB Canada Lessers on a hunt. Of the two motion systems, stakes or bases, I like the Field stakes the most but know the bases will handy when the ground freezes. Anyway, I understand that all hunting environments are not equal so there are a lot of variables when it comes to the effectiveness of the new Motion system in those different situations. Your constructive feedback from your personal experience inthe field will help us with any future changes so thanks again!

[Dux r me]

to big?????

[Bearman]

Don't make them smaller, but longer stakes isn't a bad idea....oh, and offer them seperately so the gusy with the '05 FB mallards can get longer stakes w/o buying new decoys.

[Joe Fladeland]

I agree with Dux R Me and Bearman. I love the size of them. If they were any smaller they wouldn't be visible in the stubble fields up here. As for the stakes and bases. I have not had any problems with the bases tipping over because of high wind yet, although I have not hunted in any gail force winds yet, they seem to stand up in pretty strong winds. I would like to see a longer stake made for these fullbodies, because sometimes the ground is too soft at some of the potholes we hunt and you have to put the stake in a little farther so it doesn't tip over. And it would be nice if you sold these seperately so people could purchase these if they got this years FB mallards like me. Just a suggestion for next year as I can definately survive without a longer stake. These decoys truly are the "Best of the Best" as Field and Stream stated. You know these decoys are good when you've got 6 of them set up in a corn field and you are standing up and ducks are literally trying to land a foot from you. It happened to us this year. I can't imagine what it's gonna be like now that we have 5 dozen of these instead of only 6. Keep up the good work. Thanks. Dakota Kid

[Rick Frisch]

The longer stake is already a done deal. They worked fine in testing last year, but we realize that some field have very high stubble. We are looking at 19" stakes.

As for the size, we can't help you there. We did a poll and most customers wanted them Over-Size. The Over-Size shows up so much better than a smaller version would.

Thanks,

[Rick Hall]

Rick, I realised when I wrote it that I was swimming upstream on the size thing and was trying to be cute. But I was dead serious about the wind knocking over the too-small diameter stands (on flat bottom) and the stakes being worthless for virtually anything here. 19" would be a good start.

Have been jammed up at the lodge but expect to call you early next week about the sun rotted 6-slot straps.

[Brobones]

The size of the FB mallards is right on the mark. The stakes could be longer for sure, with most barley and wheat stubble height the decoys do get hung up on it. Longer stakes will solve the problem. I have all ready made extensions for my decoys and they work great. I will be making longer extensions to use the decoys in shallow water. Every hunters situations are different, one must adapt to those specific situations. When I hunt pea fields here in Sask the orginal stakes are perfect.. Great product guys.

[JEDJR]

Rick, I also mentioned from the start, that a longer stake was going to be needed on the FB Geese as well.
With our soft ground here, and rice stubble not always cut to the hunters liking, We need something that can go farther in our soft bottom ricefields, yet sits the decoy high enough to where the stubble doesn't hamper the decoys movement.
I hope longer stakes are in the works for the FB Geese as well.
They can be sold as an accessory like the Universal motion stakes, for guys that hunt this type of terrain.

Rick, for now, have you thought about taping the motion stakes to a wooden dowel for added length?
I will try this if our field gets too soft.
Don't see that happening just yet.. :D

[Tony Vandemore]

Don't care where all the pro-staffers have found them not just adequate but "awesome Hey Rick, I am one of the Pro-Staffers that has found these to be awesome! Hunted a variety of different situations with screaming winds and haven't had one knock over yet. Have you tried putting a dirt clod or something on the bottom of the stand?
What I have been doing in shallow water is using the stakes from my Pro Grade Canada fullbodies. They are longer than the duck stakes and allow you to set them in deeper water.

[Rick Hall]

Jed, I've little faith in any stake not wallowing out its shallow water hole and tipping on a windy day. (Where water in the hole speeds the process.)

Tony, I'm delighted to learn that your FB mallards don't blow over. Mine did their first afternoon out of the box, and wider bases would negate the need for counter-weighting measures.

[JEDJR]

Originally posted by Rick Hall:
Jed, I've little faith in any stake not wallowing out its shallow water hole and tipping on a windy day. (Where water in the hole speeds the process.)
Rick, my thinking on the dowel was simply the deeper you put it in the ground, the smaller the wallowing and hole.It may be worth a shot until improvements on the base or longer stakes are made.
How hard was the wind blowing when your FB mallards/base blew over?

[CRAWLER]

I've hunted over the fullbody mallards and absolutley love them. Quit your crying.

[Rob Jepson]

Crawler,

I don't think that anyone is crying here. Rick had some constructive criticism based on his own personal experiences in the field and posted a very professional and honest comment. Your remark however offers nothing in the form of constructive criticism nor is it professional. If your experience with the new decoys has been satisfactory and different from Rick's then I am sure you could find a better way of expressing that.

[CRAWLER]

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so negative. It just seemed like for every response from someone else he had another negative remark. Poor wording on my part.

[Jason Zerrer]

I've been using the goose stakes as well.

