Waterfowl hunting is the most common type of hunting, which is available to many game lovers. There are many ways to shoot birds on water bodies, one of them is hunting ducks with stuffed animals. In such a hunt, duck decoys are used to attract birds flying past (another name is stuffed ducks).

To be fair, it should be noted that this type of hunting is not very popular due to the rather labor-intensive preparation process. The hunter must have good knowledge of the habits of ducks, their behavior and movements. In addition, it is necessary to choose the right stuffed ducks and place them correctly on the water.

Even experienced hunters do not always imagine the process of such a hunt. However, if you observe all the subtleties and features of this type of catching waterfowl, hunting using decoys can be very interesting and quite effective.

How to properly hunt ducks will be discussed below.

Features and rules of hunting with stuffed animals

The most best time for successful hunting - early spring. At this time, drakes look for females for the purpose of mating. It’s also a good idea to use stuffed ducks in late autumn, when the birds form into fairly large flocks to fly to warmer climes for the winter.

Stuffed animals perform the main task - they attract birds flying by. Under the influence of instinct, ducks descend when they see their relatives. And a well-camouflaged hunter fires a shot when the bird lands next to the dummy.

The productivity of hunting depends on compliance with several basic rules:

• The bait (stuffed bird) must be placed on open place so that flying ducks can clearly see the stuffed animal. Stuffed ducks should be placed on the water, there should be no thickets or “lush” vegetation nearby.
• The dummies need to be placed in a place convenient for shelling.
• The dummies must be divided according to the breed of bird: it is better to place river duck stuffed animals in shallow water (they feed on vegetation), and stuffed diving ducks should be placed in places with deeper water (their food is living creatures that live in the reservoir).
• Stuffed ducks are located in small groups with a distance of about 3 meters.
• To avoid wounded animals, it is best to install duck dummies close to the hut (hidden) to make it easier to shoot a duck that has eaten well over the summer (such birds accumulate fat and a large layer of fluff under their feathers over the summer).
• It is very important to adjust the location of the scarves depending on the direction and strength of the wind. These parameters affect where the birds will land.

These simple rules will increase the efficiency of hunting.

There are several basic rules for shooting from cover:

1. Shooting directly from a boat is difficult and dangerous. When shooting from a boat, you need to be careful and maintain your balance.
2. Arriving birds must be shot as they approach. It often happens that a duck, having flown over the dummy, does not return back.
3. It is better to scare away a bird that has landed on the water and shoot in flight. Otherwise, there is a risk of damaging the stuffed bird.

It has been noticed that hunting ducks is becoming more and more difficult every year. Experienced hunters observe the effect of “smart” birds. Therefore, when catching waterfowl and black grouse, increased demands are placed on the hunter’s weapons and clothing. Outerwear should not differ from the general background of the surrounding landscape; camouflage coloring is recommended. Even the skin of your hands and face should be covered with a special tinting cream.

Selection and preparation of a site

The choice of hunting location must be approached with the utmost seriousness. It is necessary to carry out reconnaissance and establish the flight route of ducks to their overnight roosts and back, and their feeding. For this purpose, hunters inspect water bodies for several days in a row, morning and evening.

When the hunter has established the reservoirs where ducks fly most often, it is necessary to choose a place to build a hut. If dense bushes grow around a pond, then you can do without building a shelter and use thickets as camouflage. However, it is important to remember that a hunter can spend a lot of time near a reservoir while waiting for prey.

The place chosen for shelter must have good review, since for successful shooting of ducks in flight, it is important to notice the approaching bird as early as possible. For the same purpose, you need to get up in the morning facing the dawn, in the evening - facing the sunset. In addition, the hunter needs to think about the convenience of picking up a downed duck, optimally if the game falls in an open, clearly visible place.

Hide device

The best place to build a hut (skradka) is the border of water and coastal bushes, thickets or reeds.

Criteria for building a “correct” hide:

• it should not stand out against the background of the surrounding area;
• must not block the view;
• it should be as convenient as possible to fire from;
• The concealment should look as natural as possible and camouflage the hunter well.

Depending on the chosen location, hides can be permanent (stationary) or mobile (using a boat).

It is better to use natural building material, which can be found in the forest: branches, leaves, grass, reeds. If you want to spend time building a hideout, specialized stores sell camouflage capes, nets, tents and huts for this purpose.

There are seated and standing hides. It all depends on the place and time for the construction of such a building. Very often a shelter is made right on the water by building a small raft. For camouflage, they use tall reeds, weaving their tops together to form a canopy.

Correct placement

For duck hunting with decoys to be effective, you need to place them correctly. The duck flock must be natural, otherwise it will disturb the birds.

