Three Dimensional
Proven Effective
FUD Strengths
Multi Posture
FUD Necking
FUD Chaining
Magnum Sized
Heavy Duty
Ice Proof
Original Artwork
Anchors & Cartage
Shot Proof
Lightweight Decoys
Hunting The Shallows
Self Righting
Unsinkable Decoys
No Extra Parts
Value For Money
Rapid Deployment
FUDs Can Do
Three Dimensional
In the world of decoys the NRA FUD is a new arrival whose merits may not be appreciated at first
glance. It is a total decoying solution not bound by those limitations faced by all other decoys.
It performs as a floater, a shell, a silhouette, a full-body, and a motion decoy all rolled into
one. And make no mistake, FUDs are not silhouettes nor the next best generic decoy. They are
three-dimension multi-postire decoys that are deployed in three easy steps.
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1: Fold over white base plate locking the panel tab into the opposing slot. |
2: Fold over colored chest panel locking it into place in the opposing buckle. |
3: Swing down the keel into position locking the base plates in place. Job done. |
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Once deployed you now have a single decoy that can be used in water, on ice, in the shallows, or
on dry land in an unlimited range of postures. The posture variations available from FUDs are second
to none in the world of decoys. Learn to use these to your maximum hunting advantage.
Some first time FUD users initially struggle with the product trying to pigeon hole it into one
of the existing decoy market segments. Is the FUD a floater, a shell, a silhouette, or a full body
decoy? This was the question being asked because this is how all other decoy products have been
considered. There has never been a decoy product before like the FUD, one that functions as all
other styles thus replacing all other styles.
The established segments have nothing to do with the act of decoying or any hunting logic. They
have everything to do with overcoming the limitations of conventional decoys and the industry's use
of these segments to generate additional and largely redundant sales. The FUD makes a mockery of
market segmentation by covering the full range of decoying requirements within the one product. The
trade and the FUD's end consumers understand that the FUD can be used in any location, can be deployed
in any manner, and it fits all decoy segments. It is the first ever and only product to do so.
Index
Proven Effective
The FUD's origins are found in Australia on rice bays in the heat of summer.
Australia's Rice Seasons are very different from most forms of game bird hunting worldwide. The
task at hand is not one of reaching a bag limit or filling a fridge. The task is to save a rice
crop from waterfowl destruction. Accordingly the hunting considerations are vastly different from
regular game bird seasons.
- The primary objective becomes one of killing every duck, not just the dumb ones or juveniles.
- Almost any decoy can fool juvenile waterfowl. The task is to fool gun-shy decoy-smart waterfowl.
- Rice fields do not provide cover. Your decoys must work in spite of the hunter's presence.
- Rice fields are large areas that cannot be fully gunned. Your decoys must brings the birds to you.
- Gun-shy game birds know what conventional plastic floaters look like, and they know all of the common
decoy alarm signals. Your spread must be clear of these alarm signals.
- Your bag should be decided by how many shells you can carry, not how well your decoys work.
- If you cannot bag every bird then you are letting down the farmer and it is their crop that will suffer.
The last thing needed is average decoys that do an average job or can only fool young birds.
The challenge was never to create a better model duck decoy, it was always to create a more effective
means to bag even the smartest of game birds.
Index
FUD Strengths
For generations the influence of hand carving has created a bias where decoy excellence is
measured in the hand or on the mantel. This is field hunting nonsense as all "decoys"
should be measured in harvest results alone. To use any other criteria is to have already
conceded that the assessment is not about decoying products.
The following are those features delivered by the FUD. It is the pure volume of features
that many first time FUD users find staggering since all of them are hunting common sense
and yet only one or two are delivered by the vast majority of competitor products on the
market today. It is the absence of these features in a single product that has left the
market primed to embrace such a compelling alternative.
- FUDs deploy in a full range of postures to add realism and not look like decoys.
- FUD features can be seen and reacted to by game birds outside of shotgun range.
- Deployed FUDs are true three-dimensional decoys that cast the correct shadow and correct
reflection on water. FUDs are not silhouettes.
