# Bigfoots versus Dakota Goose Decoys



## gonehunting (May 14, 2005)

Looking at buying some fullbody goose decoys. I need some that will stand up to a beating. I currently have 3 dozen bigfoots. Are the Dakota decoys that much better for the extra money that they cost? Let me know your opinions. Thanks in advance.


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## gamberc (Mar 10, 2008)

dont skimp on decoys, there an investment your gonna end up spending more in the long run if you skimp. My advice go Dakotas, just as durable as bigfoots yea they cost a bit more but look ALOT better! I pm'd you


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

Dakotas are NOT as durable as bigfoots but they are durable decoys. If you can find them as cheap as BF's (they get that cheap on sale) Id go for it. I dont think Id ever pay full price for dakotas though. That is a lot of $$.


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## jasonpaul (Apr 6, 2009)

I CAN TELL YOU THAT BIG FOOT DECOYS HOLD UP BETTER THAN DAKOTA'S BUT DAKOTAS LOOK FAR BETTER IN THE FIELD. IF YOU BUY DAKOTA'S GET THE BAGS AND YOU WILL NOT HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THEM HOLDING UP. JUST MY OPINION


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

I've hunted over Dakota's and I can say with 100% certainty that Dakotas are not nearly as durable. Bottom line end of story.


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## ndwaterfowler (May 22, 2005)

Blue Plate said:


> I've hunted over Dakota's and I can say with 100% certainty that Dakotas are not nearly as durable. Bottom line end of story.


Well then, that's that. :roll: It's like anything else you buy. What are you looking to spend, are you going to take care of them or just throw them around, is motion that important to you, how much do you value customer service...and so on. 
We hunted over them all last season and I really liked them. There were some minor issues but that is always the case with any company starting out with a new product. The customer service is outstanding and Bill is a great, no non-sense guy. There are typically some deals this time of year so keep your eyes open and snag some. Give them a try and see for yourself, at the very least you could always come back and sell them in the classifieds.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

No winning these kind of posts as there's no irefutable correct answer.

I can advise I'm very impressed with the Dakotas I have and am in the process of replacing all my GHG FB's with them.

The Dakotas are ultra-realistic and are holding up much better than the GHGs.

Also, the Dakotas have the best base & motion system I used so far...


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

I should clarify my statement. . . . . how can you compare durability of a decoy that has been around for nearly 30 years to the durability of a decoy that has been around for about 2 years. Bill is a great guy no question about that. I had a feeder head drop my shelf and break off the head. I called Dakota up and no questions asked they shipped me a new head for free.

However, there are foots at my club that are 15+ years old that are used 40+ days a year, just tossed in the bottom of a pit and take the abuse. After a years of use Dakotas that I've had are scratched and show wear and tear more.

My only problem with Dakotas motion system is it take a strong wing (15-20) to move the feeder. The motion deal is the not that big a selling point however, I think motion in a spread is way over-rated.


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## ndwaterfowler (May 22, 2005)

Blue Plate said:


> I should clarify my statement. . . . . how can you compare durability of a decoy that has been around for nearly 30 years to the durability of a decoy that has been around for about 2 years. Bill is a great guy no question about that. I had a feeder head drop my shelf and break off the head. I called Dakota up and no questions asked they shipped me a new head for free.
> 
> However, there are foots at my club that are 15+ years old that are used 40+ days a year, just tossed in the bottom of a pit and take the abuse. After a years of use Dakotas that I've had are scratched and show wear and tear more.
> 
> My only problem with Dakotas motion system is it take a strong wing (15-20) to move the feeder. The motion deal is the not that big a selling point however, I think motion in a spread is way over-rated.


Thanks for the clarification. As for motion being over-rated, I guess it is safe to assume that you don't use a flag then?


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

Motion on decoys . . . .

Flagging is a very important part to goose hunting, IMO.


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## SDwaterfowler (Mar 2, 2006)

I will add to everyone else's post that Dakotas are not as durable as they were claimed to be when they first came out. I bought a dozen to try for a year and sold them. I was not happy with how the paint held up on them for the price. The motion system is great but I agree with others that motion decoys are overrated when hunting honkers.


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

It's good to have another option in the decoy world. With that said I think Dakotas are: heavy, not nearly as durable as foots, expensive and not really natural looking.


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## dakotashooter2 (Oct 31, 2003)

> No winning these kind of posts as there's no irefutable correct answer.


 Durability is somewhat subjective. The guy that is "rough" on his gear is gonna have a different requirement for durability than the guy that coddles his gear. Then there is the guy that tosses his BFs in the trailer but double bags and hangs his dakotas. Then makes the claim that the dakotas are as durable :roll:

There is also the status factor. There are always guys that will buy the most expensive decoys as a status symbol then make excuses to justify them (often in their own mind) :lol:

My personal experience is that the average decoy will be effective 90-95% of the time. The top of the line stuf will give you an extra edge that other 5-10% of the time. You just have to evaluate if it's worth the money and effort.


