PDA

View Full Version : Homemade Geese



mungojeerie
12-18-2010, 01:22 AM
Hi All,
Im really keen on doing some goose hunting. I have been invited out by a very generous fellow hbc member and am looking forward to meeting up with him when possible and hunting along side. I have no geese dekes and limited funds available for splurging on geese dekes, so I have been thinking...

What are your peoples suggestions or ideas on the following.

I have access to a large thermoforming machine. I was thinking about getting a goose decoy, coating it in mold release wax and PVA and fiberglassing over half of the decoy, just one side like the right side. OR fiberglassing just the top half minus the neck and head like a headless shell.

I could use this fiberglass take off as a female mold and form many parts out of .090 or .118 haircell ABS. If I were to do the side I would need to take two halves and glue them together, If I were to do the shell I would need to add something for a neck and head. They would trim out quickly with a laminate trimmer and glue well. The base color would be Black with a haircell texture and other colors could be sprayed or airbrushed on.

I could make quite a few quite quickly. Any ideas out there on how viable you think this is, cost effective etc.... they could have flat bottoms put on them with a keel and be sealed watertight or they could be left as shells and put on a stake to wobble.

NitwiT
12-18-2010, 09:03 AM
found this a while back, a different method to cheap deeks

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=757084#post757084

TheProvider
12-18-2010, 11:38 AM
Try getting a few pieces of 1/4" plywood, trace a goose shape outta card board to use a guide. On a 4x8 piece of plywood I used to be able to trace and cut out 18 lesser size sillouettes(looking style, heads up), Jigsaw will cut them out. Get a hold of some flat black paint and paint them up, then you just need stakes. They work well when mixed in with shells and full bodies. FIrst year getting into goose hunting we made 48 of these, plus 2 dozen shells, with a few duck decoys and we had more than enough decoys. Each year we made a dozen more sillouettes to replace beaten up ones, and buy 1/2 dozen shells and then I'd get a dozen FFD full bodies. IF you check outta ebay at the end of the season you can get good deals on FFD( fully flocked decoys) from outfitters selling theirs used ones.

mungojeerie
12-18-2010, 04:22 PM
Yes I saw the tutorial on the sono tube and ply wood geese, They look good, just wondered about durability with rain etc.

at the moment i have no shells sillouettes seem goofy to me because dont geese bust your spread when they fly over it? but I've new to this so maybe they work just fine. I can see them being a benefit as fillers... so once I have some dekes then I would like to add silhouettes. Also I have no private land to hunt right now... which kinda limits me to water.....

I will keep an eye on ebay and craigslist after the season comes to an end..

thanks for the suggestions!

TheProvider
12-18-2010, 05:08 PM
I prefer them as fillers but if you make lots and place them facing all different angles then geese won't bust them. I definately prefer shells and full bodies, just comes at a price. You should try your suggestion and see if it works. If you have a few guys to hunt with its nice if you all chip in on decoys. Cept make sure their ready to take good care of them. The guys I used to hunt with in ontario didn't really care about the decoys so I took care of them, I was the only one too buy shells and FFD's, the one guy finally gave in a bought a dozen shells, after the first hunt he put them in the back of his truck and drove home. Needless to say another guy driving behind him had to stop and pick up all the shells that flew out the back of his truck and were scattered across the highway and ditch.

4ptbuck
12-21-2010, 04:14 PM
If you have a machine to make shells, those are the ticket.
Silly are great as well. They pack light, and it add a sense of movement. As birds fly overhead, they see some, then don't, then others appear. All different angles is the ticket.



For the shells, headless works fine. You'll want to get your hands on a stackable shell, and use that as a master mold. Don't use a floater, cause that won't stack well.

warnniklz
12-21-2010, 04:44 PM
since it's off-season... like you said and 'tis holiday season, funds are limited... but some garden shops have cheap goose lawn ornaments...

mungojeerie
12-21-2010, 08:30 PM
Yes I think I will try to make some shells as well as the silhouettes suggested by many. for the shells I think I will make them headless and then make neck/heads that plug in separately.

I will try the garden shops too.. Ive heard about the lawn ornaments, however I've never seen anything other than flamingos lol.

TheProvider
12-21-2010, 10:04 PM
I have a 24-7 Zink Calls video that mentions pink flamingos ;)

Ian F.
12-28-2010, 12:47 PM
took me a bit to find em...

blow em up....

Copy on cloroplast (corrogated plastic, rona and hd sell), cut out, stack sheets if you are making a bunch, black, white and brown, mist of krylon khaki for the breast, welding rod for stakes, use 2. Don't worry about the slot direction, slighty point the rods and shove em in on a table!

Go hunting!

