V-Boards

[shoreboy6]

I'm looking for some plans for building V-Boards if anyone can help me out. I might also be interested in buying some if you have some for sale.

[bigring]

http://www.runamuckdecoys.com/images/v-boards.htm

[shoreboy6]

Thanks but thats still a little complicated for me to wrap my head around

[Capt. Ahab]

I made some about 2 summers ago. They were quite easy. Get yourself some 1x1s, a large sheet of 1/4" plywood and a smaller sheet of 1/2" plywood, some washers and some 2" carriage bolts and nuts. cut identically sized rectangles of the 1/2" ply. the width should be slightly more than the width of 3 1x1s held together. the length should be around 6". holding the rectangles together, cut 3 holes in a triangular formation so that each hole will go through the center of a 1x1. cut your 1x1s to be about 3' long. for the center wing of the v board, a simple 90 degree cut on the end is fine. for the left and right wings, make angled cuts so that they butt up to the end of the center wing when unfolded. drill holes through the center of each 1x1 so that they all line up properly on your small rectangular piece. sandwich the whole group together with the other rectangular piece and use long carriage bolts to attach the entire contraption. you now should have the 1 fixed wing and 2 folding wings. it is up to you how you want to attach the decoys you plan to use. I cut oversized silos from the 1/4" ply and cut matching slots on the OTHER end of the 1x1 wings. the silos fit easily into the slots and were attached by screws. remember to make your silos 1" "taller" so that they appear to sit on top of the wing, rather than inside it. the anchor point should be somewhere in the middle of the center wing. that way wind and waves will always keep the other two wings open. i use 2 lb. weights to anchor these guys, they're heavy. the line is easily wrapped around the bills/tails of the silos.

[Big E]

For all that trouble I'm thinkin maybe a trip to cabella's or BPS at the end of the season might net you some decent deeks for less then materials and man hours. Just a thought. Not sayin I haven't built a buch of goose v-boards myself but time and effort... not sure it was worth it. Also look for some deeks on craig's list. Spray painting someones old gear especially if you are hunting divers may be a better option.

Cheers,

evans

[Capt. Ahab]

This definitely isn't a money saving or time saving option compared to store bought decoys, but it's a way to build your own decoys without any woodcarving skills. I enjoy seeing my own work floating in my spread next to plastic brand name decoys. They are also MUCH more visible than store bought decoys. I made them pretty big and they show up a long way off.

[shoreboy6]

Capt Ahab

That was exactly what I was looking for and simple enough for my simple mind to completely understand. Also thanks for all the great pics. One may be able to just go buy decoys cheaper than "all the trouble of this" but I am more into the traditions of Chesapeake hunting. I also enjoy the fact that something I made was able to fool a flock of geese or knot of ducks. And being able to deploy 3 deeks at once really speeds up setting out your rig.

[Capt. Ahab]

Glad I can be of some help. I am going hunting weekend after next and I'll post up some photos of my other v boards, and I'll try to provide some more detail on the folding design. Here's one for now...Enjoy!

[shoreboy6]

That pic belongs in a hunting mag! Even oversized deeks don't show up that good

[Capt. Ahab]

That pic belongs in a hunting mag! Even oversized deeks don't show up that good

Thanks, the picture was taken on Dec. 27th, the day of that BIG snowstorm. We had 25+ kt. winds out there, so I know these v boards are up to the task of big weather/big water. You're absolutely right about the appearance. The decoys in the background are mostly oversized GHG bluebills and cans, and they appear tiny compared to the vboards.