I've hunted over a few reconditioned wood decoys, but never have had a full rig of them. One sunk.
Taking valuable antique duck decoys hunting is about like using a Cadillac Escalade for a woods truck. Too much depreciation...Geo
I use a pigeon grade model 42 as my first choice for dove and most sporting clay shooting. It is still high condition but not mint. So I understand about depreciation by using it. Not as extravagant as your example but close to many. But I dont abuse it and bought it to shout. Not sit in some safe as a safe queen. This one is real but I know that there are many that are nit. There are a large number of upgraded 42s that are all now mint condition pigeon grade guns. So the end is not net for them.
Ky.Jon, I shoot my finest guns too. Just like I wouldn't have a Cadillac and not drive it. But, just as I wouldn't use an Escalade for a woods truck, I don't drag my best guns through a swamp to get to a beaver dam where the woodies are ganged up either. I don't have any valuable decoys so it doesn't matter to me if I want to use mine to hunt over. If I owned a collection of Wards or Crowells the answer would be different...Geo