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/goosebody2_thumb.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/goosebody_thumb.jpg

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/gooseheads_thumb.jpg

I'll dig some pics of a finished one out when I get home..

Very best,

Ian

P.S. all in the public domain for years

Mr. Dean
12-29-2010, 09:12 AM
took me a bit to find em...



Interesting........

Ian F.
12-29-2010, 09:26 AM
Interesting........

Yeah lost me? Just what is interesting about taking some time to find something?

Mr. Dean
12-30-2010, 01:58 AM
Yeah lost me? Just what is interesting about taking some time to find something?

Nothing.
It's the dekes that got my brain cells pumping. :wink:

mungojeerie
02-03-2011, 10:32 PM
Well I've decided to do some of the silhouettes that IanF posted patterns for. I ordered 4 4x8 sheets of 6mm coroplast today at work, should arrive tomorrow. Our designer took the body images and jammed as many of them as possible onto the sheet and wrote a simple cut path program out of it. Hopefully our CNC guy can cut them out tomorrow so we can paint them over the weekend in time for late goose opening.

I figure they'll rip out quick on the CNC and if I ever want to make more canada's or snows I can just have him rip out more.

now for the paint... coroplast isint the best for painting.. anyone have suggestions on types of paint? Im assuming just black, white and a type of taupe all in flat.

and how about stakes? I was thinking just welding rods slid into the corrugations with some sort of stopper to stop if from sliding down too far and maybe a leg to stop it from rotating 180 if the wind picks up.... any ideas? I figure some rotation should be good right?

Cariboo Game Calls
02-04-2011, 06:25 AM
I made up a bunch of profile goose feeder decoys several years ago out of the coroplast material, not as nice looking as the ones you are doing, however they have worked good as fillers in amongst my other decoys.

I drew what looked similar to a feeder on a piece of hardboard, cut it out, then used it to trace as many as I could get on a sheet of coroplast. I cut each one out with my jigsaw (rough edges), then I cut the pieces I wanted to remain white out of the hardboard goose, layed these pieces on top of each coroplast goose and one at a time spray painted flat black over the balance of the decoy. Tremclad flat black worked good and hasn't come off.

I made up a bunch of small pointed wood pieces with a slot in them to slide the decoy into. Can't say that worked out too well because they split frequently and have to be replaced. The whole process was a bit time consuming and although they aren't the best looking decoys I've ever seen, they were cheap and they have helped pull in the birds.

Personally I like your idea better. Have you thought about cutting out several hundred, selling them and letting people paint their own?

mungojeerie
02-04-2011, 07:44 AM
Have you thought about cutting out several hundred, selling them and letting people paint their own?


Not really.... I thought about cutting more for snow next year though. Not sure if it would be worth it. I guess if I found there to be interest I could.... maybe I'll post pics after and see if there is any interest... could fund the purchase some full bodied deks or any one of the many many other thing Ive decided I want since getting into waterfowl this year :) Like.... a layout blind, another doz or two duck deks, a edge expedite lucky duck rapid flyer, a cpl edge expedite quiver feeder butts, a auto loader shotgun, waterfowl choke... the list goes on haha

Thanks for the tip on the tremclad and using the template is a good idea, I think I'll do the same and maybe just feather the edge in after the template painting is done.

Cariboo Game Calls
02-04-2011, 08:10 AM
I guess it's all about your cost to make them and how reasonable the end price would be which would dictate buyer interest. If you didn't have to do the painting etc, maybe you could sell the unfinished cut-outs at a good price and make a few bucks to buy some of that gear you would like. You might also be able to work out some trades.


Send me some pictures when you get them done and let me know the next time you plan on cutting out some because I might be interested in horse trading for a custom or vintage goose/duck call.

Check out my website below if you would like to see a bit of what I have:

http://www.cariboogamecalls.com

mungojeerie
02-04-2011, 06:41 PM
Yeah I would have to figure out cost.... the geese are all cut out, the 4 sheets yielded 48 silhouettes, I could have got more on there, but that was all I could fit in keeping the corrugations running vertical. I'm glad I went with the much more expensive 6mm board as opposed to 4mm board that was half the price, it's much sturdier.

I'm gonna go pick up some paint this weekend and start in on painting come Monday.

I'll figure out what our CNC guy will charge me to do it on his own time, didn't take that long and he now knows what it entails so I'll get a price from him and then post up some pics of the silhouettes along with prices, if there is enough interest from people I will order more sheets next time I order work stuff from that supplier to save on freight and then get em cut out.

Im definitely thinking about getting a bunch more cut for my self at some time, probaby a cpl dzn ducks and a wack more geese for snows... which would need little done to them.

Maybe even make the snows in two pcs so there is a horizontal piece that slats in or maybe incorporate a rag or kitchen catcher with it. Anyone have any ideas on that?

