Duck Decoy Project

[ragweed]

When I told my friends at the MWSO V the story of my duck decoy project, they said I should post it on the forum when I got it finished.  So, here it is.  I apologize for its length.

About four years ago, I saw an ad for a decoy urn.  A decoy carver would put your retriever's ashes into a decoy.  I thought, 'How appropriate."  When I had to put down my 14 yr old Lab, Levi, this July, I called the carver.  He told me to send him a couple of tsp of Levi's ashes.  He would place them in a decoy, seal it and return it to me.  I felt uncomfortable having Levi in more than one place, so I told him I'd get back to him.

I've been a collector of 100 yr old Mason Factory decoys for several years and it dawned on me that Mason's top of the line decoys were hollow.  I told my wife that it might take a while, but I bet I could find one on Ebay.  That very day, one came up at auction!  But on the final day of the auction, our computers went down.  And didn't come back up until nearly 1/2 hr after the auction closed.  When I checked to see what the decoy had sold for, I saw that the auction had been extended for 30 minutes.  I had 43 seconds to log on and make a bid.  I won!

Now I had to determine if the cavity in the decoy was large enough to hold Levi.  But I didn't want to destroy the decoy in the process.  With advice from a friend, I used one of those math formulae we were all taught in HS and thought we'd never use again.  Multiply the amount of liquid the decoy displaced by the specific gravity of the wood.  That would be the weight of a solid decoy.  Next, weigh the hollow decoy.  Subtracting that from the weight of the solid decoy and dividing by the specific gravity would be the volume of the cavity.  Levi would fit!

Before I could proceed, I had to make sure that the decoy wouldn't leak as it did during the displacement calculations.  Lots of wood filler, sanding, and three coats of paint later, I was successful.  The decoy didn't even gain one gram after complete immersion in water.

Now I could drill a 3/4 inch hole, add ALL of Levi's ashes, seal the hole and paint the decoy in the style of a Mason Premier grade Mallard Drake, the species of one of Levi's most memorable retrieves.

Here's the decoy as I received it, in the early stages of a restoration.


After the water proofing with the hole drilled.


Here's the finished decoy, ready to join me at the blind again.


Thanks for looking.  I can't help but feel that the Great Duck Hunter upstairs had a hand in the success of this project!

[Gafala]

What a fitting way to have your best friend with you.

[Tiny Tim]

Some things truly are meant to be.  Awesome story, thank you for sharing.

[KyNola]

What a great story Joe.  Thanks for sharing it with us.

[tailfeathers]

Awesome work Joe, and congrats on having Levi back in the game. Well done!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[barbquebec]

...a nice tribute...

[WoodlawnSmoker]

What a great story, thanks for that!  I've owned several labs over the last 30 years, they are the best dogs imo.  Every now and then you get a good one that seems to know what you're thinking and how to respond, it's rare and it's it's hard to explain.  You did a nice job on the decoy.

[Gafala]

I agree I have a Border Collie mix that I think is smarter then some of my neighbors. The post office needs some dogs like mine for mail delivery she works for a treats, great at in house email delivery.

[Quarlow]

What a cool project and very awesome tribute to your pooch. I can't think of a better way either.

[thefuzzman]

Probably the most heartwarming and appropriate tribute for a man's best friend. So sorry about your loss.

[Saber 4]

Joe, Words can't adequately express what I am feeling after hearing your tale at the SO and now seeing Levi with all of the final touches. You have done Levi proud and I would dare say you have made the Mason Factory painters smile down on you from upon high at the quality of your restoration job.

Robert

PS. you have given me a direction to think when my old Bassett Daisy makes her final journey.

[cajunboudreaux]

That is awesome. We just had our DU banquet here in Arizona last Saturday night. I am in the middle of digging ponds for this years Hunts... Thanks for sharing..

[manfromplaid]

thats a real nice job on the decoy. a reminder of great hunts that will look good forever.
jeff

[GusRobin]

Great job and a great tribute.

[ragweed]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.  I thought you might like to see the real Levi and perhaps understand why I thought he was such a special dog.

This one was before I got a digital camera, so I had to take a picture of the picture.  It's the only "hunting" photo I have of Levi.  I was always holding a gun instead of a camera.


He was a proud supporter of Ducks Unlimited and a loyal Cabelas patron.


And he loved (tolerated) his "little sister", too!


Thanks for looking.