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Sandhill Cranes #6955046 11/11/17 03:41 AM
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kman2017 Offline OP
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What's everyone using for decoys these days?

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6955156 11/11/17 06:58 AM
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Sniper John Offline
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Most pros are using stuffers these days. I use a mix of sillosock cranes and bigfoot silhouettes, plus a half dozen older style flambeau full bodies. I dust them with flat grey primer to keep the shine off and add a brighter red to the heads so they stand out more. The bigfoots and full bodies are of a type no longer made but with patience can be found through online auctions and forum classifieds. I have over 75 total decoys with the best strategy for me to put them in tight groups of 5 to 10 with lots of space between groups.






Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6957014 11/12/17 07:13 PM
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We have a mix of sillosock cranes and dive bomb silhouettes.

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: nacgoat08] #6957173 11/12/17 09:50 PM
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john paul Offline
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Deceptions, only way to go imo. I'd rather have a dozen deceptions than 10 dozen sillosocks.


Originally Posted by garrett
I'm with GK because I like salty old dudes.
Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6957763 11/13/17 04:06 AM
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blackfoot Offline
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Disagree... hunt a full section of milo(square mile) and a doz deceptions won’t do anything for ya... Pfft.. 10 doz silos attracts a little more attention...all depends on the situation.......yesterday hunted 50 acres of wheat and ran 3 doz deceptions..limit.... today hunted a full section of milo, ran 40 doz silo socks.... limit... visibility of decoys in wheat vs cut corn vs disc corn vs cut milo makes a big difference

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6957834 11/13/17 05:35 AM
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Sniper John Offline
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I hunt Young county. My birds return every year roosting on the Brazos to my East, leaving roost and using our creek bottom as a visual for a flyway to fields far away to our West. It was not until I hit the 6 dozen mark till the birds really started dropping down and paying attention to my decoy spread unless I was just where they wanted to be anyway. And still I am just pulling in the smaller groups and pulling away younger birds from the bigger groups. My crane decoy collection is still growing a little at a time as I find used deals over the summers. I want to double that number and the only reason I don't want more than 150 crane decoys is because I am usually alone setting things up or with one other hunter. It is a no guest lease. Only a dozen deceptions or even a dozen stuffers even would not be enough to be noticed by birds passing high over or passing to my North. I have worked hard with a lot of trial and error on decoy numbers, location, and pattern to get where I am at now hunting them on our deer lease field.

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6957901 11/13/17 12:10 PM
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We run Deception Decoys. Usually 2-3dz per hunt. 95% of the time we are setting up on the feed and the birds are returning to us. The other 5% we are setting up between the roost and feed and running traffic. On traffic hunts the decoys have to be very visible.


Daniel Kubecka
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Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: blackfoot] #6957979 11/13/17 01:42 PM
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Originally Posted By: blackfoot
Disagree... hunt a full section of milo(square mile) and a doz deceptions won’t do anything for ya... Pfft.. 10 doz silos attracts a little more attention...all depends on the situation.......yesterday hunted 50 acres of wheat and ran 3 doz deceptions..limit.... today hunted a full section of milo, ran 40 doz silo socks.... limit... visibility of decoys in wheat vs cut corn vs disc corn vs cut milo makes a big difference


I definitely think there is a time and place for huge sillosock spreads but most can't afford 40 dozen sillosocks and 4 dozen deceptions. If you were setting decoys with just you and one other guy and could only afford one, what would it be? 40 dozen socks or 4 dozen deceptions?


Originally Posted by garrett
I'm with GK because I like salty old dudes.
Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6958623 11/13/17 08:16 PM
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Sniper John Offline
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I would want some of both.

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: Sniper John] #6958715 11/13/17 09:28 PM
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john paul Offline
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For the OP...

Sillosocks:

Pros - lightweight, move great in the wind, easy to set up, cheap.
Cons - Too much wind they look terrible, Too little wind they look terrible, don't look great in the first place, can't take much abuse, need at least 10 dozen to kill birds on most occasions due to the fact they are not very realistic (just my personal experience, not saying it can't be done over 10 dozen or less, I've killed them over 30 gray trash bags under the right conditions).

Deceptions:
Pros - Super realistic, can hunt them in any condition with no concern, easy to set up, bullet proof (literally, I've seen people shoot them and you can't even tell) don't need very many to kill birds if you are on the X (I've killed them with 2 dozen in a full section of milo).
Cons - Don't move very well in the wind unless it is gale force, too bulky and too heavy to pack in more than a couple hundred yards, super expensive.

