The art of the decoy

In the 1970s, according to AEB Johnson, making decoys out of real pigeon, preserved with formaldehyde, was fairly common practice

overlap at the entrance to allow one to nip out and pick up birds. The front of the netting can be bent downwards and inwards to whatever height one requires, while the full 6ft height to the rear of the shooter provides an excellent background (assuming one is less than 6ft tall). About half-a-dozen canes or alloy rods are necessary to hold the netting in position, for there is quite a hefty wind resistance and one needs to be well pegged down in windy weather.

Cocksfoot grass

‘Thatching’ the wire netting took me two evenings’ work, and, having started off with straw and finding this rather bulky, I tried using the tall, sear stems of cocksfoot grass and found this material ideal. It has a mat straw-like colour and small bunches of it are easy to weave in and out of the large mesh netting. I left a single vertical mesh completely unwoven at intervals in the netting to give me a view of approaching pigeon.

When the netting was complete, I rolled it up into a compact bundle and took it to the field in my car. It was an immediate success and has been most useful on any occasion when I need a hide in an open situation. To give some idea of its effectiveness, I have taken it into an open freshly sown pea field and within two hours killed more than 60 pigeon, with some of the birds coming in so close

needle and thread as I go. I then fix the glass eyes in the eye sockets, sticking them in with Bostik after part filling the cavity with cotton wool. All is then ready for injecting formalin into all the remaining fleshy parts of the bird – head, neck, wings, back, tail, legs, etc. Once this is completed, I simply set up the decoy in a natural position (as one would for a dead bird decoy) with the aid of a forked wire under the head and let it remain in this position in my garage for about three weeks to a month, during which time it will have set permanently to shape and one can dispose of the wire.

Glass eyes

Several of these decoys can be made for very little cost and, provided they are treated with care and not left out in the rain (which makes a hopeless mess of the feathers), they will last for some while. Although glass eyes may seem an unnecessary refinement, it is quite surprising how much life they impart to a decoy. I have often thought that if some shooter were to suddenly spot my decoys (not knowing them to be artificial) he would, no doubt, take a pot shot at them. By setting the heads of birds at various angles and heights one can really make a group of decoys look very natural.

The only real difficulty with such decoys is how to carry them safely, so as to not spoil their feathers. Nowadays I use an open shopping basket for this purpose. It will comfortably hold up to a dozen decoys placed gently one upon the other and is easily transported to and from one’s hide.

This article was first published in the 25 July 1970 issue of Shooting Times.

It doesn’t take too much effort or require too many tools and ingredients to make your own decoys