Abstract:
There is disclosed an animal decoy ( 10 ) including a hollow base ( 11 ) and a cover ( 12 ) removably coupled to the base. The base has a lower portion or shell ( 14 ) releasably coupled together through latches ( 28 ) to define a storage space within the decoy. The cover is made of a flexible material which includes an iridescent cloth material portion. The base shells may be nestable to minimize storage space necessary for the decoys. The lower shell may also be replaced by another lower shell ( 60 ) of a different stance or configuration.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0001]    This invention relates generally to a animal decoys, and more specifically to animal decoys having a removable cover and advantageous storage characteristics. 
       BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
       [0002]    Animal decoys have been used by people for thousands of years. These decoys may be utilized to attract game as well as repel game from a select area. One of the most popular types of animal decoys is the water fowl decoy, which may be in the form of different varieties of ducks or geese. 
         [0003]    Water fowl decoys have typically been made of solid wood which is shaped in the form of the fowl and painted to resemble the fowl&#39;s markings. More recently water fowl decoys have been made of a hollow unitary plastic form which is colored or painted to resemble the fowl&#39;s markings. 
         [0004]    One problem with today&#39;s decoys is that they are colored or painted to resemble one species or gender of duck or goose. As such, a hunter must purchase and store a variety of decoys to attract different species. Additionally, the paint or coloring may fade over time, requiring them to be repainted or discarded. 
         [0005]    Another problem is that the decoys are typically designed to be either a water deployed decoy for use on the water or a land deployed decoy for use on land. Again, this limitation requires that the hunter have a variety of decoys for use in both types of environments. An additional problem with water deployed decoys is that they must be tethered to an anchor to prevent them from drifting. The tether must be manually gathered and stored when not in use, a task which is time consuming, tedious and painful in cold conditions. 
         [0006]    Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a decoy that may be easily changed in appearance, that may be used in both water and land environments, and which may be easily tethered. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In a preferred form of the invention an animal decoy comprises a base having a first shell portion and a second shell portion releasably coupled to the first shell portion. The first shell portion and the second shell portion defining a storage area within the base. The animal decoy also having a latch for releasably coupling the first shell portion to the second shell portion. 
         [0008]    In another preferred form of the invention comprises a base, and a cover configured to overlay the base. The cover has at least a portion made of an iridescent cloth material. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a decoy embodying principles of the invention in a preferred form. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional side view of the decoy of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the decoy of  FIG. 1 , shown with an additional lower portion. 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional side view of the decoy of  FIG. 1  shown in a stowed configuration. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    With reference next to the drawings, there is shown an animal decoy  10  in a preferred form of the present invention. The animal decoy  10  is shown in the form of a duck, however, it should be understood that any animal may be replicated or depicted. 
         [0014]    The decoy  10  includes a base  11  and a cover  12  removably coupled to the base  11 . The base  11  is made of a plastic material or the like and is of a hollow construction with a lower portion or shell  14  releasably coupled to an upper portion or shell  15 . A resilient sealing gasket  17 , made of rubber or the like, is positioned between the lower shell  14  and upper shell  15  to prevent the intrusion of water therebetween. The base  11  includes a body  19  and a head  20  extending from the body  19 , however, preferably the base does not include details associated with any particular species or gender of the animal, such as tail feathering appearance, head shape, wing shape, etc. 
         [0015]    The lower shell  14  includes a weight or ballast  21  along the bottom side  22  which maintains the decoy in a generally upright orientation. The lower shell  14  also include a weight line tube  24  which extends from a bottom opening  25  in the bottom of the decoy to a top opening  26  which is well above the waterline of the decoy when it is deployed in water. The lower shell  14  also includes two spring biased pushbutton type latches  28  positioned along the top of the lower portion which include an outwardly extending pushbutton  29 . It should be understood that other types of latches may also be utilized to releasably couple the shells together. 
         [0016]    The upper portion  15  includes an anchor line reel  30  removably coupled to the interior top surface  32  through a bracket  33 . The reel  30  may be a spring assisted reel which automatically winds or retracts an anchor line  31 , much in the manner of a conventional tape measure, or a manually driven reel. In the event that the reel  30  is of the manually driven type, the reel  30  includes a drive socket  35  extending through the upper shell  15  into which a handle  36  or motorized device such as a drill may be inserted to rotate the reel and thereby retract the anchor line. A drive hole  38  in the upper shell  15  is aligned with the drive socket  35  to allow access thereto without separating the shells  14  and  15 . An anchor or weight  39  is coupled to the anchor line  31  opposite the reel  30 . The upper shell  15  includes two oppositely disposed latch holes or openings  41  which are alignable with the pushbuttons  29  of latches  28  to maintain the upper shell  15  coupled to the lower shell  14  in a releasable fashion. A pliable or flexible cup-shaped seal  42  may be mounted to the upper shell so that the pushbutton resides within the cup-shaped seal to prevent water from entering the latch holes  41 . 