For correct placement, you need to know the behavioral characteristics of the birds that will be hunted.

1. If the duck decoys are placed too close together, they will resemble a flock of ducks huddled together when danger arises. This will, of course, cause excitement and caution in real birds.
2. Individual bird figures placed throughout the pond will also look unnatural, since ducks always swim in flocks.

The most optimal distance between the figures is three meters. It is better to arrange them in the form of letters of the English alphabet - J or V.

To make duck hunting more successful, hunters often use a good decoy. It must be remembered that its use requires special skills in order to attract the bird correctly.

Varieties

Stuffed ducks can be divided into types depending on:

• the material from which they are made;
• poses;
• size range;
• breeds

According to manufacturing materials

Typically, the following species are used for hunting:

1. Rubber stuffed animals ducks are the most popular species. They are considered the most convenient for transportation. A significant disadvantage is their lightness, and if there are waves on the pond, they will look unnatural. In addition, if it is hit with a gun, the rubber decoy is easily damaged and fails until the end of the hunt.
2. Inflatable stuffed animals ducks for hunting. They are made from thin PVC.
3. Wooden. Natural wood- the rarest and most expensive material for manufacturing. Stuffed animals made of wood often decorate the country houses of hunting enthusiasts.
4. Foam. Quite common material. When painted it looks very aesthetically pleasing and natural. Since the material is very light, a weight is attached to it.
5. Plastic. Very accessible, inexpensive and lightweight material.

It must be remembered that in itself, even a very good and expensive stuffed animal does not guarantee that the hunt will be successful. It is necessary to properly land them on the water. In addition, the effectiveness of hunting ducks with a decoy depends on the knowledge and skills of the hunter.

By size range

There are dummies:

• ordinary;
• large;
• very big.

It will be very good if there are layouts big size. Experience shows that a larger size is very effective and increases the chances of catching the desired trophy.

Depending on the breed

Models copy breeds:

• mallards;
• teals;
• diving;
• river;
• Gogoli.

Experienced hunters know that all types of waterfowl fly up to mallard dummies, while the mallard itself does not react to stuffed animals of other species.

By captured pose

It is customary to make figurines of birds in the following poses:

• sleeping;
• resting;
• diving;
• feeding.

Many years of accumulated experience suggests that stuffed animals should be light, made in the natural and calm pose of a feeding duck. Steady resistance to wind currents is a necessary quality.

Mechanical stuffed animals

In recent years, hunters have come to appreciate the new kind dummy This is a mechanical stuffed duck with flapping wings.

What is the advantage of a mechanical model over others? Such dummies look very believable, creating the sensation of a moving or flying duck. As practice has shown, the use of mechanical models that flap their wings attracts wild birds much more effectively, and hunting becomes much more effective.

How to choose the right one

A successful and productive hunt is the main indicator of the right choice.

The choice of a decoy for waterfowl hunting is influenced by several factors:

• seasonality (in spring it is better to use a stuffed female as bait);
• types of ducks living or migrating in a given area (choose stuffed animals of these breeds in accordance with common breeds);
• It is recommended to use layouts of different sizes and poses so as not to alarm the birds;
• features of the local reservoir;
• An important factor is transportation.

Currently, purchasing stuffed ducks does not cause any problems. Stores specializing in the sale of hunting goods offer a large assortment of duck dummies. The main thing is to make a choice and purchase a stuffed animal in a specialized store (or order from an online store).

Do it yourself

For hunting, as a rule, several dummies are used, and some use several dozen. Sometimes purchasing stuffed ducks can be quite expensive.

However, it is not necessary to buy dummies in a store. You can make a stuffed duck with your own hands. In this case, inexpensive and easy-to-work materials are used.

Below we will tell you how to make stuffed ducks with your own hands.

Made of wood

Hand-made wooden figurines are very beautiful dummies that amaze with their naturalness.

1. For production you will need wooden blocks. They should not be very large (diameter approximately 20 cm). The logs dry in their natural state (with bark). When the log dries, it will easily split into two halves. One half is used to make a stuffed animal.
2. The next step is to make a template. It can be made from thick cardboard. They trace the tree according to the template and remove the excess. The head is made from another piece of wood.
3. Holes are drilled to connect the head to the body. The head and body are connected to each other and fixed with a stick. The surface is polished with sandpaper, removing all irregularities and roughness.
4. The stage of exterior finishing has arrived. The tree is covered with drying oil and waited for complete drying. Check the coating on a smooth water surface (bath). Balancing is done using additional metal plates.
5. Finally, the figurine is coated with oil paint.

