I gotta say, I am a die-hard fan of wind-whackers. Here in Oregon, we are only allowed to use wind-activated motion decoys -- so motor-driven ones are illegal. That said, out of ALLLL the wind-activated decoys I have tried, wind-whackers are definitely the most effective, and this because of one primary reason: they actually turn, even in low-wind situations. Other wind-activated decoys (I won't mention brand names) might look more like birds than a wind-whacker looks, but if their wings do not rotate, they might as well be an old army boot on a pole for all the ducks care. And I swear, it would take a GALE FORCE WIND to turn the wings on some of those cheap plastic boogers, especially once they've been dragged into the field a while.
This is not the case with wind-whackers. Yes, they still need a marginal wind to turn, but if the wind is above 3 mph, it should do it. They don't have to rotate like a wind turbine in order to draw the birds -- even a slow rotation seems to make them curious. Plus they are exceptionally light and easy to carry with the rest of your decoys (yes, you still need some kind of spread), but the conduit pole makes an EXCELLENT walking stick in the swamp mud, and the rest of the gear is feather light -- compared to the competitor's plastic junk that will seriously bog you down, particularly if you are on foot.
So there it is. I highly recommend this product, particularly if you do a lot of refuge hunting with wary birds. In the right conditions -- light to heavy wind, gun shy birds -- the wind-whacker is an incredibly effective tool. And they are durable, too. I've had the same pair for almost a decade and they are nowhere near retiring soon.