- FUDs can be set up completely clear of all common decoy alarm signals that are found in
decoy spreads of conventional products.
- FUDs self-right immediately if tipped over by waves, dogs, or incoming birds.
- FUDs are guaranteed unsinkable.
- FUDs can handle ice, sunlight, and the elements without cracking.
- FUDs can be hammered into ice or frozen ground as sentry, standing or feeding birds.
- FUDs allow hunters to walk-in with their decoys "on-body" and "hands-free"
in just one trip with everything ready to start hunting anywhere. They are the most mobile
decoy of all.
- FUDs present true to life images and tones of the target species.
- FUDs are impervious to fuel.
- FUD decoys are true magnums instead of life-sized or price driven midgets.
- FUDs are lightweight, easy to transport, and easily stored away.
- FUD waterfowl decoys store the rigging inside the decoy where it cannot tangle.
- FUDs use the wind to move on water more than any other decoy.
- FUD decoys can be shot at will. They can handle stray pellets and will survive.
- Properly deployed FUDs will never point straight into the wind like a convoy emulating
frightened birds about to take-off.
- FUDs can be set-up near the edge of marshes and in shallow water.
- The one rig of decoys can now be used in water, on ice, and then on dry land. Multiple rigs
of location specific decoys locking a hunter into a location are now redundant.
- Hunters can pack-up and relocate decoys quickly if off the flight paths or crowded out.
- FUDs carry on-product deployment and usage instructions.
- FUDs will last year after year, they are fade resistant, their image does not flake off, and
they will not require an annual paint job or touch up.
- And FUDs are ready to use out of the box with no extra parts and no assembly prior to use, or
disassembly after use.
Plastic blow molded decoys, silhouettes, shells and full-body decoys all have certain field
advantages, but they also have their disadvantages. None can be called a true all-round performing
decoy. It was the FUD's mission to be the first true all-round decoying solution.
Some hunters would say so many decoying attributes in the one product is simply not possible. It is
possible, the FUD exists and it is the proof. The FUD exists and delivers all of these decoying
attributes because it was never designed to be another model duck. It was designed to be a field
hunting decoy with no compromises and no limitations.
Index
Multi-Posture
Can your decoys be deployed in a range of postures to add realism? Can you set up your decoys
without any game bird alarm signals? Can you deploy the same decoy on land, in the shallows, and
floating? Experienced hunters know the strength of multiple postures which is why there are specific
feeder designs, duck butts, tuck decoys, and decoys with moving heads. But before any product can
claim to be multi-postured it has to be able to emulate the full range of game bird postures found
in the wild. Anything less is a compromise.
With multiple points of movement between the head, body and keel, the posture possibilities you can
now present to birds overhead is endless and unprecedented.
| Body Pivot - With either floating or field standing decoys the body section
can be rotated forwards to create great feeding postures, or rotated backwards to emulate
standing or sentry birds. Simply position the keel at the required mark on the chest plate.
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| Pedestal Pivot - The keel or pedestal also pivots upwards into the body
to create great shell postures of birds resting on land or ice. Keel positioning can also be
used to adjust the angle of your decoy's body to the water.
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| Head Movement - The head section moves forwards and backwards, and can be
rotated upwards and downwards to create the most realistic of feeding postures ever found in
decoys. True feeders are only possible when the head pivots vertically touching the water or
ground.
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This multi-posture capability (including feeding and swimming) distinguishes FUD products from all
others. There is no other decoy that has a variable length. There is no other single decoy that can
be deployed as a floater, then as a feeder, then as a shell, then as a sentry, and then packed up
flat. When it comes to multi-posture decoys the FUD has no equal.
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Index
Necking Motion
Can your waterfowl decoys use the wind to move more than real game birds on water? Not likely. But
what about a decoy whose keel is just 1/8" thick and weighs a fraction of the weight of conventional
decoys? Because the FUD has a much narrower keel it can spin on a dime and move through the water
faster than all other decoys.
