# What sold you on the full body brand you run?



## POWteam (Aug 26, 2008)

*Pick your primary full-body*​
Avery4136.94%BigFoot3834.23%Dakota76.31%Dave Smith87.21%Carry-Lite00.00%Flambeau10.90%Final Approach21.80%Other109.01%Red-Head00.00%G&H43.60%


----------



## POWteam (Aug 26, 2008)

I think one can honestly say that all major brands of decoys will do there job and kill Geese. But, one may stand out over the others given the location used.

What brand do you find works in your area and why does it stand out over the others?

Are you hard on your decoys?

Are the poll results suprising to you?


----------



## goosegrinder (Mar 4, 2005)

Bigfoot. Very hard on decoys and they are the most durable hands down. If I get a trailer,my decoy selection may change for a little better realism.

Alex


----------



## POWteam (Aug 26, 2008)

We run the BigFoot's up here in Eastern Ontario

Reasons:
-Not many guys have em, so they give a diff look.
-The geese react wonderfully to the size, colour, postures 
-Just enough detail
-Tough enough for guys who hunt hard 
-Price is right for what you get 
-Flocked heads 
-Nice foot bases for the terrain we hunt
-Nice size for open fields 
-ALMOST FORGOT!! Made in North America (not sure about the heads):beer:

Bottom line: We need a tough product that can take the cold weather and abuse of not being bagged. There's something to be said about keeping work to a minimal.

Improvements: I'd love to see the Clinton Decoy Company go with a brown that is more on the natural side. Something darker in texture.


----------



## SDwaterfowler (Mar 2, 2006)

I run 03'-05' model Hardcores. They do need a little care and I keep them single bagged in HC bags. Their motion isn't the greatest but I think they are the best looking decoys for the price. The only thing I would say looks more like a goose is DSD. HC really has their poses nailed. Also, the paint on these year models is very realistic and does not shine like most other brands. Too bad they went to crap after 05'. They are coming back around with their 08's but I don't like the new paint job or the separate heads. I think the new owners are taking the HC brand from a top quality next to custom decoy in the mid price range to a decent quality low price decoy to show Avery what's up. I will stick to my 03'-05's.


----------



## goosehunternd (Mar 10, 2006)

I run bigfoots now for there durability. I dont want to take the time to bag and un-bag dekes everytime you unload and load up the spread. The older foots may not be the most realistic but the new ones look a little better. I have killed alot of geese over them along with other guys from this site in the last few weekends.

I will proably be adding 3-4 dozen dakotas for next season, should be a good combo.


----------



## WingedShooter7 (Oct 28, 2005)

GHGs/Avery's what ever you wanna call them. These were the decoys I always wanted before I got on the Field Staff for them. Why? They were the most realistic decoys I had ever seen (hadn't seen Dave Smiths yet) and had a pretty good price on them. Another reason why I run these are they come with motion systems, the cone systems are hard to beat and they offer more selection of decoys than any other brand IMO. Hunter Series, Pro Grades, FFD's, Lessers. And then 3 styles of shells. Along with tons of duck decoys. Do I own other decoys? Yeah, and thats because we have had them before we owned and Avery's and still use them when we need numbers!


----------



## quackstacker (Feb 18, 2008)

The Avery decoys have always done it for me, but I have hunted over Bigfoots and they kill geese to, what sold me was the detail and the poses that actually look like geese, I haven't had issues with the paint on my decoys, from the original hunters to the FFD's I own now. We do bag the FFD's, but we hunt em just as hard as anyone else with no issues so far.

BTW, the bags are great if you have to walk in, I can carry 2 dozen lessers in one trip, try that with bigfoots.


----------



## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Averys...because of the prostaff :lol: :roll:

Got my first Averys back in 04, slowly added them over the years and sold the last of my bigfoot spread when the lessers hit the market..

Even though I love the lessers because of the little space they take up and the fact they don't have foot bases to break, lately I'm kicking myself for ever getting rid of my BF's

Super durable, no bags and they kill geese..


----------



## cgreeny (Apr 21, 2004)

dblkluk said:


> Averys...because of the prostaff :lol: :roll:
> 
> Got my first Averys back in 04, slowly added them over the years and sold the last of my bigfoot spread when the lessers hit the market..
> 
> ...


So way less work involved with the good old BF's. I know Im there too DBK.


----------



## wetspot27 (Jul 16, 2008)

we run half bigfoots and half avery. can't beat the way the avery's look but it is nice to be able to drop kick a bigfoot across the spread and you know it will still be fine when you go to pick it up. the motion of the avery's are really nice, but I think we might be geeting some of those new higdon shells (I think they are called 5/8 shells) that they have on there website. watch the video it is bad a$$.


