Mr. Duck G, the G in G&H, is someone I've wanted to meet over the year's. If for nothing more than to shake his hand & tell him a few stories of my successes in the blind, over the years, with the aid of his decoys.

Well it finally happened, I recently got to meet Mr. G.

The drive to Henryetta, Oklahoma was an uneventful one on a lazy September Saurday morning. Not much of anything special going on, except football season had just got underway, along with Teal season & a few dove hunter's were still at it here & there. We talked about some of those things along with the upcomming duck season, a project or 2 that we've got in the works, just passing the time.

We eventually made it to Henryetta & turned into the G&H factory parking lot to see an older gentleman messing with some decoys & mumbling to himself. We parked & got out of the truck & he hollered over to us,"I'll be with you boys in a minute... I'm busy." 

I ask cooter,"Is that our guy?"

cooter responds,"I don't know... but who ever he is he's busy." 

A few minutes later the man returns with a handful of this & that & returns to his decoys. He's fiddlin' with this & that intruiging our couriosity we walk over & introduce ourselves. He tells us he knows who we are & that we're about 30 minutes early, but that was fine as he liked early.

"That's got it", he exclaimed, as he stuck his hand out & said, "Duck G & y'all are?"

We get past the handshakes, introductions & he explains to us what he was working on. And like a true industrious inventor he did not want to get sidetracked in his throught process from what he was working on. I am sworn to secrecy, but I can tell ya'll that he was working on what appeared to maybe be a motion ground stake for his line of decoys, that will be ready for the 2008 season. That's about as far as I can go with what I possibally might have seen, for now. Otherwise it could be claimed by heresay, rumor & there's already too much of that, just ask that damn cooter.

Mr. G then invited us into his showroom, showing us the various decoy lines, models & the history behind this design verses that design, etc. We got to see a family heirloom of a "fiber-mache' " goose decoy that they made back in the 1930's... that's fibergalass over paper mache'. He also showed us some G&H mallards from circa 1955, along with the history of some of their many patents on feather detail, molding plastic, painting plastic, etc. & how G&H has always led the way in those area's of production than his competitors.

Mr. G then said,"I know my decoys cost more than the others, but mine are twice as thick (the plastic in the bodies), the drakes heads are molded out of a special green plastic (mallard drake) & the painting process is one that makes my paint stick to the decoys, as the formula allows the paint to actual adhere itself to the plactic. Another thing is I also add a UV protectorant to my paint & no one else does any of that, no one & it cost more to make a quality product that a man is not ashamed to have his name tied too."

We were very impressed to say the very least. Mr. G was very enthusiastic about his products, factory, family owned buisness (3 generations), product history & that his decoys are still made in America. And then that's when it happened.. he just came right out and said what me & cooter have been knowing for years... "I Make The Best Damn Decoy Period!"

We all agreed on that point.

What was supposed to be a trip to pick up a few decoys turned into 3 hours of conversastion with the man who ownes the company of a product that we think is the very best out there. We got loaded up in short order & we were on or way with several dozen Super Mag Mallards & Sprig's added to the spread.

Thank you Mr. G & all the folks at G&H for making "The Best Damn Decoy Made Period!!!"

Mr. G and Me

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When you look at mass produced plastic decoys they all appear to be very similar in size, shape & silhouette. The paint schemes all look pretty much like the species that they are intended to imposter, but there are very important differences to be pointed out.

The plastic that they use in the G&H decoy is especially formulated to maintain the decoys overall structural integrity in freezing weather. The plastic has the ability to expand & contract without weakening. Their decoy bodies are also thicker than their competitor's & twice as thick as some others.

Their paint & painting process uses a special etching primer that helps their paint to bond into the plastic & not be just merely a coat of paint on the decoy. Also in their painting process they have added a UV inhibator to help keep the paint from being affected by sunlight & fading or changing colors. Also, G&H has paid a lot of attention in the feather detail molded into their decoys & when painted you can appreciate the highlights & contrast this helps to bring out in the overall appearence of the finished product. Another thing that G&H does, that really impresses me, is that they use a green plastic to mold the Mallard Drakes head in their line. Now all of this stuff is a "trade secret" & it is a lot more complicated than my ability to describe it, but basically that's what they do.

The keels on their decoys are also a step above the industry standard, as they're not merely a long rectangle attatched by a heating the plactic on the bottom of the decoy (like a weld) & then filling the keel with sand to give it it's counterbalance balast, theres are part of the decoys mold. The keels on a G&H decoy looks a little different than everyone elses too. Because they understand how important a keel is to the overall performance of the decoy in clam water or in raging seas. On the front of the keel there is a flat looking area that acts as a keel (like on a boat), then as you look talong the keel it gets thicker & then at the very end the keel it angles slightly outward on each side. This is so the decoy will move back & forth from it's anchor point, in a side to side motion with the current or wind, depending on which end you tied your decoy line & weight to. Also this design helps to keep them upright & stable, not allowing the decoy to pitch & roll onto their sides. On G&H decoys they come ready made with 3 places to tie off too, allowing you to tie several here & there. This variation allows a few to face this way & a few to face that way, so that they don't look like a herd of plastic clones in formation at attention on the water. Ducks don't do that, so why would you want decoys that do.