Now you will have a worthy stuffed animal in your arsenal for a successful hunt.

From polyurethane foam

A very economical and uncomplicated option for obtaining a dummy bird is making stuffed ducks for hunting from ordinary polyurethane foam.

You can make about five figures from one can of foam.

1. Let's make a shape: any plastic duck will do. We begin to paste over the form with pieces of paper (like papier-mâché). The first layer is toilet paper or soft napkins. The next layers can be made of thicker paper. At least ten layers must be glued on, then the homemade stuffed duck must be left to dry (about a week).
2. After a week, cut the paper dummy in half horizontally, you will get two blanks.
3. Lubricate the workpieces thick cream(or paraffin). Place a weighting agent in the workpiece that will be the bottom (a regular nut or a pair of nails will do).
4. Let's start filling the blanks with polyurethane foam. Let the foam dry. Then we connect the two halves and fasten them.
5. All that's left is the finishing touches. Since foam is not very durable and can allow water to pass through, a moisture-resistant exterior finish is required. It can be oil paint, varnish, drying oil.

It is very important to follow the paint or varnish manufacturer's recommendations. The result of incorrect coloring can be shine, and this will certainly scare away wild ducks. At the same time, a violation of the painting technology leads to the fact that the figures “peel off” instantly. The solution may be to add rubber glue to oil paint. After painting, be sure to wipe the entire surface with paraffin, this will help get rid of excess shine.

Video

You will learn how to make a stuffed duck from polystyrene foam in our video.

One of the simplest and most accessible is hunting ducks and other waterfowl. It gives you the opportunity to shoot a lot of birds and get a lot of trophies. One of its popular varieties is hunting with stuffed animals. However, like any other, it requires knowledge of the behavior of the bird, the correct selection of stuffed animals and proper preparation.

Features of the method

At first glance, the method of hunting with stuffed animals is quite simple. The hunter places a row of decoys on the water that imitate a flock of ducks. At the sight of their relatives, attracted by the imaginary safety, other ducks fly up to them to feed and rest. They become easy prey for the hidden hunter.

Despite its apparent simplicity, such a hunt requires knowledge of a number of nuances, even in addition to the selection of a gun, equipment and ammunition:

• where to stay on the pond;
• how to arrange stuffed animals;
• which stuffed animals to choose;
• how many to take;
• how to set up a sit-down;
• how and at what moment to shoot;
• and much more.

Let's consider all these questions in more detail.

How to hunt

Selecting a location

Decoy hunting can be done both from the shore and from a boat. Any of the options requires:

• good camouflage for the hunter - therefore there should be bushes, reeds, tall grass, trees, or other shelters nearby;
• long, motionless waiting - therefore the shore must be dry, with the opportunity to sit or lie down;
• place the duck “flock”, quite spaciously, at a distance of a confident shot (20 - 30 m from the hunter’s ambush) - in the absence of a boat, the depth should allow this to be done.

In addition, in order for a dog to fetch a dead duck without any problems, it is advisable to have convenient access to the water and back, and there is less algae in the pond, otherwise the dog may get entangled and drown.

With a competent approach, a couple of days before the hunt you need to come to the place, track the migration and resting routes of waterfowl, and only then finally decide on the ambush location. Since ducks always land and take off with the wind, steady wind directions on a body of water also need to be taken into account when choosing a hunting area.

Arrangement of the shelter

When setting up an ambush site, you need to make sure that the hunter is covered on all sides. To do this, it is best to use a special camouflage net that matches the area and time of year. But if the situation and time allow, then it is better to make a shelter from natural materials taken on site, so it will better blend into the surrounding area.

Many people make the mistake of taking cover only from the water side. Firstly, ducks can fly up from behind, and secondly, they, especially on small bodies of water, first fly in several circles and will definitely notice a hidden hunter.

In damp, swampy places, at the ambush site, you can make a flooring of poles, covering it with a hut on top. Even in such places, shelter can be a dug-in barrel of sufficient size, camouflaged on top.

A good, comfortable, universal, waterproof folding shelter for shooting from a prone position can be purchased at specialized hunting stores. It will make you feel comfortable in the most unfavorable conditions.

When hunting from a boat, it is covered with a camouflage net, or with branches or reeds secured in pre-prepared fastenings, for example from tubes located along the side. In this case, a boat hidden under the shore will have much greater stealth.

Equipment for stuffed ducks

To prevent stuffed ducks from being carried away by the wind and current during the hunt, they are equipped with a weight on a leash. The length of the leash should be sufficient for the load to lie on the bottom. For high-quality equipment, it is advisable to use an “L”-shaped weight, weighing 90-120 grams, which is widely offered for sale.

