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Mallard Machine


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You all suck for even having this argument!!! tongue.gif

 

 

For the record I don't shoot ducks, or any birds for that matter. I have 2 parrots at home that call me me daddy, ask to be let out of their cages when I get home from work, they're both potty trained, and they love to be petted and played with. Some how I don't think I could look either of them in the eye after shooting a bird. I feel bad enough bringing home a bucket of KFC. :rolleyes:

 

However, I bet Robo Duck would make a great target for target pratice. :D :D :D

 

[ 06-29-2005, 12:31 PM: Message edited by: Jon Ramsey ]

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“When in Rome ... do as the Roman's do." (Or you ain’t shooten no ducks) sprigsss you may have the moral purist’s high ground if we assume the “technological” line in the sand was drawn before the advent of motorized decoys ... but either way, Tucker is surely real world right. As long as everyone is working within the same parameters of the pertinent game laws, it's hard to fault the guy who keeps up with technology. Besides ... big picture flyway game limits don’t care who is killing the ducks only the overall harvest quantity. Rather than investing a lot of energy and emotion admonishing the guy killing all the ducks using a legal robo on ethical grounds; you should turn your ire and effort to the people who can tailor those game laws to a level playing field ... made of course according to you and like minded people’s criteria. Since this thread has degenerated to name calling, accusations & grammar/punctuation castigating already ... if you can’t put together a majority of motivated hunters who agree that they don’t want robos out there ... you can always do like the Liberals do; find a sympathetic judge and sue to inflict the will of the few on the many. Of course ... Tucker & lot can sue to keep the Robos they’ve come to know and embrace. Personally, I see it more as a financial and therefore in turn a civil liberties issue. If Tucker is Robo-ing ... I’m being forced to Robo. He’s forcing me to go out and spend a couple of hundred bucks on this mechanical aberration ... or be resigned to go horse throated and cross eyed blowing away on the previous ultimate techno advancement ... to no avail. I think perhaps it’s a form of economic segregation. The “haves” getting over on us “have nots” again. Might even work “profiling” and mental anguish in here somewhere. Perhaps an onerous tax on Robos, quickly followed by registration & annual permit fees ... ostensively to subsidize Robo free only hunting zones for the antis. Tax em out of the marshes? And Jon ... is that “target practice” comment a thinly veiled advocacy of firearms violence as a means to an end??? Or ... are you so far up on the “haves” curve that you have enough money to use Roboducks for skeet?

 

I haven’t duck hunted in a few years and want to get back into it with my Benelli. I have a few coil spring mounted decoys that gyrate around on top of ½" pipes I sink in the creek mud in my spread, but no Robo. I can see the written on the wall already ... anyone got a link for a good price on one?

 

Butch

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Originally posted by Butch-M:

... anyone got a link for a good price on one?

 

Butch

You bet I do!

And you're WAY off on the price... if you shop wisely ;)

 

I just picked up a new mojo, remote, et al for less than $100.

 

I got the mojo on Ebay, and I found the best price on the remotes at LL Bean using Froogle.

 

Butch - Thanks for the sensible post on this subject.

I wasn't even thinking about buying a mojo until I got into this fray; which got me thinking about them quite a bit.

 

A Robo-Mojo tax?

Sure, but only if there's also a special tax on GPS's, Gore-tex, neoprene waders, high-end shotguns, mudbuddy motors, inflatable decoys, and so on, and so on....

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...Almost forgot.

If you do get a mojo, PM me and I'll show you some mods on mine to improve the design and functionality a bit. They're pretty shoddy from the factory. Considering all the Peking Duck those folks have eaten over the years, I would have expected better :D

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  • 2 weeks later...
Originally posted by tucker301:

Originally posted by Butch-M:

[qb]

A Robo-Mojo tax?

Sure, but only if there's also a special tax on GPS's, Gore-tex, neoprene waders, high-end shotguns, mudbuddy motors, inflatable decoys, and so on, and so on....

Once again you're comparing apples to oranges. There is a huge difference between between all of these items and robo. If you can't see the difference, I'm sorry you were never taught what hunting is all about.

