Crappy Robos

[Guest]

I just got the Sky Scraper from Flambeau this year and I am not happy to say the least. I have always had a lot of respect for the company and have given them all my business for dekes, I feel they are the best. But the Sky Scraper on the other hand is a peice o' dump on a pole! They spin for about 5 minutes then start to make a terrible racket then the wings fly off!! I took it back and I said that I just want to exchange it and get the same one (thinking it was just defected) and the guy at Gander Mountain said "you may not want to get another one, this has happened a lot, if I were you I would take your money and get a different one."
Has this happened to anybody else here??
I think I am going to get the Mojo Mallard, has anybody used one or have one here??? Any information is much appreciated.
Thanks a lot

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If I'm not in the duck blind or the ice house I'm thinking about it!!

[GullGuide]

Before everyone rips me a new one...let me first explain
At the beginning of the year I swore I would never buy or use a robo. Well....
I was looking at them in Fleet Farm and noticed that there was a do-it-yourself kit for under $45. Well, just for experimentation sake, I bought one. I put it on a field deke, but you could take an old floater, cut the bottom out and use that. It is very easy to assemble and it looks and runs great. It uses a 6 volt rechargeable sealed cell batt and I have used it for 2 days straight for a total of about 20 hours without a recharge.
I am still in favor of having them banned and I hope Minnesota takes Washington's (the state) lead on doing so.
I have not noticed any help or hindrance as far as using one is concerned. Since everyone on the lake I hunt now has one, the field has been equaled. It is still a matter of who has the best spot, the best spread and the best call. Which is how it should be in the first place.
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[Guest]

I have a Robo Duck (not a knock off) and an Exterminator which has the same body as the Robo but a better internal system with direct drive wings. My buddy brought one of those cheapies out here and it sucked. The key to motorized ducks is the wingbeats per second. I don't know what number you need but you can smell a bad one a mile off. You need to get the right flash. Size of the wings are important too. I hunt about 30 days a year and a lot of those days I just use the Robo or Exterminator in field shooting situations. I will set-up my floaters around the Robo if I drive into the field. I usually than set-up a dozen honkers too. Honkers can be Robo weary so get a remote. Oh yeah, keep em charged so they can keep a strong beat. I learned the hard way.

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Kevin Neve's Devils Lake Guide Service
fishingminnesota.com/kevin-neve-guiding/
e-mail: [email protected]
Phone: 701-473-5411 or 701-351-4989
Minnewaukan ND

[GullGuide]

I forgot to add that the kit does have a direct drive motor. I have noticed that the wings on my model do flap faster than others I have seen, but at a distance, it looks more natural than those that beat slowly.
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[Sartell Angler]

I would also like to see them banned from Minnesota, along with all the other battery-operated decoys. However, I don't believe Minnesota should ban them until there is a federal ban on them: otherwise, hunters in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and other states will continue to use them and have an even better chance than they already have now.

[Ybone]

I also bought a Sky Scraper this year and the 1st time I used it the mounting pole fell apart and it became a diving robo duck. I made my own mounting pole out of copper pipe the next day and was back in business. After about a week of use the mounting peg on the decoy came loose and wouldn't tighten plus one of the wings fell off. I retrieved the wing and stuck it back on and used J.B. Weld to fasten the mounting peg solid to the decoy. Hopefully the thing will hold together. As far as effectiveness, I found it to be very effective, especially on mallards, they seemed to lose their normal cautiousness. Kevin, you mentioned using remote controls which are probably legal in North Dakota but I'm pretty sure they're illegal in Minnesota.

[Guest]

Yes they are illegal in Minnesota, the law states "nobody may take game using artifical light" They Sky Scraper wasn't exactly a "cheapie" it was just a severe design flaw with them. I know a guy that sells exterminators and I am thinking of buying one or a couple. I picked the Scraper over the Exterminator because it was full body. Its now between the Mojo Mallard or an Exterminator. I love to use Robo's, I have noticed a very large decline of lost birds/cripples with the Robo, but a definate increase in bag limits. I am going to use a Robo until Minnesota outlaws em' or the birds become a little smarter to them. But I think they will be outlawed in a few years. We will see.
Everybody have a good Thanksgiving!! And if you hunt this last week, "may your duck straps be full, your dog wet, and the experience be unforgetable!!!"
It's almost over boys, go get em before the Southern Boys slaughter em.

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If I'm not in the duck blind or the ice house I'm thinking about it!!

[Guest]

BemidgiDUX, by flash I mean alternating patterns of dark wing surface to light wing surface. The faster the better.

I totally agree with your comments on crippled birds and the southern boys. We have a tendency to get screwed with early snow fall up here. A 12 incher pushed the birds out a month ago. Those lucky boys 100 miles south had a bonanza.

Remote controls turn the unit on/off. They can be helpful when weary geese come in, under windy conditions to save the battery or to give a different look to approaching flocks.

EDITORIAL PAGE
As far as banning anything we use to hunt or fish, I am extremely leery of any talk. Remember the movements to ban depth finders, lead jigs, two stroke engines. How about the drive to ban backtrolling? Fly fisherman think us guys in motor boats should be banned. We all have opinions. Robo-ducks maybe a fad and will be weeded out for what they are. They have a place as do acrylic calls, plastic decoys and boats, gore-tex, 3 1/2" semi-automatics, spring hunting snow geese with recorded calls....

As a FORMER Minnesotan who should be banned from having an opinion and now living in a state that embraces the sportsman, we still firmly believe we have the right to shoot deer out of the pick-up. (Joke)