Turkey fan plaque turns feathers into patented decoy

Darrell Bartel’s first turkey hunt didn’t go as planned, but it had an outcome he could never have foreseen. The Waupaca Foundry Inc. supervisor hunted with a co-worker who tried for three days to coax a gobbler to box and slate calls. Finally a tom turkey came in, hiding behind a tree as his caller whispered: “Shoot.” “I was shaking bad,” Bartel recalled as he dropped the bird with his shotgun. That 2001 turkey wasn’t especially huge or impressive, but Bartel decided to mount the tail feathers as many hunters do for a rustic memento of a successful hunt. He went to a local sporting goods store and bought a standard mounting plaque made of wood. Bartel was not impressed. “It didn’t fit together right or look good,” he said. Like so many thousands of inventors before him, it took a sub-par product to get those creative fluids flowing, and the seed was planted for a better tail-mounting creation. His first design featured a wooden plaque with holes on the bottom to add turkey feet (to display the spurs), a beard and even the shotgun shells used to bag the bird. His small workshop at his rural Waupaca home shows several of his old plaques as well as his new designs. In 2002, he added a piece of pipe between two round, wooden pieces for his plaque so a steel stake could be added, turning a tail fan into an effective field decoy. The feathers drew a turkey’s attention, but the heavy wood still didn’t spin in the breeze. Three years later, he bought his first high-density polyethylene (HDPE) plastic and cut it into two 8-inch diameter pieces a half-inch thick (essentially the same design he uses today). “I routed out the void to accommodate the cured fantail, drilled out a center hole to place a T-nut and philips head bolt to hold the two halves together, securing the fantail and also drilling a hole in the base to place the holder onto a steel stake,” he said. “This allows the fantail to turn spontaneously in the slightest breeze.” Thus, Jake’s Tail Holder (named for his youngest son Jacob) was born. After many successful hunts with his combo trophy mount and decoy, he applied for a U.S. patent in 2015 and received a patent pending award a few months later. His hard work and creativity paid off when he received his first patent in 2018. Never content with the status quo, he added a variety of state shapes to the front panel the next year. In 2019, he also added a classic life-sized hen turkey shape called Jen the Hen, made more realistic with a photographic image applied to a hydrographic water-dipping process that is similar to that used to apply camo or other finishes to gun barrels and vehicle bumpers. This weather-resistant image is perfect for hunters when they are chasing turkeys in rain, snow and sleet. He points to several Canada goose decoys he’s made with the same process that have perched in his back yard bordering the Waupaca River for six years. They still look new. He’s also made a few owl and crow decoys. He has a patent pending on the decoy design, which also turns in the slightest breeze like the tail fan holder. He added a jake decoy to create a “Jake Meets Jenny” combo. The Marine Corps veteran with Middle East tours of duty in 1976-80 taught himself to use a CNC machine to cut out and engrave his plaques. He even offers first-time hunters and youths free engraving on their plaques. Now retired, the 66-year-old inventor also completed a Fox Valley Technical College course to help him with marketing and other entrepreneurship skills. His trademarked FlatlineYourBird slogan refers not only to the advantages of a flat silhouette decoy (easy to carry, store and use) but also when the successful hunter uses them to bag a gobbler and thus “flatlines” the turkey. He uses a mock electrocardiogram in his advertising to emphasize the name. Bartel’s products are 100% American made, and he’s sourced every portion of the construction process close to home. He just received corporate approval from Scheels to sell some of his tail fan plaques at the store in Appleton, and he hopes other stores will follow. You can find all his products and order through his website at www.flatlineyourbird.net. Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.