 

Butch,

 

I am no liberal, and therefore will never contact any politician in an effort to get them banned. I would only support a ban if the majority of the hunters wanted to ban them or if data showed we need to ban them. And so far the data is showing too many juvenile ducks are being killed by robo. My opinion is based on the lines of fair chase hunting, and I believe they should be illegal for the same reasons electronic calls are illegal. The problem is the majority of the people out there care only about the numbers, they don't care about the sport. The only thing they are interested in is watching ducks fold and then bragging about how many they killed afterwards. what they don't realize, is by using robo they are only educating the ducks even farther and in the long run it will be 10x as hard to get a duck in whether they have robo or not.

 

I refuse to do anything because everyone else is doing it. I'm sure the sportsman that took a stance to ban electronic calls and live decoys, received the same criticism I'm receiving now. The difference is some of us would like to keep it a sport as we are duck hunters and enjoy the challenge of matching our skills against the ducks wits, and then there are others that don't give a rats azz about the sport and only care about shooting more ducks.

 

However, I don't believe robo should be banned because I don't like it. I have never and will never contact my legislator and ask him/her to ban robo. A ban by politicians will be a significant setback to hunters, because what will be next. But if hunters step up to the plate and do what's right, then I believe it is a win for the hunters. So rather than contact a politician, I choose to reach out to the hunters and convince them they don't need robo.

 

After all if robo is banned, only those that refuse to learn how to hunt or put in the work to shoot a few ducks will be affected. Maybe this is why Tucker is so terrified they'll be banned. I on the other hand will continue to shoot ducks without robo. I was able to shoot around 50 ducks in 12 hunts last year all on crowded public hunting grounds, so this has nothing to do with my success, but everything to do with where this sport is going.

 

First we had robo, then we had the mallard machine, then quiver magnets, then remote controlled decoys, then the vortex.................When will it end? At what point will hunters wake up and say, OK this isn't hunting anymore. The robots are doing all of the work and all the hunters have to do is sit back and wait then blast away. THAT IS NOT HUNTING. Its already gone too far and its time the real sportsmen take a stance and get rid of these things before it goes even further. Its only a matter of time before someone develops a remote controlled decoy that flies around grabbing ducks attention and then can be guided into the decoy spread with a flock of ducks right behind it. Sure that would be a fun contraption to play with, but it doesn't belong in hunting.

 

If you're using robots to bring in the ducks for you, you AREN'T hunting.

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I guess what the hunting fraternity considers ethical & unethical is similar to what individuals in a society consider right & wrong. One would probably say it's a "sense" or "feel" ... an internal, inherent instinct. (Less the lawyers of course)

 

BUT ... What the ancient Greeks or Romans (quite civilized societies) considered acceptable; has evolved today into what we "feel" is barbaric. (Like feeding Christians to lions for example {being Christian, I can identify with that one})(Or stealing surreptitiously into Troy inside the worlds biggest Robo-ized decoy) I wonder where Achilles thought THAT decoy was going to lead his hunting in the future?) Next thing you know EVERYBODY is going to have to have one; or be left sitting bored at the gates. Soon after that you'll be killing nothing but young, and/or stupid enemies. You'll find your enemies flare and keep running. Long shots, cripples ensued, etc, etc. I'm sure given the chance ... Hector would argue & debate the ethics of the Greek's lure; same as you do about Tucker's Mojos. (You don't mind me using you as the focal of Robo users for literary impact ... do you Tucker??)

 

At one time the samurai considered gunpowder and guns as unethical ... they all got shot in battle by ignominious farmers wielding firearms! Using and/or defending heroic & honorable traditional methods of course. Adaptation or extinction. Try as they may ... the samurai couldn't convince the farmers of the error of their ways ... to put down their guns and take up a sword like a real man ... wonder why? I'm afraid you may be a Samurai among Musketeers. Noble; holding your own for now ... but archaic. The native American (Indian) comes to mind too.

 

Hold your ground. Continue your articulate crusade ... perhaps ... like we honor the old ways of the ancient primitive bow & arrow ... and the less primitive and more technologically advanced blackpowder rifle (but still acceptably "old ways" right?); with their own seasons ... there may be a swing of the pendulum to old fashion decoy waterfowl hunting. (Less the punt guns no doubt) Until then ... the ignominious modern waterfowlers will be ruling the marshes.

 

Personally ... it doesn't mater to me either way as long as we're all playing by the same rules, and we're adjusting bag limits to keep the waterfowl population strong.

 

Butch

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Originally posted by Butch-M:

(You don't mind me using you as the focal of Robo users for literary impact ... do you Tucker??)

Not at all.

In fact, in many ways I'm the perfect specimen, as this year will be my first as a Mojo user.

