Been looking at new decoys today. Saw the Zink upright hen and it looks great - but is just too heavy. Ran across the HS hard shell Woody and Jezebel and it looks really good. Anyone used these decoys and have any feedback one way or the other on them. Looks like you'd have very similar effect with them that you get with the Zink or the DSD decoy but for much less $$$$.
they look pretty good and are postured fairly similar to the DSD just not as detailed. personaly i think with the heavy duty rubber material people are fooled by the Zink decoy thinking its heavier than it really is. mine weights 2lbs 12oz, its really not noticable in the back of a good vest for the versitility over needing a decoy bag over the shoulder
there are several flaw to the zink though, i dont trust the valve yet. we'll see if it holds up but i could see it leaking air at some point. also they only have a hen in two positions and it seems that everyone needs a strutter or jake at the very least.
personally I use decoys as a situational tactic not an every time constent as some do so i need to be able to fold it up and put it away.
After sending some messages back/forth with Phillip Vanderpool from HS I bought a Woody and Jezebel. I'll let yall know how Woody does this weekend. Jezebel is in transit right now and not sure she is gonna get her by tomorrow evening. BTW - Woody looks really nice.
This old boy liked the H S Strutt decoys yesterday.
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All the Zink and DSD fans won't like it but I can tell you - the HS Woody and Jezebel are great full-body decoys and are great less expensive alternatives to both. The paint job on them definitely isn't as realistic as the Zink or the DSD, but at this point I'm not certain it really matters that much. If you want them to have a little more realism - you can buy some paint and touch them up a bit. One thing I like about the HS full body decoys is their size and weight. Even though they are both full-body they are relatively small. The hen is MUCH smaller than the upright hen Zink. And best I can remember about the DSD that used to be carried by Bass Pro - it is much smaller than it as well. The only downside on them (which you have with all full-body decoys) is their inconvenience to pack around. I still haven't had any birds come in on me while using the decoys but I'm sure that'll happen sooner rather than later.