Hunters were upset about the live decoys being taken away but without the live decoys they were happy they could use dogs to retrieve the ducks. These new game laws spelled the end of a wildfowling era when they banned the use of live decoys and baiting; a necessary end, but hunters): would miss their live decoys. Hunters of the day felt using live decoys was a kin to today's waterfowling using a dog to retrieve his birds.Doctor John C. Phillips describes a method of live decoys used by the famous decoy carver Elmer Crowell in his "Wenham Camp Score Book" (Beverly, Massachusetts c.1900). American duck hunters in the early 1900s were getting bombarded by new hunting restrictions, one of them being the banned live decoys. Hunters missed the good old days of using live bait but it was necessary to put an end to live decoys. This action forced people like Elmer Crowell to become successful decoy carvers and spark a revolution in the decoy industry. Most hunters were upset about the end of live decoys so they were not happy about the advancement in decoys, yet they could now use dogs to revive down birds which was not possible before because of the live decoys.
Manufactures promoted decoys as a valuable piece of information, and as being super realistic. ”They ride the water exactly like the living bird” (Abercrombie & Fitch). The manufacturer, Abercrombie & Fitch marketed their duck, crow, and snipe decoys as highly realistic in their 1916 Catalog. They also marketed them as looking like a real bird. The catalog also said that their decoys were the best ever put on the market, while talking about their portability.