For ease of use and fixation during transportation, the load is attached to the main leash using a loop made of fishing elastic or other similar material. Now, when installing duck decoys in shallow water, with a depth of up to one and a half meters, Texas rig.

With this method of equipping, a leash made of thick, about 1 mm, fishing line is freely passed through the hole in the stabilizer.

For ease of use, the length of the leash cannot exceed one and a half meters. A load is attached to one end, and a loop is made at the other, through which the stuffed animal is attached to the bundle with a carabiner. With this equipment, stuffed animals can be transported in one bundle, connected with a carabiner through loops at one end. Stuffed animals are installed by throwing them using a leash. When it falls into the water, the weight, due to the free sliding of the fishing line, sinks to the bottom and fixes the bait in one place.

How to arrange stuffed animals

The correct placement of scarecrows on the water is of great importance. Everything matters here:
Their number - baits should be at least six. The minimum set consists of a drake and five ducks. Moreover, the larger your “flock”, the greater the likelihood of attracting ducks to it.

1. A device for installing scarecrows from the shore. 2. Installation of a ridge with stuffed animals at the hunting site.

Selection and location individual species stuffed There are four main ones: pochard, mallard, teal and goldeneye. Ducks on the water never sit mixed up, breaking up into separate groups of 4 - 6 pieces. In this case, stuffed ducks are placed deeper, and mallards or teals, on the contrary, are placed in shallow water.

The distance between baits should be at least three lengths. A crowded flock indicates danger, which will scare away other ducks.

When arranging the stuffed animals, leave a convenient place for the lured ducks to land. Moreover, the bait is placed so that this place is directly in front of the hunter.

Important! As already mentioned, ducks land and take off with the wind, so the most natural looking ducks will be those with their noses pointing straight into the wind.

The most popular are several bait placement schemes:

• "V" shaped- when they are placed in a wedge, downwind, so that the space for landing is inside it.
• "J" shaped or "hook"- when the baits are placed in the shape of this letter, with free space for landing inside it.
• "horseshoe"- almost the same as the V-shaped one, only the ducks are located in a semicircle, instead of a wedge, it is used in strong winds and bad weather.

Arrangement of stuffed ducks: A - in the form of a “fish hook”, B - in the form of a horseshoe, C - “deltoid”, D - on small reservoirs. The stuffed animals of the leading group are painted black; the image of a duck indicates the place where birds prefer to land.

Ducks approaching the shelter are usually shot in flight. Firstly, it's more sporty. Secondly, descending ducks will not necessarily land on the water, but can calmly fly past. Thirdly, this way you definitely won’t damage your baits.

If several ducks fly up, then first they shoot the far one, and then the near one; it still won’t go anywhere.

Wounded animals must be finished off, especially in the absence of a dog capable of immediately bringing the prey.

If you are confident that the flock will land and nothing will scare it off, then you can wait for this and strike on the water and on takeoff. This approach allows you to shoot up to a dozen ducks at once. In this case, it is still better to scare the bird and strike it already on takeoff.

Particular care must be taken when shooting from a boat, so as not to capsize; it is better to shoot along its axis.

Basic mistakes

Very often, failures when duck hunting with stuffed animals are associated with the most common mistakes:

• Poor camouflage, especially from behind, when ducks, when approaching or flying around a pond, see the hunter;
• Unnatural arrangement of baits, crowded, mixed for different species, without taking into account the characteristics of their behavior;
• Lack of space for landing on water;
• The weather is not suitable, the best for such a hunt will be cloudy, windy weather, when ducks are forced to fly frequently in search of a quiet place.
• Unnatural appearance of stuffed animals, for example their shine due to improper painting or dew covering them.
• Ducks can be scared off not only by the shine of scarecrows, but also by other reflections on the shore, for example from garbage, a water bottle or your ammunition.

Which stuffed ducks are best to use when hunting?

Stuffed animals used in hunting are distinguished:

• according to the pose of the duck: resting (the most popular), sleeping (the head is hidden under the wing), feeding (the head is lowered into the water) and diving (only the tail of the duck is visible), taking off, resting on land, etc.;
• by type of duck: mallard, pochard, teal, river, goldeneye, etc.;
• by sexual color: duck and drake;
• according to the material of the stuffed animal: rubber, inflatable PVC, wood, foam, polystyrene and other plastics;
• by size: regular, large (size one and a half) and very large - “magnum” (two or more times);
• by transportation method: hard and crushable.
• In addition, stuffed animals can be simple and mechanical (floating, rotating wings, etc.).

