Decoying is a time honored tradition that spans generations. Decoys together with guns and dogs are recognized as the fundamental elements of all wing shooting pursuits yet decoys themselves have not changed much in over 30 years.

The FUD is set to change things because it has not followed the traditional approach to decoys. By focusing on the task of decoying rather than carver's conventions the FUD forwards a completely new approach that delivers unprecedented decoying functionality. The FUD is the modern day replacement of the traditional plastic blow-molded decoy designed to do all those things that the old decoys simply cannot do.

When it comes to bringing game birds into shotgun range there are basic principles that apply that cannot be questioned. Most old-timers know these but modern generations have overlooked or forgotten them. It is these principles that led to the invention of the FUD rather than the art of making a better "model duck". For clear hunting and decoying reasons there is no other product that is as effective, as functional, or as pragmatic at doing the decoying job as the FUD. This web site helps to explain why and offers new ideas and new decoying practices that will improve your harvest results and add to your hunting experiences.

Sure, you have heard it all before. Another decoy with some new feature or gimmick that supposedly makes it better than the decoys you currently use. Not this time. In the FUD you will find no decoying myths and no unsubstantiated claims that have little or no relevance to decoying. It is the act of decoying itself that explains why the FUD works and why it is a superior decoy to all other decoy styles.

By highlighting the differences between field decoys and model duck euqivalents, and between hunting features and sales and marketing features, we are simply restating the basics and remembering what a decoy's job is. And by doing so we trust you will understand why the FUD is different and why it will work for you.

In pure hunting terms and by any decoy yardstick, the FUD stands in a class of its own. It is without equal by being "game to be different".
Index

Game to be Different
These four words capture the intent and future of the NRA FUD. After years of extensive market research and product development the FUD has become the best possible decoying solution by delivering the basics. The facts that stand the FUD different from all other decoying products cannot be argued. They remain,

• The decoy market is full of differing decoy styles such as floaters, shells, silhouettes, full-body, and motion decoys. So many styles is not a statement of decoying correctness nor hunter preference. It simply reflects that none of them can meet all hunter needs. None of them can do the full decoying job. The FUD does the full decoying job replacing all existing styles. It is the first and only decoy that delivers in water, on ice, on land, in motion, and in transport and storage.
• The traditions and history of hand-carved decoys has made model ducks the dominant decoy foundation for decades. Decoy excellence is too often measured in the hand using decorative rules more suited to Decoy Shows in pursuit of lounge room acclaim. The act of decoying itself has lost its meaning, as has field harvest results, as has the principles that make a decoy "decoy". The FUD is not a decorative decoy, it is designed to fool game birds in the field instead of hunters in the store.
• Blow-moulded model ducks are a poor foundation for a product most commonly used on water and under shotguns. The hunting basics must be delivered before any product can call itself a decoy. Conventional decoys that sink, that crack, that fade, and that cannot handle the elements cannot claim excellence. The fact remains that none of the failings are found in the FUD.
• Growing use of purpose designed feeders, tuck decoys, butt feeders, and motion decoys is an acknowledgement by both hunters and manufacturers that rig variation is necessary to minimize decoy alarm signals. The FUD pushes the variation boundaries deploying in all postures, avoiding all common decoy alarm signals, and using the wind for unprecedented movement making spread supplements redundant.
• The high cost influence of hand carved decoys remains amongst many mass-market decoy lines. The FUD is a decoy with unrivalled field credentials and quality that matches the best mass-market premium magnum decoys at price points that can now out-perform the worst magnums. The FUD has the cost metrics to be the first ever "fair valued" premium quality decoy ensuring that its unrivalled functionality credentials gain mass market exposure.
• And there are no rules prohibiting three dimensional fullbody decoying solutions from being fold up and collapsible. The FUD's collapsible nature makes it trade compelling at 1/2 the weight and 1/4 of the SKU volume of any blow-molded alternative.

Decoying Background
Decoys, guns and dogs are recognized as the fundamental elements of bird hunting worldwide, and bird hunting pursuits and harvest prospects have all been improving with new technologies. Product advances in calls, shotguns, ammunition, and camouflage have all changed for the better, but mainstream decoys themselves have not changed.