[Rick Hall]

Originally posted by JEDJR:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Rick Hall:
Jed, I've little faith in any stake not wallowing out its shallow water hole and tipping on a windy day. (Where water in the hole speeds the process.)
Rick, my thinking on the dowel was simply the deeper you put it in the ground, the smaller the wallowing and hole.It may be worth a shot until improvements on the base or longer stakes are made.
How hard was the wind blowing when your FB mallards/base blew over?</font>[/QUOTE]Jed, I'm a fan of round bases for water use because nothing I've used for stakes in water resists wallowing and tipping as well as I'd like on windy days. Best I've done is conduit extensions with their working ends flattened to resist turning, but they eventually get wind drunk and tilt, too. Been standing my HC geese on three-sided 2"x4" wire platforms in deep water (to make it appear shallow, easy feeding water) with much better windy day results than stakes.

Were I to try wooden dowels, I believe I'd want to drill holes in their tops that the GHG stakes fit in, rather than counting on tape.

(And you'd have to check the Gueydan area weather for 11/17 to see what the wind velocity was. All I can say with certainty is that it was whippin'. Solved the tipping problem by moving all the FBs to the lee of the levee.)

Rob, I don't mind Crawler's crying about my crying. Gives him something to do and means zip to me.

Jury's still out on the FBs mallard draw. Mallards we're landing aren't going for them, but that doesn't mean they haven't helped put 'em in the pocket. And the hunters like them.

[Travis Mueller]

No problem crawler. We use all the responses as building tools, so thank you everyone.

[Christian Curtis]

Rick

Thanks for the critique and ideas. As Frisch said, the longer stakes are coming. Guys, this type of input is valuable. We appreciate it and pay attention to all comments and feedback. Thanks to all...

[juniorhoss]

I used my 2 dozen mallard FB's yesterday in wide open water that was 4" deep and used the round bases and they worked just beautiful. We killed 3 limits (21 birds) and most of the birds were under 15 yards and it was like they were all on a string coming right at the FB's. I followed Dakota Jim's lead posted earlier and got some 5/8" wood dowels, drilled the centers 1/4" 3" deep, cut the other motion stakes down to 3" and epoxied them into the dowels. Now I have motion stakes I can use in 2-3 feet of water, problem solved!

[Rick Frisch]

I think that Jim is on to something big with his, "Raising the Stakes" idea. It gives a whole new dimension to using full body decoys.

Thanks,

[Quickshot]

I'm with the guys who love the full body mallards, however, I have experienced the blow overs with regularity. I just go stand them up again and since we use them in shallow water with a sand bottom, there is no placing a weight on them for more stability. I have also noticed that they are quite noisy with loud clicking sounds as the stopper meets the cone. Also, the clicking comes from the stake striking the bottom of the decoy when the wind is blowing pretty hard. I used some rubber tubing to slip onto the stopper on the stake and also some tubing, cut lengthwise and wrapped on the vertical part of the stake and this seems to eliminate the plastic against plastic clicking noises. In hard winds, the decoys will ride over the stopper and sit a bit crooked, but with the tubing on the stopper, the edges of the cone that strike the stopper seem to grip a bit better and the decoy doesn't ride past the stopper.
Incidentally, I had the wind take a decoy off the stake entirely, leaving the stake on a sandbar and tossing the decoy into the water where it sank immediately, leaving me with one less decoy. I don't know if there is a cure for this or not.
Frank

[Christian Curtis]

I have hunted in some pretty stiff winds and this hasn't happened...not to say that it couldn't or won't. I can't think of anything that could prevent this without restricting the motion...On second thought, I guess you could attach the decoy to the base LOOSELY with a piece of decoy cord. Attach it to one leg and to the base. The problem would be when you picked up your spread.

[J Kryspin]

Rick - After hunting in sustained winds approaching 30mph and gusting, I do agree with the wider bases and longer stakes.

Another improvement/change that I wouldn't mind seeing is a lengthening of the cone inside the decoy. During today's high winds when the decoys where doing their dancing, some of the decoys would "outspin" the motion limiter and jump and actually spin around and face the wrong way.

[m.mauler]

I've had the wind take mine completely off the bases I found half of them 300 to 400 yds away. Never did find the other half.They look Great and real you just have to keep them from FLYING away.
Joe

[Richard Shamla]

In repsonse to the question asked by Rick. I have noticed I used the looker goose fullbodies and had a problem with them blowing down in the strong wind. I noticed the bases have a hole are you guys making a stake for then. Like possibly a tent stake or a u shaped stake for them. I also noticed the strong wind in also blow the motion based fullbodies down as well. I tried stepping them into the ground but it seemed the problem the height of the lookers.

[Travis Mueller]

I love the height of my lookers and just make sure I have a dirt clod or something heavy on my looker bases to keep them from tipping over in heavy winds like I used to do with my big-foots. As for my full body mallards, I have yet to have them blow up over the motion cone, but have had them blow over in 40 mph winds. I just switched to my longer goose stakes and stuck them in further.

[rsdecoys]

What about selling just the top of the motion stake so that you cold customize a base as you see fit? That way if you wanted a 45" stake you could do it.

[69cooters]

Longer stakes - yes. Smaller - h*ll no! Bigger!

[Cory Johnson]

I think they look good big, the ducks can see them.. I think they are perfecto..

Killed ducks over 2 dozen of them the past 2 days..In the Morning Im making it 3 ..

GHG kicks Butt-ox