Important! Larger stuffed animals are easier to see from above, so they often attract high-flying flocks.

Mechanical scarecrows can be either power-driven or wind-driven, flapping their wings at the slightest wind.

Given all this variety, in order to choose which ones are best to use, you need to consider a number of factors.

Duck species are selected depending on the species that live and migrate in the area.
The color of the stuffed animals is chosen depending on the season. So in the spring, preference is given to females. In summer, the color of ducks is more speckled, darker, and by winter they lighten, etc.

The position of the decoys in your flock should vary, with half to two thirds usually resting and the rest in other positions. In addition, you can take several mechanical ones per flock. The transportation factor is also important; lightweight, crushable stuffed animals are much easier to transport.

Plastic products are gaining great popularity today. They are quite light, there are crushable varieties, they are easily repaired in case of damage from shot with a regular soldering iron. Plastic molding manufacturing technologies make it possible to produce a highly reliable drawing of the contours of a duck’s plumage, which makes it almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

This is impossible to achieve with rubber stuffed animals. In addition, unlike rubber baits, plastic baits do not create a glossy shine that scares away birds. Both domestic and foreign manufacturers are widely represented in our stores: Italian, American, Polish and Chinese. True, foreign products will cost one and a half to two times more.

DIY stuffed animals

If you want to save money, it is quite easy to make the required number of duck stuffed animals yourself. They can be made from different materials.

Tree

An affordable and traditional material, however, working with it requires certain skills in working with special tools. The body and head are made separately, according to a template, with subsequent connection. Before painting, the product is sanded with sandpaper and then primed with drying oil. The bait is painted with matte paints to match the natural duck coloring.

Styrofoam

To do this, we will need sheets of polystyrene foam, 2–5 cm thick, superglue, putty and matte paints.

1. We cut out a template from paper or cardboard; it can be printed in natural size;
2. Using the foam template, we cut out the required number of parts so that when connected together they are about 20 cm thick;
3. We glue them all together to get a three-dimensional body of the bird;
4. Using a knife, we give the product its final, correct shape. If necessary, we add details to make it more realistic;
5. Sand with sandpaper and putty. Using putty you can give the stuffed animal additional realism;
6. At the very end we paint it in natural colors.

Polyurethane foam

For this method we need: a high-quality sample of a stuffed animal for casting a mold, plaster, two identical boxes the size of the product, paraffin or fatty cream, polyurethane foam, soft wire, primer and paint.

First we make two halves of the mold for casting the stuffed animal:

1. We spread the plaster;
2. We place the sample on one side in the box and fill the remaining space with plaster;
3. We do the second part of the form in the same way;
4. When both parts of the mold are ready, we begin making the model:
5. Lubricate the plaster molds with paraffin or rich cream so that the foam does not stick;
6. We lay wire inside as a power frame;
7. We fill the forms with polyurethane foam to 80 percent, connect and squeeze together, for example with a heavy load, so that the model does not deform;
8. When the foam has hardened, carefully remove the model and clean it with sandpaper if necessary;
9. After this, it can be primed and painted.
10. As a rule, one plaster mold is enough to make 15–20 stuffed animals.

Despite the fact that today you can easily purchase any hunting goods in specialized stores, many craftsmen prefer to make stuffed animals for hunting with their own hands. This allows you not only to save money, but also to create exactly the kind of accessories that fully meet the requirements of an experienced hunter.

First, let's figure out why they are needed at all. It's actually quite simple. When a hunter sits in ambush, waiting for a duck or goose, he is usually tied to one place - for example, a small lake, where the bird flies to spend the night after feeding during the day. However, what if there are many such reservoirs in the area? After all, a duck can choose any of them to spend the night. It is the scarecrows that help the bird make the “right” choice. Having seen several of their relatives on the water, they understand that this body of water is completely safe and rush towards it.

Stuffed animals are especially useful during spring hunting. At this time, you can only hunt drakes. However, it is simply impossible to determine in flight, and even at dusk, whether a drake or a duck is flying towards the hunter. It’s a completely different matter when they land ten to fifteen meters away and begin to swim slowly. In addition, hitting an almost motionless bird sitting at such a short distance is much easier than hitting one flying in the sky at an altitude of 20-40 meters.

Therefore, any fan of this hobby should learn how to make a stuffed duck for hunting with their own hands - it will allow you to return home with rich trophies every time.

Requirements for manufacturing technology

What qualities should finished stuffed animals have? There are quite a lot of them. First of all, and this is quite understandable, they should look like ducks. Ideally, at dusk, even the hunter himself should not be able to distinguish at first glance where his stuffed animal is swimming and where it has stopped for a few seconds. live duck. If the imitation is not plausible enough, then there is always a risk that the duck will not believe that its brothers are resting on the water.