I also bought a dozen of the screen-printed inflatable decoys to add more movement and realism to the spread.

Can you hear the master carvers of a bygone era as they cringe and reposition themselves in their places of eternal unrest?

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God ... I can't wait to get back in the swamps. So much new stuff to try out since my last foray. New gun, new chokes, new ammunition ... and yes ... new types of decoys!!! Got my "old" duck boat engine running again last week. Changed lower unit lubricant ... purrs like a kitten. Say ... what are you hearing about the acceptance of those new screen painted inflatables??? My bay boat is loaded to the gunwales with carrylites right now ... but if a little bit is good ... a lot is better ... right??? I have a canoe I could tow. I have to pay more attention to the waterfowl section of Cabelas from now on. By the way, speaking of decoys ... ethically ... do you think it's a good thing ... or a bad thing ... to anchor bouys at 30yds, 40yds, 50yds marking ranges?

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By the way, speaking of decoys ... ethically ... do you think it's a good thing ... or a bad thing ... to anchor bouys at 30yds, 40yds, 50yds marking ranges? [/QB]
When I was hunting ducks we used to put the farthest decoy at about 30 yards as a marker. Then wwe would not shoot unles they were inside of that farthest decoy.

 

So why not just use your decoys as a marker.

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We do similarly. We fille the spread from 40-50 out and leave the inside 40 as the landing hole for the real ducks.

We do hunt small waters, so I've never set up for big water spreads.

Ethically? I see no problem with marking ranges.

 

My biggest concern regarding the inflatables is that my blindmate chews tobacco incessently, so I'll be doing all the inflating :rolleyes:

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Can there be a more despicable habit than chewing tobacco??? They dribble, drool, spit ... and the clumps of what certainly could pass as feces were it not for the fierce stench ... coming out of their mouths??? There's nothing like turning to your buddy and seeing that blood brown stain on the front of their shirt to make you wonder what in the world could you possibly have in common with this guy??? What thought process, what corrupted logic, could possibly lead someone to think that stuffing your mouth with a foul smelling carcinogen that produces prodigious amounts of vile liquid which has severe disposal problems ... has merit??? Now ... just picture being the poor woman who has "that" coming at her with intentions of intimacy!!! LOL It's a miracle that they get to pass on their genes. What an unpleasant habit. Addiction is a terrible thing. Well, I'm sure he's a great guy aside from that foible ... just keep to the upwind spot in the blind ... and make him buy a pump to inflate his share.

 

Anyway ... I usually set up my spread in sort of a "U" shape with the blind between the open legs. Have a few confidence decoys on shore and a few ducks in front of the blind kind of closing up the "U" a little. Leaves a big hole for them to land at around 30 yards. I add three or four goose decoys up wind separated from the ducks a little ... and have some crows sitting on the boat. My flying decoys on pipes are down wind as if coming to land into the wind. Seems to work pretty well. For some reason, I rarely have ducks landing out of range on the outside of the spread. What I do have happen surprisingly often is to have ducks swim un-noticed into the spread. I guess you watch the skies so intently ... unless they're using subs? Sneaky little ... I find myself counting decoys, but of course can never remember how many I put out. LOL Problem around here is where I usually go in a river; we get about 3 or 4 foot tides. At low tide the boat is high & dry in the swamp mud. Retrieving a downed bird is done with some pretty primitive poling & levering; and with great effort. And if we've had any storms ... huge mats of meadow weeds can come floating by taking "X" number of decoys with it. Results in a Navy seal like scramble to launch the boat & get em back. It is fun though!

 

Butch

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We hunt the river when the swamps and backwaters freeze up. Most of the time, we hunt the flats below a hydroelectric dam. Water levels can rise and fall several feet within a half hour or so when the turbines come on.

Same deal. Sometimes we'll have to walk the boat out for 50-100 yards before it will float again, if we caught in deep when the generators stop.

The good thing about it is that the changes in elevation tend to break up the ice and give us more open water to hunt.

 

I've never thought of using the crow decoys.

Thanks for that tip!

Maybe I'll even get a Mojo crow ;)

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Just can't help trying to light off sprigsss again can you??? LOL

 

Yeah, I see they have doves, ducks, crows, owls ... quite a mechanized little airforce. Keep it up and you'll need one of those deep cycle batteries they use for trolling motors and a labyrinth of wires running all over the river bank. Or you could con your chewing buddy to tap into one of those turbines.

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