----------



## George Zahradka (Aug 27, 2008)

I love my GHG FFD's..... never hunt with dsd although the look great.... bigfeet around here everyone has them we had a hard time finishing the geese to the ground..... with the ffd's they land and start to eat or sleep.

use what you like and can afford


----------



## nowski10 (Jan 27, 2006)

Dakota's, For duribility its just like the bigfoot if not better, and i saw them in the field for the first time and the paint scheme holds up unbelievely well.


----------



## USSapper (Sep 26, 2005)

2/3s of my spread is avery, the other third is BF. If I could go back, I never would have bought Avery, dont want to take the time to bag them or nicely stack them in the trailer. Dont get me wrong, they are pretty decoys but Im getting to the point where I dont want to take the extra time to prep my decoys for the trailer


----------



## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

I run about 2/3's big foots and rest avery.

Like both decoys. The avery's are great to add motion.

But I like the big foots better. They can take a beating. The avery's you have to take better care of. So like others have stated....I would rather have all big foots and not worry about wear and tear as much.


----------



## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

I went with Avery/GHG simply because at the time they cost less than others and were more readily available in the area. With extra care they have held up OK, but every time I've tried to get some customer service from Avery/GHG it's been at best, indifferent and at worst a fiasco. So being, I'll be gradually replacing *ALL* my Avery decoys over the next couple years.

I recently picked up three Dakota Decoy X-Treme Honkers from the Bargain Cave at the EGF Cabelas. I'm very impressed with everything about these decoys. Unless someone comes up with a decoy as good for less, this is the direction I'll be going in the future.

If I were starting from scratch again, I would go with Dakotas, Hardcores, or Bigfoots...


----------



## jgat (Oct 27, 2006)

Bigfoots. Durability.


----------



## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

How can anyone comment on the durability of Dakotas? It's my understanding that this will be the second hunting season they have been around.

I hunt with a mix of FFD's and DSD. Over time I'll move to all DSD's.


----------



## dblkluk (Oct 3, 2002)

Blue Plate said:


> How can anyone comment on the durability of Dakotas? It's my understanding that this well be the second hunting season they have been around.


I was thinking the exact same thing. I'll give it a year or two before I'll put stock in any decoy companies claims of durability.


----------



## 4CurlRedleg (Aug 31, 2003)

Just can't seem to get rid of the 20 year old foots. 8)


----------



## cgreeny (Apr 21, 2004)

dblkluk said:


> Blue Plate said:
> 
> 
> > How can anyone comment on the durability of Dakotas? It's my understanding that this well be the second hunting season they have been around.
> ...


Two years ago we had several dozen BF's bungeed down in the pickup and the netting busted and we had foots all over the highway. We picked them all up and only one was damaged by some other dumba$$ driving on the highway and all that happened there was a crunched head.

Other than that a few scratches and that was it. I use mainly ghg's now but durablity absolutely goes into the BF's corner.


----------



## mlrdklr (Jul 11, 2008)

What sold me on GHG was the price and the look of the decoy. At the time i was still in high school and could get a dozen or two a year and they looked good for the price and i wanted FB dekes and thats is what really sold me was the price and look..


----------



## kberggren (Mar 27, 2006)

DSDs all the way! Since the switch I shoot more geese and have a lot closer shots, especially later in the season!


----------



## snow123geese (Feb 3, 2008)

The majority are bigfoots


----------



## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

foots - tough, durable. By the time the geese can see the difference it's too late!


----------



## nodakoutdoors.com (Feb 27, 2002)

I'm currently stacked on GHG FFDs and they work, but I didn't notice any difference in how they decoyed geese with my old bigfoots. I'm kind of kicking myself for selling my foots like dbkluk.

I'm hoping to give the Dakotas some abuse this fall and see how they work. I don't think anyone would argue that Dakotas have the best motion base system on the market right now. 1-piece and move easily


----------



## mnbirdhunter (Sep 15, 2005)

Right now I have mostly GHG's and they have held very well for me especially for throwing them around quite a bit. I am slowly mixing in Dakota's though because I think they look real good and it's something a little different in the spread, but also the durability seems to be good. Also I would agree with Chris that they do have the best motion system out there. The fact that you can keep the base on the decoy is so much nicer than what GHG has.


----------



## rmh (Mar 22, 2008)

I have mostly Higdons, a few without head flocking, the rest with. I don't run a spread anywhere near the size some of you guys out there do. Fourteen FB's, three shells (have a bunch more) and a half dozen silos. I like the Higdons because of their bigFoot type base. My former hunting buddy (he retired and moved) had some FB's with a round wire base held on by bolts that were always coming loose.


----------



## jawn (Jan 3, 2007)

as a first time goose decoy buyer i chose to go with bigfoot. i like to be able to chuck my decoys out of my trailer if i'm in a hurry and i dont have to worry about them getting scratched.