At the same time, they should also be light. Still, sometimes a hunter has to walk several kilograms from an abandoned car to the hunting site. Excess weight will cause serious discomfort and will cause fatigue to set in faster than it otherwise would.

Based on these requirements, it is worth choosing materials suitable for production so that the finished stuffed geese for DIY hunting are natural and light.

What materials are used in production

Experienced hunters use a variety of materials to create stuffed animals that fully correspond to their ideas about the best option. We will list the most popular options, and also tell you about the technology for making duck scarecrows for hunting with your own hands.

From plywood

Perhaps, it is from plywood that making stuffed geese for hunting with your own hands takes the least amount of time. Even a teenager who knows how to work with the simplest tools can cope with this task.

However, they are also the least durable. Plywood, in contact with water, absorbs moisture, which is why after each hunt the stuffed animals must be thoroughly dried. But even then, they usually last only a few seasons. If you forget to dry them, the stuffed animals will quickly begin to rot and become covered with mold - you will have to make new ones.

So, to work you will need:

• plywood;
• a simple pencil or pen;
• sandpaper;
• hacksaw with fine teeth;
• drying oil,
• oil paints,
• tassel,
• several bars with a cross section of about 2 centimeters and a length of 20-25 cm,
• petrol.

When all the materials and tools are at hand, you can start working:

1. To begin, draw several silhouettes of ducks on the plywood with a pencil. It is desirable that they be different - one has an elongated neck, the other, on the contrary, is ruffled, the third swims relaxedly in clear water in complete safety.
2. Using a hacksaw, carefully cut out the finished figures.
3. Sand the edges with sandpaper so that they are smooth and do not hurt your hand when working with them.
4. Cover the plywood with hot drying oil and let it dry.
5. Paint the stuffed animals with oil paints - try to give them the most realistic look.
6. The paint will have a noticeable shine after it dries. To remove shine, wipe the stuffed animals with a rag lightly moistened with gasoline.
7. Attach the prepared pegs to the stuffed animals. You can make them removable so that finished products take up less space during transportation.

OK it's all over Now. Now you know how to make stuffed ducks for hunting with your own hands, using only plywood and some other materials.

Volumetric stuffed animal made of foam plastic

These products can boast not only of surprisingly low weight (the finished stuffed animal weighs only a few tens of grams), but also of realism - after all, using polystyrene foam, you can make three-dimensional stuffed geese for hunting with your own hands. Therefore, they are often much more efficient than their plywood counterparts.

However, if possible, it is better to use polystyrene foam rather than polystyrene foam. It is a little heavier, but much stronger, and almost as easy to process. Consequently, stuffed animals can last for more than one year.

So, before you get started, stock up on the following tools and materials:

• office cutter,
• sandpaper,
• pencil,
• tassels,
• polystyrene foam or polystyrene foam (the main thing is that it is strong enough and at least 2-3 cm thick),
• putty,
• acrylic paints,
• glue.

Do not use nitro glue - if it gets on the foam, it will burn holes in it, ruining the appearance of the stuffed animals, as well as making work difficult.

Most of the list is in any apartment. Well, what is missing can always be purchased at any hardware store. After this, you can safely get to work.

1. Draw the silhouette of a duck onto the foam. It is better to do this first on cardboard, and then transfer it to foam plastic, making two identical blanks. Make sure the size and proportions are as close to the real duck as possible.
2. Draw separately the profiles for the wings - also two pieces.
3. Cut out the foam blanks. It is best to use a hacksaw, but you can also get by with a stationery cutter.
4. Glue all four pieces together.
5. Use fine sandpaper to remove any irregularities and give the stuffed animal more roundness and realism.
6. Putty the joints so that the surface is as smooth as possible, let the putty dry.
7. Using a brush and acrylic paints, paint the scarecrow in the appropriate colors.

OK it's all over Now. The stuffed animal is ready and can go hunting! You can attach some kind of weight to the bottom - for example, a massive bolt, so that the stuffed animal does not accidentally be knocked over by the wind.

Stuffed animal made of polyurethane foam

Preparation for production is quite complicated, but the process of creating stuffed animals is simple - this option is worth choosing for those who want to make it right away a large number of imitations. For example, if you are interested in a stuffed crow for hunting with your own hands, this would be the best solution.

For work take:

• alabaster,
• polyurethane foam,
• boards,
• hammer,
• nails,
• hacksaw,
• hard foam,
• stationery knife,
• sandpaper.

