How to make a crow rag decoy
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ธ.ค. 2024
- What you need to make a crow rag decoy:
Stapler
Scissors
Small cable ties
Bamboo cane
Household bin bags
Watch the video above for a step-by-step guide to making a crow rag decoy.
Why use crow rag decoys?
Using crow rag decoys is a great way of producing more sport without spending a lot of money. The general idea behind any rag decoy is that it is a piece of material tied to a cane in a shape that will catch the wind (like a wind sock) thus inflating it and creating the illusion of movement. An added advantage is that they are very lightweight and easy to carry great numbers in the field.
Some people may say that crows are too intelligent to fall for what can only be described as a bag on a stick, but my goose rags have pulled plenty of geese in range and I would also consider them to be a wise quarry. The trick to this illusion is numbers, the theory being that if I made enough rags the crows would find it difficult to pick out the individual decoys and would look at the whole picture of a large decoy pattern.
My main goal was to source cheap materials that kept the cost well within any shooter's budget. After a rummage in the workshop, I found myself looking at a table consisting of bin bags, bamboo canes, cable ties, scissors and a paper stapler. In the matter of a minute, and in true Blue Peter fashion, I had the first prototype made. The bin bags do give off a shine, but so do crows when the sun is on their backs.
Build your own decoys
Crow rags are very simple to make. Take a household heavy duty bin bag, making sure that it is one with a square top and not the one with the tie handles. Unravel the bag until there is a full length of a bin bag exposed and then fold it in half and cut down the fold. Once the attached half is ripped off, there will then be two squares of material, each bag will make two decoys. I found the easiest way was to cut and prepare the whole roll so I was left with a pile of bags ready to tie to the canes.
Bamboo canes come in all shapes and lengths. I cut my canes down with a hand saw so they were all around a foot in length or just a little over.
Once all the canes and bags are ready, you can assemble the decoys. Take one of the bin bag squares and fold it in half creating a triangle. Take one of the corners from the longer side and tie it to the top of a cane. Once the top is attached, open the triangle back up, place the cane inside and tie the triangle together. Then tie another knot in one of the triangle corners to create the tail. I reinforce the knots on the cane by putting cable ties round them, this should prevent the knots from slipping and the decoys coming apart. The two knots on the cane can be adjusted to allow more or less air into the decoy, which helps it keep its shape; this is also achieved by stapling the two flaps together on the bottom of the decoy which allows the air to become trapped.
Unlike my goose decoys, which need some form of wind to stay in shape, the crow rags will hold their shape no matter what the weather due to the small dimensions and the rigidness of the bags themselves, making them a lot more versatile in the field.
The best part is the price as they cost around £7 to make 40 when buying in all the materials (bar a stapler) which works out roughly to 17p per decoy compared with an average £5 for a full body or £200 for 40. I really can't argue with those prices. The fabrication time will vary from person to person but it took me roughly an hour and a half to make 60 once I had perfected the method and ironed out the kinks.
I hope you give them a go and have as much if not better success then I have had. Happy shooting!
Made 10 of these in 20 mins before I went out. Worked an absolute treat so I'll be making more. I found now and then they were pulling some pigeons in as well. Sometimes the crows and jackdaws were deterred as they got closer but by then they were close enough to shoot at. I got some really thin bamboo canes from B&Q and they were pennies. Thanks for this video!!
Hi Tom, after watching your video, I set about making some of these rag decoys, and boy I was amazed how easy the crows were fooled, I have been struggling with getting the crows into shotgun range recently, but I am now getting good numbers.. Thanks for showing and sharing your video. Mike
Anytime Mike. Glad you like them and are having success! Tom
Quality shooting and diy budget decoys top tip in this day and age.Well done
Great video imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, will be making 25 or 30 of these for upcoming season.
Thank you.
this will be great for my Halloween yard decorations!
I was very sceptical when I seen this video but decided to give it a go and to my surprise the crows were certainly fooled in to taking a closer look. I did position 1 dead crow from the previous days shooting as a sentry and did only go with 12 decoys. I think next time I would be happy with more decoys and forgo the sentry. Thanks for the extremely cheap yet effective decoying tip!!
Thank you for the kind words. Keep an eye out in Sporting Gun magazine and on the Shooting UK TH-cam page for more inventions. There are a few things to try out. I look forward to hearing your feed back. Tom
Fantastic!!! Man after my own heart .... why buy something you can make, and for next t"nowt 😂
Great shooting too.....
Cheers
Roj, Preston UK
Good video and useful info to make cheap decoys, they work as well. Thanks
Awesome video! I hunted crow for the first time today. Only called in 20 birds in three sets. We shot but didn't connect. We didn't have decoys either.
Simple and explained quite well. Thanks!
has just watch video , made 8 in half hour jused them at weekend and wow they worked great
Nice video I'll try to make some one day although I'm a bit sceptic (do'nt think our crows will buy it) I lIke the cheap and easy to carry
Nice video! What make/model pump shotty is that, quite like it.
Looking forward to see your future projects. I've made and used your rags and think they are fantastic. Have you ever made a home made flyer?
Thank you. I have a homemade flying decoy which I'm testing over the summer months. It should feature in Sporting Gun magazine at some point as long as it passes field testing! Very cheap to make and should work perfectly! Keep an eye out.
I will do.
Great video, roughly how big is the square of the cut piece of bag all the bags I find in the shops either come out oblong after cutting. I've tried several different types. Love the idea of cheap.
The trick is to get a typical domestic bin bag and cut it in half which produces two squares. If you watch the footage closely you should see that step. They are well worth making, I used mine the other day on wise old birds and still had a very good success rate.
thanks Tom, i'm just struggling with getting bags that i can make 2 out of. the bottoms of the bags i buy locally aren't square bottomed so i can only get 1 out of each bag, still cheeper than full bodied deecs though
I see what your problem is. I bought the cheapest bags going which I think came from a Spar shop, although I have since bought bags that will do the same job from other supermarkets. It's just a case of trial and error until you find the right bags. At least you can still make a few though!
Cheers Tom keep up the good work fella
Excellent
what choke and shot size do u use
Thank you
Hey what size of bin bags are those??
What’s a bim bag?
Hello Tom!
Thanks for your great videos, they are really imfofmativ and well done :).
I have two questions, what us number do you use on crows? And what are the brand and modell off that cap/facemask you have?.
Thanks from lars in sweden!
Thank you Lars. I use the original 60 rags that I first made as I have them, they don't weigh anything and are quick to set up. Having a large spread reduces hesitation from the birds and seems to help the commit. Tom
Crow killer!
Who cares. They are eating his seeds
So why are you shooting crows ? Do they really eat that much seed ? You spent more on ammo than lost seeds !?!
Dear Tom, im so sad about that crows ! what purpose you are you killing that innocent creature ? you have killed lots of crows in 6 minutes , one way you are good sniper but other part you are terrible merciless killer !!!!
Crows are a major pest species where I live and can cost farmers a large amount of money, we are not trying to eradicate them but keep the population at a controlled level.
i agree crows are pests
one easy method we do in our rice farm and fruit farm that , we collect a few crow's whole wings and tied on top of long bamboo. after keep stay in different part of of ur farm..onl one day the crow will disturb ou the next day on wards..no more crow ..!!! cause the crows are intelligent the will stop coming in dangerous place again.