If you have looked at the picture you also will notice the the underside of the decoy is concave or recessed. This creates a vacuum when the decoy is placed on the water & this helps to hold the decoy in a natural riding postion & not pitch & roll, etc.  

G&H also uses a glass eye in their decoys similar to what a taxidermist might use in making a mount. Now they're not that elaborate, but the eye is not merely a painted on black circle either. They also have a line of decoys that have differnt head postions & some that swivel... I really like those features, as it allows me to add another dimention to the overall appearence of my decoy spread. If you have ever watched ducks the only time they "soldier up" (come to attention & get in formation) is when they sense something just isn't right, become threatened, etc. & are preparing to take flight. Ducks do not decoy well to a decoy spread that looks like ducks in a defensive flight posture.

G&H has applied physics, chemistry, ergronomics, art, animal psychology, etc. into their finished product. They hold several US Pantents & are currently doing research & developement on a few changes to improve the decoy line. G&H decoys may also cost a few dollars more than their competitor's, but you're also not having to replace them year after year, so in the long run you are actually saving money. G&H decoys are the most durable mass produced plactic decoy out there... & to quote Mr. G "The Best Damn Decoy Made Period".

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In my 30+ years of KILLIN' GREEN I have owned, toted, rigged, handled, inspected, seen, touched & hunted over just about every mass produced plastic duck decoy made. Now that's a lot of decoys through the years... at one time I had somewhere in the neighborhood of some thirty odd dozen or so. That's not counting the ones my Dad, Grandfather, Cousins, Uncles, Great Uncles & duck hunting buddies had either, those were just mine. Some of them were in dismal shape as wear & tear had taken the huntability out of most of them, cracked keels, busted bills, dented in bodies, paint worn off, some were retaining water & some had even developed a "rattle".

So about 10 years ago, maybe longer than that, I had a garage sale and sold most of those decoys, gave some away & threw away those that didn't find a new home. Some of these decoys were looking pretty rough, i.e.: you know you're in pretty bad shape when one of the neighborhood kids doesn't want you even if it's just for BB gun target practice, now thats when you know that you're tore up. The worse part of it was is that some of these decoys were only a season old.

So I began shopping... and I mean everywhere. I looked at duck decoys until the decoys were tired of looking at me. I went to every "Hunting Store" I could think of, subscribed to any of the mail order places that carried duck decoys & even telephoned a few too, to ensure that I was on their mailing list. I was bound & determinded that I was not going to just be buying some decoys, just to have to replace them again with more decoys, that I had just bought a season ago, no not this time.

I was looking for that quality decoy, one that would last several seasons with not much wear & tear. Then it came to me... in the corner of my garage was a pretty sad looking wore out & patched up decoy bag that had seen much better days that contaianed 18 G&H M4 Original Standard Mallards, decoys that I used as my "walk-in puddler" set-up. I'm not real sure where those decoys came from or how I ended up with them, but I do know that my Grandfather & I used them on some of the hunts on his last season, he was 79.

It hit me like a ton of bricks... like an epiphany, the only decoys that I hadn't culled... the G&H's. They were easy enough to track down from an add in a hunting magazine, so I sent them a request for a catalogue. In short order I got it in the mail & I studied every page. I was more obcessed about my next decoy purchase than that kid & his Red Ryder BB gun in that movie, "A CHRISTMAS STORY". Oh yeah, new decoys would be on the way.

I've been with G&H ever since, I have some that are probably survivors from that order to G&H in my buddies decoy storage facility that we use when we are field hunting. They've got to be 10 years old, at a minimum. Not that there's anything wrong with them, as they still kill ducks, but I replaced them with G&H's M4M Magnum Pro Series & M4O's. I added a dozen WG50's (Widgeon) & a dozen P1's (Pintail) to round out my spread, whenever it was that G&H came out with their swivel head magnum/oversized decoys... 6-7 years ago?

They're still going strong & they're still looking good. No broken keels, no worn off paint, no broken off bills, no dented in bodies, etc. And my decoys live a decoys life... they're not abused, just well used. They go hunting just about every time I do so they make anywhere form 30-50+ hunts in a season. And they do get thrown out, picked up, knocked around in the boat some, ride in the back of my truck, in & out of a bag, etc. There maybe a beauty mark here & there, just like in the Max Stalling line... "Life is mostly scars & souveniers", but there's nothing universally abnormal about any of that, especially if you're on the "A Team" with a KILLIN' GREEN obcessed mofo.

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