Ian F.
02-04-2011, 09:51 PM
Sorry I just saw this tonight..

I don't worry abou the slot direction, in fact find it easier when they don't line up. I slightly sharpen the welding rods, put them on a flat table and shove em in! 2 per bird about an inch apart.

Paint, sand first, flat paints

Ian

mungojeerie
02-23-2011, 10:59 PM
So my first goose... not exactly a looker for a pic though as half its head was missing.... I positioned it so that it looks like it's head is still kinda attached :icon_frow Oh well. I was excited either way. Before and after pics. OMG its a pain in the ass to pluck these bad boys... easy but alot of work. So many feathers and so much down! I plucked this by hand without trying the scalding or parafin system. Which reminds me... anyone done the parafin thing? how do you do it that way?

This was taken the day after opening. We got two that day. Downed one on opening but it took us 10 min to get to where it went down in really tall grass and when we got there a coyote had already gotten to it... feathers everywhere and half the bird was gone, what was left was still steaming and had been dragged into some brush. :evil:

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/GooseDown.jpg

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/FirstGoosePllucked.jpg

Silhouettes look good I think. I will post pics of them soon and pricing for the blanks if anyone is interested.

meat eater
02-23-2011, 11:07 PM
yes i wanna see these silohouettes!! pm me when u post something! thanks

Ian F.
02-24-2011, 07:16 AM
parafin works well, but you still need to pre-pluck down to the down, geese you pluck twice

Cariboo Game Calls
02-24-2011, 07:45 AM
Unless you specifically want to roast a few geese, taking the breasts off them is a heck of a lot less problem than plucking.

I shoot 60-70 Canada's each year and take the breasts off them. Other than for a bit of stew meat and some thinnly sliced stir fry etc, I get the breasts mixed with about 50% pork and have a variety of sausage made like smokies, pepperoni, farmer, and fresh mild Italian for frying or roasting over the campfire. I also have a bit of burger done up.

I've found that the feathers on some of the older geese are so tight that your fingers could end up 10 inches long by the time the season is over if you pluck them all by hand.

Don't forget to trim out all the blood clot, dig the steel pellets out or you could end up on the butchers sh-t list for breaking his grinder. If you soak the meat in some salt water for an hour or two to draw out the blood and then rinse well before freezing etc you'll have some excellent table fair.

Good hunting!

mungojeerie
02-24-2011, 08:55 AM
thanks for the comments, I wanted to roast this bird as Ive never had goose. This bird weighed in at 7lbs after cleaning and plucking. Im pretty sure that it wouldnt fit entirely in even my big soup pot. but maybe. My question about parafin is how do you do it? do you use a layer of melted parafin floating on top of simmering water? or do you have to use an insane amount of parafin?

I do plan on breasting some birds. This year I plucked all of my bigger ducks, but my smaller ducks breasted. I have a friend who does the sausage thing and he says its fantastic. Im gonna try some and I may do the same next year.

Cariboo Game Calls
02-24-2011, 09:11 AM
Unfortunately I can't help you with the wax method, in my 50 plus years of bird hunting I never did try it. Can't even tell you why I didn't, no particular reason.

Mr. Dean
02-24-2011, 09:22 AM
I did the wax thing, it was a PITA. It worked good but unless you're wanting a nice presentation, hardly worth the effort or expense. I'd sooner roll a roast out of several skinned out breasts...

Let see the silo's!!!!

mungojeerie
02-24-2011, 09:58 AM
I'd sooner roll a roast out of several skinned out breasts.

how do you do that?

And yes.. pics coming.. soon.. I just need to get around to it while it's still light out.

Mr. Dean
02-24-2011, 04:24 PM
how do you do that?


Lay out a several pieces of cotton string on the counter.
Lay 1 or 2 breasts on top of strings.
Pile on (high) the stuffing.
Then "house in" the stuffing with more breasts (2 or 3 should suffice).
Then proceed to tightly tie up the strings.

VIOLA!!!
A rolled and stuffed roast.


I made a few up for xmas dinner; everyone licked their plate CLEAN.

mungojeerie
02-24-2011, 05:17 PM
Damn that actually sounds pretty damn good. I am definitely going to try that! Did you leave the skin on the breasts or off for cooking?

Mr. Dean
02-25-2011, 02:57 AM
Well, if ya want the skin, you're goin to pluck lottsa TOUGH feathers. The time isn't worth it, to me...

Ian F.
02-25-2011, 11:12 AM
Get some ham netting from www.stuffers.com (http://www.stuffers.com), flip the breasts end for end, bone out the thighs, stick them in the middle with some bacon and garlic, insert in the netting, and voila! Cook as you would roast beef, aiming for med rare

Ian

mungojeerie
02-26-2011, 04:43 PM
Ok... so I took the time to snap some photos in the "backyard" this afternoon... here we go.

