Sinkbox

A sinkbox is a specialized hunting blind used by waterfowl hunters and consisting of a weighted, partially submerged enclosure large enough to hold one or more hunters and suspended from a floating platform. It is placed into calm water in locations where the chosen game bird is likely to appear, and the hunter waits, with the waterline at approximately shoulder height, until the birds are close to the sinkbox.

Sinkboxes were typically used by market (rather than sport) hunters for duck or other waterfowl in both the United States and Canada until 1918, when the practice was banned in the United States with the passage of the Migratory Bird Act of 1918. Cast-iron sinkbox decoys — often painted — were used as ballast, to disguise the sinkbox, and to attract game close to the hunters. Sinkbox hunting, though still practiced in Canada, is largely a relic of the past, and the cast-iron decoys are popular among antique collectors.