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Unwind your anchor string and loop it around the neck of your FUD in the manner shown. Make
sure to pinch it between the head and shoulder panel and your FUD is now necked and ready for
some wild movement. The stronger the wind the more radical the movement.
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The key to the FUD's lifelike motion when necked is that you now have an effective tie off point
that is high, is to the front of the decoy, and most importantly is off to one side. Being off-centre
compels the decoy to drift left or right of the anchor line. The wind combined with the sail-like
head of the FUD will grab hold pushing the decoy further to that side. Once it moves out to the
travel length of the anchor string it is set in motion.
Just like any yacht does with a keel and a sail the FUD will tack in an arc around the anchor
until it reaches the point where the sidewards wind pressure is insufficient to keep it on a
starboard or port path. At this point it will immediately spin 180 degrees and start an opposite
tack repeating the process to the opposite side of the anchor. The end result is that you now have
a decoy behaving like a yacht constantly moving and constantly changing directions. With several FUDs
set up in this manner you will have a spread full of movement and non-uniform behavior. You have
emulated exactly what is seen in nature with game birds swimming and feeding.
Necking can be achieved with conventional decoys only if you are prepared to glue or screw and
attachment to hold the decoy line near the front of the decoy and to one side. You may find
attempts to do this on plastic floaters frustrating as it is often difficult to glue anything to
blow moulded plastics, screws or attachments may compromise the flotation causing it to sink,
and if successfully attached the necking still has to deal with a full length keel that virtually
eliminates all movement. Tug boats and barges make poor sailing yachts.
Index
FUD Chaining
Chaining is the process of joining decoys into a line similar to that used with layout boats. FUDs
make chaining a much easier task with each decoy having rigging that is stored inside, having anchors
that are flat, and pedestals that will easily accept the anchor of the next decoy.
To deploy chained FUDs simply take the anchor of one decoy and wrap it around the pedestal of the
next several times locking the anchor into the string notch leaving the remainder to hang loose.
Repeat the process to however many decoys you wish to deploy making sure to vary the length between
the decoys so that they do not appear in a uniform train pattern.
Take the anchor of the first decoy in the line and secure it to your layout boat, a log or something
solid and your chain spread is complete. Make sure to neck the last decoy in line as it is will be
placed under the greatest movement pressure. The realism of FUD chains comes from the nature of the
decoy itself and how it reacts to wind and waves. All decoys will move in response to wind and waves
but how they move depends entirely on the forces above and below the waterline.
FUDs are light weight with a large surface area above the waterline responding to the slightest gust
of wind or wave motion. But unlike conventional floaters FUDs are not handicapped by a full length
keel restricting their ability to move about. FUD keels are just 1/8" thick and with such a bias of
surface area above the waterline FUDs will move about more than any other decoy. Chained FUDs also
respond very differently from conventional decoys. All FUD decoys have a large sail area at the
front of the product being the head panel. This panel is not body contoured like conventional decoys
and will impart far greater sidewards pressure on the. This pressure then reacts to the anchor
strings arranged in the manner shown above driving the movement.
With the full chain pressure applied to such a small keel (2" wide, not 12" to 18" like normal
floater keels) the FUD chain becomes a line of separately competing decoys all wishing to move of
their own accord in different directions. The end result is that you will have a chain of decoys
that will refuse to stay in a straight line. It will whip around in a snake-like manner creating
the most realistic of sets imaginable. With a dozen or more decoys in place the effect of the chain
whip will have the last decoy moving faster than walking speed. This is unprecedented movement for
decoys of any style.
While FUD chaining is ideal for layout boats there are three other circumstances where this method
of decoy deployment comes into its own.
- Dry Land Rigs - It is now possible to deploy fully functional floating spreads without using
a boat or waders. Simply position yourself on the windward side of the marsh and chain out your
FUDs from your position. The wind will do the rest. With a few more identical FUDs deployed
standing, feeding and resting along the edge combined with a constantly moving set of decoys you
are able to now present a mixed spread of moving decoys emulating a mob swimming towards the shore.
This is one of the most natural and compelling spreads to present to the game birds overhead
and it can now be achieved without boats and without waders.