Now you can start making a stuffed drake duck for hunting with your own hands:

1. Make one stuffed animal from polystyrene foam - either from a single piece, or according to the instructions given above. Try especially hard when working - all subsequent stuffed animals will be an exact copy of the first.
2. Dilute plaster or alabaster in a suitable container. It should be quite liquid - about like sour cream. Press the foam piece into it, sideways, exactly halfway. Allow the plaster to harden - this usually takes overnight at most.
3. Lubricate the hardened surface with vegetable oil and pour another portion of plaster. When it hardens, you can carefully separate the two halves and remove the foam blank from them.
4. Fold two plaster halves and carefully make a small hole at the bottom - 2-3 centimeters.
5. Pour polyurethane foam into the mold through the resulting hole and let it harden.
6. Disassemble the form, remove the future stuffed animal and carefully paint it.

That's all. Now you have the opportunity to prepare any number of stuffed ducks, geese or crows from polyurethane foam. As with foam plastic, you can weight the bottom with some kind of weight to make the stuffed animal more stable.

My friends and I go out to hunt waterfowl almost always with stuffed animals. I have a sufficient number of my own floating stuffed ducks, but I didn’t have a single stuffed duck with flapping wings, and I’ve seen them in use by other hunters more than once. Having estimated the price in the online store, which was no less than 4,000 rubles apiece, I decided to try to make it myself (I have experience in making floating stuffed animals).

As a material, I decided to use Penoplex insulation, a sheet 5 cm thick. I took the dimensions from a stuffed mallard duck, bought in a store, and made patterns on sheets of paper (torso - 2 pieces, head - 1, paws - 1, tail - 1). Then I transferred the contours of the drawings to Penoplex and cut them out using a manual mechanical jigsaw. Penoplex is very easy to process.

Then I glued the body from two halves (I used Liquid Nails glue). After the glue had dried, I roughly cut out the body with a utility knife, cutting off the corners and smoothing them out, making rounded shapes. I also processed the head blank. I cut the blank for the paws lengthwise to get a thickness of about 1 cm, made the paws from two parts, then glued them together (it’s easier this way), I also cut the blank for the tail lengthwise to get two parts 0.5 cm thick, processed it and glued it them on cardboard in the shape of a tail on both sides.

Afterwards I treated it with a fine sandpaper for painting.

To attach the head, I used a fountain pen with a cap (the cap and pen fit together and hold perfectly). I drilled a hole in the neck and glued the sawn-off part of the pen there, so that only the part that was covered by the cap stuck out, and glued the cap itself into the body of the duck.

In the lower part I drilled a hole for attaching the scarecrow to a pole and glued a small piece of plastic water pipe there (15mm in diameter, about 5-7 cm long)

I drilled a through hole across the body to install the wings and glued an aluminum tube into it. I made a cut in the tail section to attach the tail (all tubes are necessary to strengthen the holes, since Penoplex will quickly wear out from frequent friction).

Now I'll move on to making the wings. I made them from a regular cardboard binder. I cut out the pattern from paper and transferred it to cardboard. I spotted an approximate outline in a picture of a finished factory-made mechanical stuffed animal on the Internet. Next, you need to sew the “cocktail tubes” to the cardboard and glue the threads with superglue (I tried to glue them, but it didn’t work because they came off in the wind.) The bend of the wing was made by screwing a cardboard blank onto the tube and checking for rotation, in short, I was experimenting.

All that remains is to paint all the parts. I used acrylic paints, you can apply white primer, then the colors will be brighter. The wings were covered with 3 layers of spray paint so that they would not absorb moisture.

Connect them into one whole. I attached the paws to the body using toothpicks, gluing them into the legs, and simply sticking them into the body when assembling. To attach the wings, I used a steel rod, which I took from an old indoor clothes dryer. You will also need two furniture plugs, which act as a stopper to prevent the wings from flying off the rod when they rotate.

Making one stuffed animal cost me less than 100 rubles.

Stuffed animals made using this method were tested on a pond. It turned out believable, I even saw how other hunters, coming out of the reeds and seeing my stuffed animals, jumped up to shoot, thinking that they had scared off the duck. I transport it in a box and assemble the prefabricated parts on the shore before entering.

Duck hunting is unthinkable without the use of stuffed animals, since birds flying past rarely stop at an empty pond, but they are quite willing to join their imaginary brothers.

What types of stuffed ducks are there?