Across all decoy brands and current offerings no influence has had a greater or longer lasting impact than the decoy carver's view of "the most attractive decoy is a model duck". The FUD challenges this carving mind-set recognising that field hunting attributes are more important than carving competitions and lounge room glory. This is a simple question of audience. If the decoy's task is to impress a human audience then there are different parameters at work compared to those when designing products to impress game birds passing overhead. Model duck marketing gimmicks and myth should not be mistaken for field decoying attributes and features.

The FUD does not follow the traditional model duck mindset that has so heavily influenced decoy offerings for generations. The FUD forwards a completely new solution to decoying delivering unprecedented functionality, harvest results, quality, and value for money, all by focusing on the act of decoying rather the task of making a better model duck.

When it comes to bringing game birds into shotgun range there are basic hunting principles at work that are beyond question. Most old-timers know these but modern generations have overlooked them, forgotten them, or are simply unaware being blinded by the myth and conjecture that dominates the hunting media today. It is these hunting principles that led to the invention of the FUD, it is these principles that fool gun-shy birds, and it is these principles that stand the FUD apart from all other decoys.

Blow-moulded plastic decoys have dominated the market for decades but that domination is not based on hunting principles regardless of what the manufacturer's marketing messages and Pro-Staff may say. If their domination was justified there would be no silhouettes, no shells, no full bodies, and no motion decoys. These alternative decoy styles all exist because conventional plastic decoys are a compromise that do not and cannot do the full decoying job.

The hunting community have grown sceptical after years of new decoy promotions based on conjecture and non-hunting logic. Any decoy launch today is treated as just another decoy with some new feature or gimmick that supposedly makes it better than the hunter's existing decoys. Against a sceptical audience advertising has become an un-winnable task because decoying products have too often failed to backup their marketing claims.
Index

Decoy Function
Any discussion on decoys and decoying must be prefaced by the question "what is the decoy's job?" This is essential to understand why conventional decoys are a compromise, and why FUDs are such a market disruptive product. The best explanation of decoying comes from the word itself. To "decoy" means to "lure into danger". For game bird hunting this means "to lure game birds outside of shotgun range into shotgun range". There is no other definition that more correctly describes the art of decoying or what the decoy's task is.

Any challenge to this definition comes down to a simple question of intended purpose. If the purpose is to win at a Decoy Show, to win a carver's contest, or to look good on top of the telly, then the discussion is not about decoying. This discussion is about model ducks or decorative ornaments. In this field of endeavour features that cannot be seen outside of gunshot range remain irrelevant to the act of decoying.

This question of purpose strikes at the very heart of what decoys have become. Everyone seems to have forgotten the task or missed the point. It is the decoy's job to fool game birds outside of shotgun range to come inside shotgun range. Not fool game birds sitting beside the hunter, nor already sitting amongst their decoys, nor sitting in their lounge room. If a hunter can limit out between the fridge and the telly then they do not need FUDs.


With so many decoying myths, opinions, and arguments in the media, in the stores, and in the hunting magazines, hunters world wide have accepted that the current decoy offerings must be the best available. This belief is conjecture and has only survived because of there being no true decoying alternative that focuses on the task at hand respecting the alertness of game birds. The FUD has pursued field decoying functionality and harvest results ahead of everything else. It openly challenges the model duck mind-set.

More than just challenging it, we can explain why FUDs will outperform conventional decoys by identifying those factors that make for a good decoy. This is a process of remembering what decoys are intended for and acknowledging the decoying basics.
Index

FUD Mission
The FUD mission was never to make a better model duck. It was to create the first ever use-anywhere multi-posture decoy avoiding all of the problems associated with using old-fashioned decoys.

The best way to appreciate why most decoying products are compromises, why most Sales & Marketing messages are flawed lacking hunting relevance, and why the FUD is such a serious threat to the decoy market status-quo, is to remember who a decoy is meant to fool and what the act of is decoying is all about.


The mission was to encompass the entire range of desired field decoying attributes into a single product is now complete. There has never been a single decoying product before that is 3D, truly multi-posture, unsinkable, self-righting, matte finished, true magnum sized, shot proof, scratch proof, impervious to ice, fade resistant, carried hands-free, with internal rigging storage, wind driven, true to life imaged, heavy duty, collapsible, lightweight, compact, cost effective, used anywhere, and easy to use. In the FUD this challenge has been met and in any of these terms and by any decoy yardstick, the FUD stands in a class of its own without equal. Is is "game to be different".
Index