660 
FOREST AND 
STREAM 
December, 1919 
lUKIXG DUCK DECOYS 
By D. W. O’Neil, Jr. 
W ITH the cost of decoys ranging 
from twenty-three dollars a dozen 
for the best grade of cork stool 
down to seven for the lowest grade of the 
wooden variety and the prices still going 
up, not to mention the taxes and all the 
bother of fitting them up with weights and 
cords I made up my mind to try the ex- 
periment of making a set of cork stool 
myself and if successful to let the other 
members of the Duck Hunting Clan in on 
the secret. 
We live in the heart of New York City 
and get all our shooting out on Great 
South Bay and in the adjacent swamps, 
getting in Saturdays and holidays during 
the season at very little expense because 
we know our ground and waters well af- 
ter years of experience. 
I have my own home-made duck boat 
and set of stool that came from a mail 
order house several years ago at the rate 
of $3.49 per dozen but times have changed 
and now the price of stool with glass 
eyes is at least triple that amount. 
How well do I remember the first flock 
of five stool that I had. They were just 
blocks of wood sawed out and painted 
black with blocks of smaller wood nailed 
on for heads, with no shape or any par- 
ticular liking to a duck, but they served 
the purpose for a whole season. 
The birds seemed to know that there 
•was only a single barrel gun there to 
guard the stool for I got some wonderful 
chances at big flocks, capped off with the 
time fifty came in at once and by quick 
Fig. L 
work I managed to get my first double. 
My, how happy I was that day. Then 
father promised to get me the long tcased- 
for new gun for Christmas. 
Christmas came with the new gun and 
I sold the old musket for eight dollars 
to a country boy I knew and sent by the 
Bixt post for the above-mentioned stool. 
The bay froze over before they got to me, 
however, so it was not until the next year 
that I was able to use my new rig which 
I had completed by the making of a 
dandy hunting boat for myself. 
F or tools you v/111 want the following 
list of implements to best proceed 
with the work at hand, but substi- 
tutes may be be made if imperative. 
Hammer, screwdriver, wood rasp (flat 
on one side round on the other), gimlet, 
sand-paper, saw, jacknife, whetstone, 
pencil, rule and a one-half inch chisel. 
Procure from a lumber yard a five foot- 
length of clear white pine or cedar, one 
and a quarter inches wide by three inches 
deep and have it dressed on four sides 
as the marks will show better (for black- 
E are depending upon the 
friende and admirers of our 
old correspondent Nessmuk to make 
this department worthy of his 
name. No man knew the woods 
better than Nessmuk or wrote of 
them with quainter charm. Many 
of his practical ideas on camping 
and “ going light ” have been 
adopted by the United States 
Army; his canoe has been preserved 
in the Smithsonian Institution; and 
we hope that all good woodsmen 
will contribute to this department 
their Hints and Kinks and trail- 
tested contrivances . — [Editors.] 
duck you will want at least seven feet). 
Mark out your heads on the side of the 
pieces according to the style of duck you 
are going to make. I shall speak of 
imitating a broadbill entirely in this ar- 
ticle and changes in the measurements 
given for other varieties of ducks will bo 
easily figured out from the ones given 
here. 
The head should be about four inches 
long over all and the details on cut No. 
I. will give you the proper dmensions to 
draw to, also the first step in sawing the 
cuts as marked. My advice is to saw out 
one head at a time and then do the split- 
ting later. 
After having made the saw-cuts as per 
the diagram you must be very careful in 
splitting not to split off too much but 
work off a half inch at a time. 
You now have your heads cut out in the 
rough and the next step is to snlit and 
whittle the blocks out to the rough shape 
of the head. First make two saw cuts 
at the neck three-eighths of an inch deep, 
then splitting the head out roughly. 
Now take the rasp and knife and work 
the heads down to the desired shape, first 
M'orking the bill to the shape shown in 
I. Then work the neck and the back of 
the head to the desired shape, finishing 
off with sand-paper to smooth out the 
rough spots. 
Drive in two furniture tacks for eyes, 
and j’ou have your heads completed and 
the hardest part of the job done. 
N OW for the bodies of these Imitators. 
Procure from some dealer in rough 
cork some slabs of two-inch cork 
five and a half by eleven inches. It is usu- 
ally sold by the pound. I used twenty 
pounds for my set and I had especially 
thick stock. Fifteen pounds should cover 
two-inch stool and to spare. Cork is 
worth twenty cents a pound just now and 
if you do not know of a dealer the Pad- 
dock Cork Co., 1209 De Kalb Avenue, 
Brooklyn can furnish what you require. 
Cedar can be used in place of the cork 
but is much heavier and harder to ■work, 
and the finished stool is not so lively as 
the cork ones. 
As in Fig. II mark your body shape but 
not on the smoothest side of the cork, 
with white chalk, then saw the corners 
off as indicated. Next trim the block, 
making the tail about one inch thick at 
the end. Take your rasp and smooth out 
all the rough corners, rounding the body 
into the desired shape. 
The third unit of the complete duck is 
the keel. This should be of white pine. 
£ •• Tmes 
Fig. II. 
three-quarters of an inch square and 
seven inches long, taking a piece seven 
feet long to do the job. 
In the center of one side of this piece 
cut with your chisel as in Fig. HI, being 
sure to dovetail the cut on the ends in 
order to hold the lead. Make this cut on^ 
half inch deep and four inches Ions 