Modern hunting equipment stores offer amateur and professional hunters a variety of types of stuffed ducks. Depending on the material from which they are made, stuffed animals are:

• rubber– they have the most realistic appearance, are quite durable and easy to use because they are light in weight. An additional advantage of such models is their affordable cost;
• plastic– made of special material, thanks to which they retain their shape and do not deform due to adverse weather conditions. Such stuffed animals float confidently on the water in strong gusts of wind or heavy rain, unlike their rubber counterparts;
• wooden– usually store-bought ducks made of wood are hollow inside, so they don’t hold up well on the water in waves or wind. It is best to choose solid wood models; they are more stable and do not deteriorate over time.

In order to diversify your artificial flock and make it more realistic, you can purchase stuffed ducks in a variety of poses: sleeping, resting, swimming, diving or feeding.

Recently, automated, battery-powered scarecrows have become popular. Such models can be radio-controlled, or move along a certain trajectory, which allows you to create the appearance of a real flock. The only disadvantage of radio-controlled stuffed animals is their rather high cost, so not everyone can afford to buy such products.

What are the best stuffed animals to use?

Depending on the season, you should use different stuffed ducks, since ducks behave differently in autumn and spring.

Spring is the mating season, so ducks join mainly individuals of their own species. The exception is lonely drakes, which can court other females, but cautious birds quickly detect the deception and immediately fly away.

The best option would be to have three decoys of the main species of ducks typical for a given area - two females and one drake. It would also be a good idea to purchase several stuffed mallards.

Autumn is the time of preparation for departure, so ducks willingly join not only their fellow birds, but also groups of other birds. At this time, you can use stuffed animals of different birds, but, nevertheless, it is worth remembering that when approaching the stuffed ducks, they will choose the group where there are individuals similar to them.

Of course, they will form a group with other birds, but they will keep some distance from them. Advice: it is best to choose stuffed birds whose species predominate in the area.

In autumn, as in spring, it is worth having three stuffed animals of the main species of ducks living in the hunting area. However, if the number of stuffed animals is limited, it is worth choosing stuffed mallards and red-headed pochards or goldeneyes, since diving ducks are the most distrustful and need to be lured more actively. In addition, the stuffed birds of such birds are fluffy, and therefore extremely noticeable, so they attract other not particularly picky ducks - teal, lout, etc.

In order for the bird-attracting stuffed animals to cope with their purpose most productively, when planting them you should adhere to the basic rules:

• choose places free from vegetation so that the stuffed animals do not get tangled and lost in the river thickets;
• Depending on what stuffed animals you use - diving or dabbling ducks - you should choose the correct seating pattern. Dabbling ducks are best planted in shallow water, while diving ducks prefer deeper areas;
• try to create a flock of stuffed ducks so that the ducks swim close to each other, (advice: the optimal distance between individuals is 2-4 meters) this increases the likelihood of joining them large groups birds;
• when seating stuffed animals, take into account the subsequent firing zone of the perched birds, try to leave free places that are most convenient for sighting;
• Most often, ducks land against the wind, so in windy weather you should take into account the fact that the bird will be carried several meters from the intended landing point.

Of course, it will not be possible to fulfill all these requirements exactly, but compliance with such conditions increases the likelihood of a successful hunt, so it is still worth listening to the recommendations.

How to make a stuffed duck yourself?

Our ancestors used homemade stuffed birds to hunt ducks. They were most often made from linden, but some wove a duck frame from thin traveling rods. Nowadays, in a hunting store you can purchase ready-made stuffed animals of various types of ducks made from wood, rubber or other materials.

However, if you have the desire, you can make a stuffed duck with your own hands. For this you will need:

• linden wood;
• an ax and a sharp knife;
• chisel;
• paints.

We begin work by creating a shape for the body of the duck, for which we trim the block using an ax. The easiest way is to cut out the head separately, after which you can attach it with a wooden pin. When designing a head, it is important to be guided by realistic pictures or a base in the form of a ready-made stuffed animal. An incorrectly designed head will outweigh the entire stuffed animal, which will compromise its stability on the water.

It is most convenient to bring the workpieces to the optimal shape with a sharp knife. Since a completely solid warp will have considerable weight, it is best to empty the inside of the duck a little. Advice: it is best to cut out the inside from the top, as this will protect the stuffed animal from getting wet and damaging the insides. Use a sharp knife to cut off the top, and then use a chisel to hollow out some part from the middle; the sides should remain 10-12 cm wide. The resulting void can be filled with polystyrene foam, and the previously cut top can simply be nailed with small nails.

All that remains is to paint the finished duck using paints. Some hobbyists create the most realistic stuffed animals, decorating the blanks with the skins of real birds, but this approach is irrational, since after each hunt the skin will need to be put in order.

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