Decoy Raft Boat Deployment from Southern Flyway on Vimeo.
Quickest, most effective way to deploy and retrieve decoys
What’s the quickest method to deploy a dozen decoys? It’s the same method to deploy four dozen, a hundred, or even more. It’s called the Decoy Raft, and it’s the product of a handful of friends from North Carolina who are passionate about waterfowl hunting.
The Decoy Raft by Southern Flyway Outfitters saves hunters the trouble of tossing out decoys one at a time, then pulling them in the same way, which for many hunters, makes up a bigger chunk of their hunting day than anything else.
So what is the Decoy Raft? It’s a large sheet of fine mesh material similar to what is often used as shade at outdoor restaurants or home patios. With webbing and bungee cord materials spread throughout the raft, it allows hunters to clip on decoys at proper intervals from each other. Stainless steel clips are included, so hunters only need to supply the dekes.
Instead of spending the early part of the hunt on tossing out decoys, hunters simply drop the raft in the water, put their boat in reverse, and let the raft unfold, displaying a perfect set of decoys ready to fool even the wariest of birds.
But what self-respecting duck or goose is going to fall for a bunch of decoys sitting atop a raft? Even coots have enough sense to high-tail it out of town if they see a raft getting tossed about in the current with a group of fakes riding high.
Not to worry.
The raft material sinks and disappears in the water, leaving nothing but the decoys floating and visible. Multiple rafts can be linked together, giving hunters the ability to put out an unlimited number of decoys far more quickly than waterfowlers ever hoped for just a few years ago.
“It is an absolutely revolutionary piece of hunting equipment that you look at and just say to yourself ‘Why has nobody done this before?’” said Catawba’s Kennedy Bradshaw while watching a demonstration at the Palmetto Sportsmen’s Classic in Columbia, South Carolina this past spring.
Watch the video below to see how the Decoy Raft works, and click here for more information on Southern Flyway Outfitters and the Decoy Raft.
