History

In Memory of Gary D. Winsett

Central Texas Natives

My brother Gary and I began hunting at an early age. Our father was strictly an archery hunter with the traditional long bow and cedar shafted arrows. It was one summer; dad began making our arrows, so we became efficient archers around the age of eight. My brother, being four years older than I am, always seemed to be a step ahead. However, he kept me motivated and challenged to be as good as he was at many outdoor sports. As my brother and I grew into our teenager years, we worked paper routes to buy our own shotguns and rifles. Dad told us that if we wanted to hunt with firearms we had to buy them ourselves. Over time, we finally had our weapons of choice, thus began a long life of hunting every species we were allowed within the hunting regulations.

Being passionate about goose hunting, my brother and I built several goose pits from Tennessee to Missouri during the 1990s. As building contractors with vast experience, we worked together constructing pits out of concrete blocks, creating durable and quality hunting blinds.

After leasing property in southeast Missouri, we hunted in flooded rice fields, which evolved into a ten-year run at duck hunting along the Mississippi flyway. Over time, my brother and I noticed the development of many waterfowl motion systems and tested several of them. We would sit in the blind and discuss how we might be able to move many decoys at a time, different from the usual design of most waterfowl systems. We would study several species of waterfowl and took notice of the wake they produced. We also noticed the incoming fowl pattern and reaction to the water wake, as they felt safe to land. Thus, we began to embark on our own invention, until my brother Gary passed away in 2010, losing his life to cancer. I felt Gary expected me to continue with our plans for a new decoy system, and I created the first proto-type, now known as the Decoy Commander Tug, a multi-flow motion system.

I was excited about my first design and tested it where it really counted, on the water. After maneuvering the master decoy into position on the lake with the trailing decoys, I was able to create a wake for incoming ducks to see. Overhead, ducks began to dive bomb the hole I created for a perfect landing. SUCCESS! I knew, with my brother's help, I had all but mastered the perfect motion waterfowl system for the avid duck hunter. The Decoy Commander Tug system has proven to work like a dream, our dream. There will always be people who are skeptical, but I wouldn't have put the time or the cost into this system if it wasn't a superior product.

I dedicated the Decoy Commander Tug to my brother, Gary. He was my partner whom discussed this invention with me many days on end. He always said, "Take command of your decoys brother".

I owe Gary a lot! "This is for your G-Man! I'll never forget our hunts and our talks", your brother James.