Butt Decoys?

Has anyone on here ever converted old decoys into feeder "Butt" decoys?

I want to add some butts to the spread to make it more realistic but all you can find online are mallard butts. Problem is, we NEVER have mallards where I hunt. I'm sure they would work, but I'd rather use what's in the area.

Anyone ever done something like that?

You're over thinking it.

If you don't really have advice, why comment? It's a waste of your time and mine. If you think it is overthinking, that is your issue. I hunt exclusively public and I just think anything to differentiate(Spelling?) my spread from the other bland spreads couldn't hurt...

I think that would be a good idea! I always try to make the spread more realistic. My only question is how are you going to cut a decoy in half and patch it up without the decoy sinking eventually.

buy mallard hen buts and paint over the feet. Done. Or convert some...i always love a good duck project.

Just an opinion. Don't get your pannies all twisted.
If a gadwall has enough time to say to itself Hmmm those duckbutts look like mallard backends not gadwalls" .... You should be shootin. If it makes you happy do it then.

Damn...

Unless you're good at melting plastic together it seems like you'd be a lot better off buying mallards and painting them.

You'd basically have to cut a decoy in half, cut off the keel, seal the decoy where you cut it, and then re-attach the keel on the bottom.

But I'm with Kdub...you're over-thinking it. I highly doubt a gadwall duck butt is going to have any different kind of effect than a mallard duck butt. And I hunt public exclusively as well for the most part. Ducks are smart, but you're giving them a little too much credit.

That's why I'm asking if anyone has converted any. I was curious how they went about it...

I understand all that, but I'm just thinking something to make my spread standout from a distance to draw them in instead of the old standard dozen mallards that people throw out. Probably am overthinking it, but that is part of why I love duck hunting(all the different techniques and ideas you can try).

Mallard butts are probably the best bet and just paint them...

And kdub, sorry for acting like a douche. That is not how I want to be perceived.

I guess I got lucky with my mallard butt duck in the middle of my gadwall decoys... Those teal were feet down when they realized that the mallard didn't belong...

The ducks are not going to decide what species is feeding. I have duck butts but I don't use them. The only duck butt I think would make any difference at all are the ones that have the water pumps attached to them and they kick water and move around like feeding ducks. Anything other than that is like urine in the wind.

I thought about converting all of mine.



Seriously, don't overthink it. If it is important to you, find someone to go in halves on a few pairs that is willing to take the drakes and you take the hens. Other than by the range of UV given off by the feathers, I doubt any duck can tell a mallard hen butt sticking out of the water from most other puddle ducks. It would be easier to paint in some different species details on mallard duck butts than it would be to cut, seal, and paint to convert regular decoys.

Duck porn.

They sell pintail butts

I thought about doing this when I left some decoys strung up over the back of the 4 wheeler and they melted by the exhaust. I tried the pintails.

Spent too much time and wouldn't work for me.

I do agree it's too much work to cut up perfectly good decoys to make butts but, they do make pintail butts.

Go with the magnum mallard butts. I like big butts and I cannot lie...

Oh c'mon, somebody had to say it.

and geese too

My uncle made some once out of some old decoys he had laying around a while back.

he cut them in half and filled them with that spray foam in a can stuff (higher quality foam that stayed dense), and added a weight near the base inside the foam to keep it butt side up. He then painted/sprayed some sealant across the whole bottom to try and keep out as much water as possible. He left the keel on the butt half, drilled a hole in it and tied the line/weight to it. It half a$$ed worked.....pun intended. Hardest part is getting the thing to float correct way up and getting it leveled out.

I think they lasted almost a season. If you have a ton of old decoys laying around you don't want, its worth a shot to try different methods. Otherwise not worth the effort in my opinion for the results it may have.

good luck!

If you want to try making them get some 3m patch stick aka the green weenie. I use it all the time works great. I even repaired a plastic fuel tank on a Polly machine. Good luck

They work. Read the info on DU, they did a good article on it this week via their online updates. Just buy the mallards and paint them if you feel the need to do so. They add realism more than definition by specie. Enjoy!

I love duck butts in my spread. I feel like they close birds coming in. Academy has some that are wobbling feeder buts and you can buy the hens separately. I always use 2-3 in my spread. Helps on calm days. Duck porn- pretty funny