- Rivers & Current - The FUD chaining excels is in rivers where the current can be used to
impart movement into your decoy spread. The secret is to find a bend in the river or stream
where the natural currents will force anything floating out into the middle. Start your FUD
chain from the inside bank at the start of the bend using the current to suck your FUD chain
out into the middle. Then simply let the current impart the movement into your decoys. The
greatest feature of FUD chains used in this manner is that they will be clearly visible from both
directions up and down the river imparting natural ripples into the water further enhancing the
appeal from above.
- Wild Weather - Finally, if you are out in the worst possible weather with strong wind and huge
waves then use FUD chains to deal with the conditions. FUD chains can handle gale force winds
because they are compelled to point into it. More importantly they can handle huge waves because
they do not have a full-fronted chest taking the full impact of the waves. The chisel shaped
front of the FUD decoy and the narrow stake will simply slice through the wind and waves in the
same manner waterfowl do. The level of performance in bad weather previously achieved with 9 pound
solid block decoys is now available from 9 ounce collapsible FUDs.
Index
Magnum Sized
Game birds are widely respected for having great vision. They can detect full colour as well as
ultra-violet light, but they have one handicap. Unlike hunters with eyes in front game bird eyes
are on each side of their head leaving them with little depth perception. Consequently as long
a decoy's shape, tone, posture and shadow are all correct the decoy will work and in the simplest
of terms the larger the decoy is the further out it will be seen. This becomes important when
hunting in company with competing spreads. With all things equal other than size the hunter with
the bigger sized decoys typically produces the best harvest results.
In the 1990's magnum sized decoys were all the rage and a trend that all major brands subscribed
to. 10% to 20% oversize qualified as a magnum. 25% or better qualified as super magnums. But the
magnum craze broke down in hunting terms when species were intermixed and the magnum ratios were
not followed.
While game birds may have little depth perception they do know that teal are around 30% smaller
than Mallards. So when smart birds (those already shot off decoys) encountered examples such as
15" teal decoys amongst 14" Mallards, or 22" super magnum Mallards with 26" life-sized Canadas,
the decoy's performance fell away. Gun-shy game birds are not stupid and are too often
underestimated.
Further the size dilemma faced by all decoy manufacturers is two-fold. The bigger the decoy the
bigger cost, and once a size differences are offered it needs maintaining across all species in a
range. The same applies to the FUD.
The reality is that apart from FUD all brands do not adopt this principle and their ranges break
down being less effective when intermixed. Also, with the increasing price point pressure, size
has been sacrificed just like quality. Magnums are no longer the norm. "Regular" or
"Life Size" decoys are now the more common size across the decoy landscape, but even here
there is no consistency across brands and length variations per species remain.
With this in mind all FUD decoys have been designed to a specific formula that only produces
magnum size decoys. All FUDs are a minimum of 10% larger than real life and this magnum ratio has
been maintained across the entire FUD range.

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When intermixed with other brands FUDs highlight those lacking depth of image, lacking shadow,
being too big or too small, being the wrong shape, or simply lacking colour. More so, the
colour fastness of FUD decoys has meant that they show no evidence of fading after prolonged
use or exposure to the elements. Mainstream plastic floaters are notorious for fading, paint
chipping, and loss of image in a short space of time. Mixed sets of FUDs and the competition's
products simply highlight the failings of conventional decoys.
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Index
Heavy Duty
There are many decoy lines on the market today that claim to be "heavy duty". But like so
many aspects of the decoy industry this claim is rarely substantiated, often unjustly used, and
poorly understood by hunters.
There is a clear line between those performance attributes demanded of regular decoying products
and those that push the boundaries into heavy duty. Prerequisites that make a decoy work in the most
basic of conditions cannot be marketed as optional extras, nor are they "heavy duty", nor can
they be dismissed to lower the definition of what constitutes a regular decoy.
- Decoys used on water must be unsinkable, buoyancy is a prerequisite. If a decoy can sink
then it is a compromise being used out of place.
