Bought a doz GHG Hot Buy Mallards.

The paint seemed to be scraping off as I was rigging them up before the first hunt.
The paint seemed not as good as the older set I have.
Touched them up and put two coats of clear coat flat on them. They looked great; after three hunts the clear
coat appears to be scratching.

Did I use the wrong clear coat?

Two coats too much?

Do you clear coat your deeks?

Going to pack everything away; Going to buy a few new doz deeks for next fall.
So ill be all set to go for next year and want some tips.

Clear coat good or bad?

If good; what kind should I use?

Why are you packing it in for the season?

On clear coat, don't know.

All out of duck tags

Not done yet;
just want to get the new deeks ready for next season.

my advice: dont buy hot buys. If you want good decoys, buy good decoys.

I bet there a plenty of opinions on this one, but what are good decoys?

G&H or Herters

Multiple light coats of flat clear. If you put it on too thick it can turn yellow.

Most lifelike GHG, pro-grade...gotta baby them a little more so paint doesnt come off though

Last the longest but not that great detailed...G&H, last forever but dont compare to others in realism. Herters are good too.

Just bought around 12 dozen decoys this year, all GHG Pro-Grade, minus the Pintails and Gadwall as they dont make PG. The paint has lasted pretty good overall. There is a reason the decoys are listed as "hot buys"

^^^^^ this

I have GHG teal that have taken a pretty good beating and look great. But if I were buying right now I would look at G&H, Final Approach or Drake.

And no, I don't put anything on them I hunt them as they come out of the box and I am not real good about keeping them clean either.

When I went to LA and those boys were killing piles of ducks over black painted 2 litre bottles it kinda opened my eyes up. Movement is more important than how pretty they are, that is what catches us hunters

It's funny you mention that Judd. Recently heard a story of some guys that did this in North OK. I've tried it myself with limited success but it's because I wasn't on the X.

I buy a couple of dozen academy deeks on sale each year. $13.99 a dozen if you catch em at the right time...Brand new deeks every opening day...

Paint adhesion is a problem on plastic decoys.

The release agent from the molding process frequently isn't fully removed from production decoys. Nothing sticks very well to release agent so the paint flakes off.

Sometimes the plastic isn't thick enough to resist the bending forces applied when being beaten about or carried in the bottom of the decoy bag with 50lbs of decoys pushing down on them. Paint doesn't stick well to surfaces which flex frequently.

If you want decoys that will last for several seasons you need to get high quality plastics with good quality control, cork or burlapped foam decoys.