I have been thinking about buying 5 dozen of the dive bombs for fillers. Does anyone have any experience with them?

Last edited by john paul; 11/13/17 09:42 PM.

Originally Posted by garrett
I'm with GK because I like salty old dudes.
Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6959365 11/14/17 04:27 AM
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Dang that's awesome! I've never hunted them. My lease in Rule is covered in em but I didn't get the tag. One day. They look real enough to me.

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6960310 11/14/17 09:33 PM
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Appels Offline
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Deceptions = $275 for a 3 pack .. don't bring the buddy that shoots the deeks on one of those hunts.

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: john paul] #6961775 11/15/17 10:09 PM
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quackiller Offline
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Originally Posted By: john paul
For the OP...

Sillosocks:

Pros - lightweight, move great in the wind, easy to set up, cheap.
Cons - Too much wind they look terrible, Too little wind they look terrible, don't look great in the first place, can't take much abuse, need at least 10 dozen to kill birds on most occasions due to the fact they are not very realistic (just my personal experience, not saying it can't be done over 10 dozen or less, I've killed them over 30 gray trash bags under the right conditions).

Deceptions:
Pros - Super realistic, can hunt them in any condition with no concern, easy to set up, bullet proof (literally, I've seen people shoot them and you can't even tell) don't need very many to kill birds if you are on the X (I've killed them with 2 dozen in a full section of milo).
Cons - Don't move very well in the wind unless it is gale force, too bulky and too heavy to pack in more than a couple hundred yards, super expensive.

I have been thinking about buying 5 dozen of the dive bombs for fillers. Does anyone have any experience with them?


ive been wondering too. looks like they'd work...

Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: kman2017] #6961843 11/15/17 11:23 PM
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Stuffers


If it bleeds I can KILL IT
Re: Sandhill Cranes [Re: quackiller] #6962328 11/16/17 07:25 AM
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Sniper John Offline
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Originally Posted By: quackiller
Originally Posted By: john paul
For the OP...

Sillosocks:

Pros - lightweight, move great in the wind, easy to set up, cheap.
Cons - Too much wind they look terrible, Too little wind they look terrible, don't look great in the first place, can't take much abuse, need at least 10 dozen to kill birds on most occasions due to the fact they are not very realistic (just my personal experience, not saying it can't be done over 10 dozen or less, I've killed them over 30 gray trash bags under the right conditions).

Deceptions:
Pros - Super realistic, can hunt them in any condition with no concern, easy to set up, bullet proof (literally, I've seen people shoot them and you can't even tell) don't need very many to kill birds if you are on the X (I've killed them with 2 dozen in a full section of milo).
Cons - Don't move very well in the wind unless it is gale force, too bulky and too heavy to pack in more than a couple hundred yards, super expensive.

I have been thinking about buying 5 dozen of the dive bombs for fillers. Does anyone have any experience with them?


ive been wondering too. looks like they'd work...


I had not seen the dive bombs before. They would be similar to the old bigfoots I use. The bulk of my decoys are silhouettes. The biggest problems I have is frost in the early mornings on them. They sparkle like they are covered in jewels. Bad frost, forget getting birds close until it melts. In bad wind the heads will dance on the standing sentinel silhouettes, so they get pulled or not used at all if I know it will be windy. If you look at the picture I posted earlier note I also extended the stakes on the silhouettes so that they stand taller in the field and more visible. The good thing for where I hunt is the direction the cranes approach from is predictable and consistent, so the bulk off my silhouettes can be placed in angles most likely to be visible to approaching birds.

My sillosocks not so much a frost problem, but do suck in the wind. A light wind is great and gives my spread some movement. But if the wind picks up I often end up either pulling them completely or pushing them close to the ground. the sillosocks are too small IMO. In my spread I consider my sillosocks the filler.

I have also used groups of field duck and goose decoys nearby to give a bigger footprint in the field to good effect This even though I have no geese where I hunt. Once using several silhouette duck decoys to help cover my blind on the downwind side of the crane decoys I woke up from a nap with a crane standing three feet behind me.

The flambeau full bodies I have are very big and look like sandhill cranes. But note they are not the same sandhill crane decoys flambeau makes today. The new ones are nothing more than heron confidence decoys poorly painted with a sandhill colored paint scheme.

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