- Decoys used under shotguns must be able to handle stray pellets. Products that cannot handle
pellet damage, that will deflate, or that will sink, are all compromises being used out of place.
Animal rights activists can correctly claim cruelty as decoy caution delays the humane despatch
of cripples. The FUD eliminates decoy caution.
- Decoys used outdoors must be able to handle the elements without becoming brittle, without
cracking, and without fading. Such failings are all hallmarks of compromises that are out of
place and are best left indoors.
- Decoys must be able to handle regular treatment being deployed, transported, and stored without
flaking image or cracking. If a product requires the cotton glove treatment to survive then it is
not practical in field terms and again is a compromise out of place.
- And decoy attributes should not restrict hunters in their choice of location and must be effective
when used outdoors without limitation. Being able to better handle ice, or UV light exposure, or
wind and waves, does not make a decoy "heavy duty".
Delivery of decoying prerequisites is what makes a product a decoy. Any such claims based on being
unsinkable, shot proof, fade proof, or crack proof are misleading. They only gain credibility if
hunters are prepared to lower their standards on field decoying requirements. By any reasonable
definition "heavy-duty" must mean being able to handle conditions beyond those normally
encountered in the field. Being walked on by the hunter, driven over by a vehicle, surviving shotguns
at close range, or baked in the sun for months certainly stretches the boundaries of normal decoy use,
and the ability to handle such treatment rightly validates the "heavy duty" claim.
There are solid plastic and timber decoys that can handle this treatment but they all come with weight
and price penalties. Now there is the FUD that has all of the prerequisites in place. FUDs are unsinkable,
FUDs are shot proof, FUDs are crack proof, FUDs are fade proof, and FUDs will not flake or lose their
image.
Index
Ice Proof
Further, FUDs do push the boundaries on regular decoy use and can rightly claim being "heavy duty".
They can be hammered into frozen ground, ice, solid ground, stumps and logs, FUDs can be shot at will with
the pellets simply passing through the product, and FUDs can be walked on or driven over by SUV's and
survive to fight another day. Can your standing decoys be hammered into logs, stumps, ice or frozen ground
without breaking?
The use of 1/8" thick steel parts has removed all concerns over FUD usage when being staked into
hard ground. The FUD's ability to handle rough treatment is most beneficial in frozen conditions
where pedestals are typically hammered into the ground or ice. This approach sets FUDs apart
from all other field-staked alternatives using plastic, wood, or aluminum stakes that often fail.
With the arrival of FUD decoys and their steel pedestals the shell market now has real competition.
FUDs are the first reliable product that firstly allows for true standing postures on ice and frozen
ground because of their steel pedestals, and secondly is not destroyed when frozen. No longer do
hunters need to deploy decoys imitating sitting birds on ice. The irony of shells is that a full
set of sitting birds on ice is one of the least effective decoying postures to entice incoming birds
to land, yet because of the lack of a suitable alternative the shell market segment has grown.
FUDs can handle freezing conditions unlike any other decoying product.
FUDs can handle treatment that would despatch all plastic blow moulded equivalents to the scrap
heap. FUDs can handle this treatment because it was designed to be a total decoying solution, not
just another model duck plastic decoy with the same shortcomings all hunters have come to expect
of plastic floaters.
Index
Original Artwork
Do your decoys present true to life images and correct tones of the target species being hunted?
There is no other decoy line that has the value for money detail and tone found in FUDs. Using
standard packaging and textile printing methods without optical brighteners the FUD delivers the
highest quality images of all decoys on the market.
Do your decoys look like anything like these above examples? Click on any of these to see the
extraordinary detail and tone delivered in FUD decoys.
While detail does add to a decoy's human appeal, it remains a 5 yard factor and does not influence
birds outside of shotgun range. Tone however is a different matter. Matching the tone to the target
species is a most basic requirement of any decoy but is often overlooked or compromised. How often
have you seen Canada decoys adopting the grey scale tones of polyethylene plastics. Canada geese
are primarily brown in color and true decoy representations of this species should reflect this
fact. The tone of FUD Canadas is correctly brown. And do not let anyone fool you that game birds
are color blind. Your gun dog may be but game birds are not and can see the difference.