         [0017]    The cover  12  is made of a flexible material such as a fabric or cloth. The cover has an exterior surface  43  and an interior surface  44 . The exterior surface  43  has a pattern thereon that is indicative of a select species and gender of the animal portrayed. Preferably, the cover may include select portions that are made of an iridescent cloth material such as velvet or velveteen, which may be made of a silk, wool, cotton or blend of such materials. In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , the decoy cover is intended to replicate the colorings or markings of a male mallard duck. As such, the covering portion representing the head  46  is made of a dark green iridescent cloth material. The iridescent cloth material best simulates the color and appearance associated with certain feathering patterns associated with such water fowl. The iridescent cloth material may be utilized on other portions of the cover  12 , such as areas associated with the wing, the tail feathers, or neck area. 
         [0018]    The cover  12  is generally in the same form or shape as the base  11 . The cover  12  includes a bottom opening  47  which has a drawstring or elastic member  48  to gather the bottom opening  47  once it is placed over the base. The cover  12  may include a handle opening  49  which is generally aligned with the drive hole  38  of the upper shell  15  so that the drive socket  35  is accessible without having to remove the cover  12  from the base  11 . 
         [0019]    The base  11  being constructed of two separable shells enables the decoys to be stored in less space, as the lower shell may be inverted and nested within the upper shell so that a majority of the lower shell resides within the confines of the upper shell. Also, the shells may be separated and the interior space of the base used as storage area  50  for the cover  12 , tethers, anchors, removable reel  30 , or other materials associated with the hunt or in such event that the reel  30  shown in the preferred embodiment is not incorporated. Again, the storage capacity aids in minimizing storage space associated with a hunt. 
         [0020]    With reference to  FIG. 3 , there is shown an additional or optional lower shell  60  which may be utilized when hunting on land. Here, the lower shell  60  has legs  61  the lower portion  62  of which includes a pointed spike which may be driven into the ground to maintain the position of the decoy. As such, the single decoy  10  may include one lower shell  14  for use on water and a second lower shell  60  for use on land. Thus, the anatomical stance configuration or action configuration of the lower shell  14  of  FIG. 1  is that of a floating duck while the anatomical stance configuration or action configuration of the lower shell  60  shown in the lower portion of  FIG. 3  is that of a standing duck. This optional lower shell makes the decoy convertible between water and land use, which again saves the hunter storage space by eliminating the need for storing two different types of decoys. The replacement may also be conducted on the upper shell wherein the first action configuration may be that of a duck at rest while the second action configuration may be that of a duck landing or drying its feathers with its wing&#39;s wholly or partially extended. 
         [0021]    With reference next to  FIG. 4 , the lower shell  14  and upper shell  5  may be configured so that the lower shell may be inverted and nested within the interior space of the upper shell, or visa-versa. Here, the ballast  21  may be made to be removable so that it may be positioned within the interior of the lower shell to further compact the entire disassembled structure of the decoy for storage purposes. Additionally, the latch holes  41  and latches  28  may be configured so that the pushbutton  29  resides within the latch hole  41  in the stowed configuration nested within the upper shell, which would prevent the unwanted separation of the two shells during storage and/or transportation. 
         [0022]    It should be understood that the decoy  10  may also include removable wing attachments to simulate a bird in flight. 
         [0023]    It should be understood that the base  11  is preferably made in the most simple form of the represented animal. In this manner, the cover  12  may include structural elements to refine the shape of the animal to the species. For example, should the decoy be in the form of a duck, the cover may include internal structures to refine the exact shape of the head and tail feathers, as the head and tail feathers of a mallard duck are different from the head and tail feathers of a pintail or wood duck. 
         [0024]    It thus is seen that a decoy is now provided which overcomes problems associated with the prior art. While this invention has been described in detail with particular references to the preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood that many modifications, additions and deletions, in addition to those expressly recited, may be made thereto without departure from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.