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## T.Mayer (Feb 17, 2009)

well i have hunted over just about every full body decoy on the market and im here to say that the only one that goes into my fields are Dakotas. Yes i do think that Bigfoots are the most durable, but not by much, the new Dakotas run a close second. Also Im not friendly to my decoys I use and abuse. My biggest issue with BF's is there poses suck...they are so unrealistic...Dakotas on the other hand have several different poses along with the "lumpy" bodies they are extremely realistic...and as far as durability goes, if a grown man can beat the crap out a dakota and its still in perfect working order thatll past in my book...id buy Avery's before id get Bigfoots..durabiltity doesnt mean a thing if you cant get birds to finish in your spread..just my opinion though


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## Buck25 (Mar 27, 2008)

Blue Plate said:


> It's good to have another option in the decoy world. With that said I think Dakotas are: heavy, not nearly as durable as foots, expensive and not really natural looking.


dakotas look like geese on steroids. They are really heavy and huge! and spendy! Not saying there all bad but bigfoots actually look pretty good out in the feild in my opinion.
they both get the job done tho


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

If you cant get geese to finish into bigfoots you have other issues to address.


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

Guys have been finished geese all the way to the ground over bigfoots for 25 years. Decoys don't make a good goose hunter, it's experience and knowledge not a realistic decoy.

Not saying Dakota aren't good decoys but foots have a track record of working. Plus over foots the cheerleader pom-poms won't get in the way.


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## SDwaterfowler (Mar 2, 2006)

T.Mayer said:


> well i have hunted over just about every full body decoy on the market and im here to say that the only one that goes into my fields are Dakotas. Yes i do think that Bigfoots are the most durable, but not by much, the new Dakotas run a close second. Also Im not friendly to my decoys I use and abuse. My biggest issue with BF's is there poses suck...they are so unrealistic...Dakotas on the other hand have several different poses along with the "lumpy" bodies they are extremely realistic...and as far as durability goes, if a grown man can beat the crap out a dakota and its still in perfect working order thatll past in my book...id buy Avery's before id get Bigfoots..durabiltity doesnt mean a thing if you cant get birds to finish in your spread..just my opinion though


Says the Dakota field staffer. :roll:

Since when are the "lumps" extremely realistic?

And no a grown man can't beat the crap out of a dakota and have it still in working order. I bagged mine and handled them with care and had chipped paint and broken heads. I had a friend that hunted with a dakota pro staffer last fall. The pro staffer was bragging about how indestructible they were. He kicked one to prove his point. His foot went right inside the decoy.


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## Snowgooser (Mar 28, 2008)

No one has mentioned the Higdon full bodies and motion shells. They seemed to me to be tougher than the Big Foots, and the motion shells kick ***, as long as the wind isn't howling. And they are a bit cheaper than Big Foots or Dakotas. Just my opinion.


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

the foot system on higdons is junk. Other then that they are pretty tough.


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## Snowgooser (Mar 28, 2008)

We run drywall screws through them at the ankles and the tops to keep them from coming apart.


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## MCMANN (Apr 8, 2003)

there is no decoy tougher then a bigfoot thats been a proven fact for many yrs.

i have some that are prolly 15 yrs old and look just as good as my new ones. you cant beat them

mike


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## DonkeyCart (Mar 1, 2005)

Agree with MCMANN. I have some that are atleast 15 years old if not older. I believe the stamp on them is from 1992. You do the math. I have used every decoy on the market except for Hardcore and bigfoot is impossible to beat.


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## jpallen14 (Nov 28, 2005)

Dakota's look good but you can not beat Bigfoots. Both kill geese just as good as the next.


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## T.Mayer (Feb 17, 2009)

as far as finishing birds, im from MI where we dont get a migration so you are hunting the same birds nearly all year long...you need something different to get the geese to the ground...they need to see something that they havent seen in the past....as far as durability goes yes a grown man who i wont name but every one of you know who he is, did beat one with a golf club and the club ended up breaking and the decoy stood up...every decoy gets scratched, loses some paint, gets broken, EVERY decoy...ive had BF that had paint come off, broke feet...it happens...but i also did say that they are probably the most durable decoy on the market just not by much....and YES the lumps are very realistic to oncomming birds, it gives an appeal they havent seem before, instead of just the normal round bird that every guy hunts over, this is just something different...


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## MCMANN (Apr 8, 2003)

anything decoy out there will KILL honkers

guys back home in mi still use the old tires for decoys and kill loads of geese

honkers arnt very hard to kill

that should get a spark out of someone :lol:


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## Andrew Bremseth (Aug 1, 2007)

"something new" does not equate to something realistic...... :lol:


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## USAlx50 (Nov 30, 2004)

T.Mayer said:


> beat one with a golf club and the club ended up breaking and the decoy stood up....












Your pushin a little hard. Dont get me wrong, if I were to buy a new spread tomorrow it would be dakotas, but they do have their shortcomings just like any other decoy.


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## blhunter3 (May 5, 2007)

If you guys are fighting about a durable decoy, GHG is the ONLY way to go. oke:


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