Further to simply having high quality original artwork, FUD artwork images are modified to exactly
suit the manufacturing processes and maximize the production yields, while at the same time
highlighted those features that make the product more effective in the field.
Index
Anchors & Cartage
FUDs forward a completely different approach to anchors, rigging, transport and storage when
compared to conventional decoys.
The following photographs shows two dozen conventional decoys compared with two dozen fully
rigged FUDs. The clear advantages that a fold up product has in terms of transport and storage
are obvious.
FUDs take the task of decoy transport and rigging use to new levels of functionality. FUDs are
carried on "Fudslinger" belt hooks hands-free rather than hauled in and out on the hunter's
back in bags or dragged in punts. Better still the FUD stores the rigging inside the product
where it cannot tangle with other decoys. Finally there is a decoy that eliminates string tangle.
Hunters can now wade or walk to their hunting position dragging nothing and start to deploy their
decoys off-body with everything at their finger tips to simulate floaters, feeders, swimmers,
sentries, shells, whatever. No extra parts, no assembly, no pre-rigging, no scouting in advance,
and no restrictions on where they can or cannot hunt.
For those hunters who often hunt in flooded pastures, shallow timber swamps, or in pot-holes
miles in from vehicle access, the lightweight and compact nature of FUDs are an enormous
advantage allowing for larger set sizes for the same weight and volume penalty. The FUD
decoy solution is a total solution. It is aimed at making the hunter as mobile and effective
as possible in all hunting locations.
FUD anchors are deliberately manufactured flat to allow them to easily store inside the body
of the collapsed decoy. FUD pedestals have a notch on top of the foot that the final 1" or 2"
of anchor string is looped over. Once looped and the pedestal is pulled up through the back
of the decoy for hanging on the Fudslinger, this locks the anchor in place as it cannot move
up to disengage the string out of that notch. As long as the decoys are carried in a vertical
manner such as a Fudslinger then anchor string will not untangle.
Index
Shot Proof
Can your decoys handle ice, sunlight, and the elements without cracking? Are your decoys bullet
proof so that cripples can be shot with no concern for your decoy? As unusual as it may sound,
the vast majority of decoy products are used on water and under shotguns yet they are not bullet
proof and are sinkable.
The FUD is unique in that it can be shot at will. Crippled birds hiding behind FUD decoys can be
dispatched without a care. All pellets hitting the FUD will simply pass through the product and
onto the intended target. The only reason that replacement rivet sets are provided in the FUD
Accessory range is that hunters are quickly learning they no longer need to pull their shots
if the target gets to close to their decoys. FUD decoys can handle this treatment.
Two shot but still fully functioning FUDs. This is treatment that will send most other decoys to
the bottom.
Index
Lightweight Decoys
There is no other decoy that folds up like the FUD into a compact unit for transport and storage.
All other three dimensional full body alternatives leave the hunter with their workshops and storage
rooms full of decoys that simply cannot be stacked; many hunters have to look under their decoys to
find their boat, and notions of walking over the top of decoys or shooting cripples amongst decoys
would leave many hunters bemused, yet this is exactly the type of treatment the FUD can handle.
When the FUD is folded up it takes up a fraction of the equivalent space of normal decoys. This
opens new opportunities when larger spread sizes are required such as at the start of the season
or with geese. Waterfowl are often attracted to larger spreads looking for safety in numbers and
FUDs make large numbers a breeze to manage.
The vast majority of hunting in the United States is done on public land where the hunter must
walk in with everything they need, and then remove it all at the end of their hunt. Those hunters
who are active on public lands applaud the pragmatic benefits that the FUD offers them when
"walking in".
With further improvements in the pedestal design, anchor design, and the configuration of the
FUD decoy, the reduced all up weight for FUD Mallards is now 9 ounces and FUD Canadas 22 ounces.
They are 30% to 40% lighter than similarly rigged injection moulded floaters, and are less
than one third of the weight of cork or solid timber equivalents.
