More Than Just Hunting Decoys

We’ve had a long history of supporting conservation efforts and organizations. Hunting, in many cases, is conservation and helps prevent population crashes that can occur when a population is growing too quickly. For example, Snow Goose populations that used to feed on the very tips of forbes and grasses, allowing these plants to regrow each season, got to a point of eating the entire plant, roots and all. This change was driven by the population reaching unsustainable levels. Add in a super effective snow goose decoy and more liberal seasons, and hunters are preventing a potential disaster.

Besides hunting and doing volunteer work when we can, we have also made decoys used in conservation efforts. Examples include Double-Crested Cormorant and Caspian Tern decoys used to lure colonies of these sea birds to nest on islands further away from the main outward migration corridors of wild steelhead and salmon smolts. Recolonizing these birds has shifted their diets to more sustainable populations of herring and sardines and less of the precious few wild steelhead and salmon smolts.

DSD Greater Crested Terns and Chinese Crested Terns have been used to bolster the population of Chinese Crested Terns. This species was estimated to be down to 19 total individuals world-wide when we made the first decoy. Our decoys were used along with audio recordings to attract Greater Crested Terns to an island that was far more suitable and had little to no predators. The Chinese Crested Terns followed the Greaters, as predicted, but faster than biologists ever thought. The population started to quickly rebound.

None of these efforts have been without some difficulties. Cormorants on the Lower Columbia River have since tried to colonize on the Astoria bridge that connects Oregon to Washington. An invasion of predators; King Rat Snakes, wreaked havoc on the nests of Chinese Crested and Greater Crested Terns on their new island colony. But determined biologists and volunteers are persevering and doing great work. Things are headed in the right direction and DSD is proud to be a small part of this.

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Auction House of Oddities

In partnership with MeatEater we’re excited to join this years Auction House of Oddities in an effort to raise funs for conservation and land access. 100% of the funds from these auction items go towards this effort. We are offering an original tern decoy from these projects to the cause. To learn more about this, click the link below.