For painting I made cardboard templates with a few finishing nails poked through them, the nails acted as handles and the nail heads kept the template just far enough off the material so as to not let the cardboard ruin wet paint in other areas as I painted, this system worked quite well to paint quickly. I have uploaded a video of this process on youtube, link is as follows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhdqR2cb6Fw

For paint I used flat plastic paint, the hardest color to find was the brown which in the end wasn't meant for plastic so I put a skim coat of the tan down first. I didn't lay down the paint really thick because I wanted it to dry quickly and I thought it would look better if it was slightly "mottled" looking.

I plan to stack these and paint the top leading edge quickly with the spray bomb to eliminate the white from above and over the summer I will do some airbrushing to add a little detail - Maybe add an eye and some feather shadows to the brown....

I contemplated feet for a while, I had thought welding rods but what I came up with I think is better. I bought some sheets of wire re-mesh for laying concrete, They cost about $12 at Home Depot and you can easily get 2doz feet out of a sheet. I made two types of feet, most I made an "H" shape so the top posts of the H slide into the coroplast and hold in fairly well. The wire remesh is about 1/8th" thick. The bottom posts stick into the ground, and there is a place to put your foot to help push into semi frozen ground or to put your hand to pull the silly out of the ground. I cut them and painted with a flat black oil based rust paint. The other style I made does not have two posts to go in the ground, just one. If you dont push it too far down the silly will move with the wind if you like. Images of "feet" as follows:

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/ReMesh.jpg

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/H-Peg.jpg

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/I-Peg.jpg

I got 1 Doz birds out of a 4x8 sheet, each dozen included 2 birds each of each of the 6 profiles shown below:

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/6-Profiles.jpg

4 Doz Silhouettes in a bin look like this:

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/BinOfGeese.jpg

to be continued...

mungojeerie
02-26-2011, 04:43 PM
Continued...

And 30 Silhouettes look something like this:

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/Flock001.jpg

http://www.bugboy.ca/ForumPics/Flock002.jpg

Thanks to all especially Ian F... Any and all comments welcome!

f350ps
02-26-2011, 05:03 PM
They look excellent and I'm sure they'll work like a hot dam. Good idea on the stakes as well. Good luck! K

longshot
02-26-2011, 06:44 PM
They look great man! I cut out 16 feeders out of a black 4x8 sheet of coroplast over a year ago... they have been sitting under my bed since then... I think you have inspired me to get painting!!!

May I sak what brand and colours you used for paint?? Looks like they would be great for fillers with our FFD's!

Great job, good luck hunting!!

Longshot jr.

mungojeerie
02-26-2011, 07:50 PM
I should also mention that I used 6mm coroplast for them, most of the stuff available at Home Depot etc is 4mm. It doesn't seem like much of a difference but it sure is. These are super sturdy.

As for paint, I can find out for you, I have the cans at work. I left the white parts the base coroplast white, the Khaki is a Kyrlon Camoflauge Ultra Flat. The Black was Flat Rustoleum for plastic and the only flat brown I could find easily was not specifically meant for plastic and was called old leather or something like that. I will get more specific on monday.

Spirit's Master
02-27-2011, 08:44 PM
Those sill's look great. Thanks for the close up on the six different patterns you used.

I see a summer project in there.

cwf

Bucks&Ducks
02-27-2011, 09:35 PM
They look great! What did you use to cut the cloroplast. I tried cutting some out last year but ended up ruining the material or making bad edges.

meat eater
02-27-2011, 09:51 PM
Not really.... I thought about cutting more for snow next year though. Not sure if it would be worth it. I guess if I found there to be interest I could.... maybe I'll post pics after and see if there is any interest... could fund the purchase some full bodied deks or any one of the many many other thing Ive decided I want since getting into waterfowl this year :) Like.... a layout blind, another doz or two duck deks, a edge expedite lucky duck rapid flyer, a cpl edge expedite quiver feeder butts, a auto loader shotgun, waterfowl choke... the list goes on haha

Thanks for the tip on the tremclad and using the template is a good idea, I think I'll do the same and maybe just feather the edge in after the template painting is done.

i would be interested in some of these!! let me know if u decide to go ahead. thanks

Mr. Dean
02-27-2011, 11:46 PM
I like what you've done here.

bandit_69
08-19-2011, 09:10 PM
can i come and take those geese with my bow in your back yard they sure look good do they bring many birds in and i think i saw some poop under one of them they look so real. good work and make sure you dont poke your eye out on those stands you made they are sharpe and cut very easy


good work they look very real
good luck hunting this year and geese open on the 3rd of september not the 4th that was last year