With these weight savings, hunters are electing to carry more FUD decoys for the same weight
penalty. Again, it is all about bigger decoy sets with greater drawing power on game birds, and
in these terms the FUD's weight advantages place it ahead of all other decoy solutions. The
reductions in storage space have been recognized. When this product is folded up it takes up
approximately ¼ of the equivalent space of a normal floater or full-body decoys. For a given decoy
storage area, our product allows hunters to use many more decoys.
Any comparison between conventional decoys and the FUD simply highlights the obvious. There is no
comparison between conventional decoys and FUDs when it comes to transport by hand into a hunting
location. The FUD is a purpose designed decoying solution that increases a hunter's mobility and
does not compel them to scout in advance or make multiple trips to the chosen hunting location.
Index
Hunting The Shallows
Plastic molded decoys with full length keels only work when floating on water. They do not work in
the shallows, or on the margins of swamps and wetlands where resting and feeding game birds are most
often seen. Most hunters will recall where they last saw mobs of contented game birds in the wild.
The vast majority will agree that it was along the edge of marshes and swamps and in the shallows.
But the marsh edge and shallows are out of bounds for conventional decoys. When a plastic floater
is used along the edge or in the shallows it will immediately tip over sending out more alarm signals.
This same result occurs when floaters are used on ice or dry land. It is the conventional decoy's full
length keel that prohibits hunters from using them where contented birds are most often seen and where
decoys work the best. The FUD is not bound by any such location limitations and can be used where the
most game bird traffic is found.
Index
Self-Righting
Do your waterfowl decoys self-right when tipped over by waves, your dog, or incoming birds?
The ability to self-right is another feature that FUDs provide without question. When a deployed
FUD decoy is tossed into the water it will right itself correctly regardless of how it lands. This
is most important during set-up, especially if being done in the dark, or when being done quickly.
The vast majority of floaters do not possess this attribute. Once they are tipped up they stay
belly up and remain a beacon warning incoming birds away. This then requires the hunter to leave
their blind or move their boat to upright the offending decoy.
The FUD's self-righting ability is achieved by matching the decoy's pedestal weight to the buoyancy
of the product's base plates ensuring that the centre of gravity is below the waterline compelling
the product to self-right immediately.
Index
Unsinkable Decoys
Are your waterfowl decoys unsinkable? If not then how do you quickly dispatch cripples hiding
amongst your spread?
For a product that is typically used on water and under shotguns it is unfortunate that just one
stray pellet will send most plastic floaters to the bottom. Hunters should reasonably expect and
indeed demand that their decoys do not sink. But this is a product attribute only delivered by
hand carved and high-end solid decoys and not found in any low-end mass-produced decoy lines. If
your waterfowl decoys sink then they are a compromise. They are not a true decoying tool for
hunters.
Equally waterfowl decoys should not be applauded for being unsinkable. This implies that the
unsinkable feature is an optional extra. It is not. It is mandatory for floating decoys and no
decoy can call itself a true waterfowling decoy if it can sink.
Sinking product frustrates hunters enormously each time a decoy is lost because of either stray
pellets hitting the decoy causing it to take on water and sink, because of inferior non-UV protected
plastics that become brittle and crack after exposure to sunlight, because of inferior plastics and
keel designs that cannot handle ice or freezing conditions, or because of unstable polymers that
simply cannot handle rough treatment in the field. The FUD is designed to handle the rough treatment
and will not sink.
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No Extra Parts
Were your decoys ready to use out of the box with no extra parts and no assembly? By having a
total decoy solution in the one product that can be rigged for field use or for combined field
and water use, the FUD has been able to use one of the major criticisms of decoys to advantage.
The industry has for years perpetuated a belief that hunters needed floaters for water,
silhouettes for field use, and shells for use on ice. Also, that additional stakes, head
postures, specially designed carry bags, or movement devices were then added as required.