----------



## jaemersonke (Jul 19, 2006)

mostly ghg but im adding some dakotas this year. i got the ghg because of the high looker posture, and im adding the dakotas because they look good and because of their claim to durability. i guess we'll all find out soon.


----------



## aboller (Dec 24, 2006)

I have run all fds for 2 years and bigfoots before that. I personally may be selling all my ffds and going back to used bigfoots. I personally think it takes ALOT of time to bag / unbag these deeks as uposed to just throwing deeks in the trailer, it gets old after awhile, especially if you are by yourself or with just one other guy. They look nice though!

Adam


----------



## mtgreenheads (Jan 17, 2007)

I like my DSDs, and I've owned just about everything on the market, as well as stuffers. DSDs allow me to decoy birds like crazy with a small spread that rides in the back of my pickup, leaving the trailer behind. Never had as much fun goose hunting as with my DSDs.

For most folks, I dont think that Bigfoots can be beat. For me, DSDs are the only way to go.


----------



## Honker Guide (Mar 15, 2007)

Dropzones are a good decoy and I have used them for several years.










Here is a picture I took last year with 2 geese in the decoys. What I have designed into the Dropzones, is what the geese want to see in a decoy and not what the hunter thinks a decoy should look like!!










Obviously everyone does not need a decoy like this. In fact, for most of the hunting, there are a lot of affordable brands that work just great. these decoys were designed for the discriminating hunter.


----------



## SDwaterfowler (Mar 2, 2006)

Paul, I will have to be completely honest and say that I have never cared for how DZ's look and really could not understand the price that comes with them. But that last picture you posted just made me a believer. It is hard to even tell which birds are the live ones in that picture. Those decoys and their poses look exactly like real birds. If I ever hit the lottery I may have to get some DZ's.


----------



## POWteam (Aug 26, 2008)

Those are beautiful! You couldn't be more right about the human eye being discriminating.

What I want in a decoy is simple:
-Exact size of a goose
-Exact shape
-Exact colour
-Exact detail
-Durable
-Movement
-Price point of $300.00 per doz or less

Why a decoy manufacturer hasn't taken this approach just baffles me! Some decoys touch on a few of the points mentioned above, but not all. Most designs go overboard and its simply not needed.

Your decoys are damn close! Obviously I can't see movement and durability from a pic. But, still&#8230;.


----------



## kberggren (Mar 27, 2006)

POWteam said:


> Those are beautiful! You couldn't be more right about the human eye being discriminating.
> 
> What I want in a decoy is simple:
> -Exact size of a goose
> ...


I believe dropzones and smiths have all things that you just stated except the price point. I've had the privilege do hunt with Paul and those two days hunting snows with him i learned a lot about hunting ducks and geese. Pauls and Daves decoys paint is extremely durable and is spot on. They haven't cut any corners with their decoys and their is a reason why they cost so much! Here's a couple of pics of the our last hunt of the season for canadas, there are both Dropzones and Smiths in the pictures. Good luck to everyone this upcoming season, can't get here fast enough


----------



## o2goose (Aug 25, 2008)

16 doz. FOOTS , and for all the reasons listed above :beer:


----------



## POWteam (Aug 26, 2008)

I believe dropzones and smiths have all things that you just stated except the price point.

They are nice looking decoys. But IMHO over done in the detail dept. If you cant pile em up in the trailer, they're not durable. The price point puts them out reach for most in the market.

My dream decoy would be as follows:

-A smaller soft Big foot body mold (Actual goose size) as a starting point
-BF mold detail would be plenty.
-Smaller BF head (Actual size of a goose)
-Paint colours found on the dropzones.
-Dakota foot base

Smaller decs are so much easier to deal with and they'd do just as well as the larger decoys. Waterfowlers have addressed attention grabbing with flagging.

Im being picky here for the sake of conversation. God I need to get out and shoot a few :wink:


----------



## turkishgold11 (Oct 25, 2004)

For me it was a pretty easy choice, Avery's got my vote hands down.

I usually run smaller spreads so for me I wanted to get that extra realism in there for a some what affordable price...and Avery delivered.

Don't get me wrong Bigfoots are nice and very durable, but they just lack the extra realism.


----------



## Bloodyblinddoors (Oct 25, 2006)

I either have or have had them all. I voted BigFoot for the go-to decoy but still have a little of everything. Mostly Bigfoots though. I logged 65 hunts last season. Picked and set the spread on every hunt. Not all decoy's can handle that sort of use but Bigfoots can. I'm confident the geese I hunt see more hunting preasure than anywhere else in the country and anyone else who hunts this area will agree. Many times my birds are getting shot at 2-3 times before they decoy to my spread that morning.. Conceilment, Calling and flagging have some to do with it too.


----------