All of this helped make decoy use burdensome, and the FUD has openly challenged those
long-standing decoying beliefs. The hunter should not require a separate bag for stakes or
heads in addition to the decoy bodies, they should not need to assemble the decoys in the
field prior to use, nor should they need elaborate mechanical devices to impart movement
into their decoy sets. The FUD has met the challenge of being a complete product that can
be used out of the box. There are no extra parts necessary.
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Value For Money
Did you pay generic hot-buy prices for premium quality magnum decoys? Did you have to then pay
extra to add feeders, tuck decoys, duck butts, or motion decoys to bring realism and movement
to your set? Did you put your back out trying to move all your decoys to your hunting location?
Do your current decoys limit the locations where you can hunt? And can your decoy's main features
be seen and reacted to by game birds over 100 yards away? It is little wonder that many hunters
find decoy use a pain.
Of all of the desirable features that the FUD does possess, it is the ability to bring game birds
nto range that is paramount. Beyond this all other decoy considerations relate to the ease of use,
product quality, life expectancy, and the value for money it represents. 5 yard factors should not
be mistaken for decoying attributes.
The high cost of decoys has always offered an incentive to produce a "fair valued" decoying
alternative. The market prospects of such a product are clearly understood by all and advances in
that direction have led to the generic decoy which trades off paint quality, size, and product
life to produce a price point to secure sales.
For those consumers who do not care about size, or quality, or product life span, these generic
lines do have a niche market. But it is the principles behind generic decoys that are now having
the greatest impact in decoy manufacture. More and more decoy lines are making sacrifices in
pursuit of price point and as the retail price has dropped so has quality, size, customer
satisfaction, and decoy life expectancy.
It is the nature of conventional decoy offerings, their model duck format, their limited
functionality, their inherent shortcomings, and their comparative high cost that have all helped
to lay the foundations for what the FUD has become. The FUD is not another generic model
duck decoy, it is a product that does the job. All of the job all of the time in all locations.
Index
Rapid Deployment
The FUD's easy handling and deployment characteristics are gaining greater appreciation in the
field, more so in cold or freezing conditions common in North America.
FUDs have been designed to be the easiest of decoys to deploy and retrieve, while also being a
total solution that can be deployed anywhere. All FUDs are right handed being deployed and
retrieved in the same manner, and have large release tabs to allow easy handling with gloves on,
or in the dark. The FUD's easy handling and deployment characteristics give hunters a degree of
mobility long since lost with conventional decoys. FUDs can be deployed and recovered in a fraction
of the time compared to decoys of the past. FUDs are a total solution with anchors and string
stored inside the product.
The process to deploy a FUD is as simple as 1, 2, 3... Fold over white base plate locking the
panel tab into the opposing slot, fold over the coloured chest panel locking it into place in
the opposing buckle, and swing down the keel into position locking the base plates in place.
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One dozen FUDs can take as little as 60 seconds to deploy and around 3 minutes to pack up.
Conventional decoys, multi-part silhouettes and full bodies can take 5 to 15 minutes to deploy
and many times longer to pack up. With a little practice FUD users will take around 2 minutes to
deploy and around 4 minutes to pack up a dozen decoys whereas conventional decoys, multi-part
silhouettes and full-bodies can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes to deploy and many times
longer to pack up.
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Index
Sure!, no decoy can do all this?
Some will say all of these attributes in the one product is just not possible. As a decoy
manufacturer we say that all of these attributes is what makes for a decoy that does the job.
All of these attributes are valid and must be provided before any decoy can claim that it is
a decoy. 5 yard factors do not count, and model ducks and lounge room excellence should not
be confused with hard-core field hunting requirements.
Plastic blow molded decoys, silhouettes, shells and full-body decoys all have certain field
advantages, but they also have their disadvantages. None can be called a true all-round
performing decoy. It was the FUD's mission to be the first true all-round decoying solution.
Better in terms of value for money decoys, that are far easier to use, provide far greater
functionality, and can meet the most demanding of deployment needs. The FUD is the first ever
decoy that can be used anywhere by being "game to be different".
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©Copyright 2010 NRA FUD Inc - All rights reserved
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