Decoys

[rt2bowhunter]

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I'm sure this has been touched on, probably many times but if you don't mind .

I have a DSD Jake and Breeding Hen along with 2 Avian X Hens. Along with several retired cheaper decoys. It seems to me i have 2 responses to decoys. One the gobbler comes running in fights the jake or dances with a hen. And i think a man would be a fool to not use decoys. Then i feel like they scared every gobbler in the country to death. I have had gobblers coming and watched them turn and leave when they see the decoys.  This response lead me to buy better looking decoys.

 I have run just the jake and breeding hen, just hens and just a single hen. I have tied fishing line to the decoys to give them movement. I use a blind so there not seeing me.

 It just seems like i just as well flip a coin as to how they will react. Any tips maybe i'm missing something.

[MK M GOBL]

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I have hunted with decoys over the last 30 years, and a lot goes in to hunting decoys "right". They are just tools in the shed and not for every hunt and not for everybody.

Knowing the time and placement for the part of the breeding cycle you are in, what birds you are dealing with in the flock, Alpha/Beta/Omega and understanding those social ques in the dominance game are a big part of this.

Each year I will learn 20 - 25 gobblers in the various farms I hunt, how many hens they have, roosting and field entrance and exit points, a lot of time boots on the ground scouting. These are the birds I know, there are also times I am going in blind to a new piece of ground, helping someone else to get a bird, sometimes newbies and some "experienced" turkey hunters and it gets me when I start asking them all the things I go through on a place I hunt and they don't have those answers or have never looked at it that way.

I guess I have a set of "rules" I follow for when I am using decoys and look for the same type sets to make, what has been effective for me and go from there.

As far as decoys go I use DSD's, that's me. I can give you reasons why but to each their own.

Here's what's in that shed.

White Headed Strutter
3/4 Strut Jake
Upright Hen
Feeding Hen
Leading Hen
Submissive Hen

There are times only one is out and times for all of them to be set. Watch what your flock is doing and mimic that in your sets.
So many variations to how I set dependent of where I am hunting, would be hard to say "what works" without knowing your hunt area.


MK M GOBL

[Meleagris gallopavo]

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I only use decoys when I hunt fields, which is most of the time.  I have Avian X LCR decoys.  Early to mid-season I use a jake decoy, a breeder hen and a feeder hen.  About mid-season I go to a single jake and a single hen, or just a jake.  Near the end of the season I may just use a hen or two.

My reasoning is that early in the season the pecking order is less established than later.  The birds come in more aggressively to decoys with more reckless abandon.  The jakes and toms pay little attention to the hens, it's more about getting rid of the competition.  I have seen an old tom shy from jake decoys with hens because the jakes sometimes gang up on a mature toms and beat them down to the point the old tom is just hanging around for a stray hen or two.  Doesn't happen often.

A lone jake or a jake and a hen mid-season looks more like a subordinate jake that may be alone or one that has picked up a stray or young hen.  I don't want to give any turkey the idea that the jake is dominate in any way.

Later in the season it gets tougher.  If I use decoys then I want everything to look passive, like 2 hens out for a feeding stroll.  If you can employ motion, in my opinion, late season is the time to use it.

Time of day dictates decoy success as well I think, but I'm still working that out.

I'm not 100% sure if realism of the decoys plays a major role.  I just think decoys that look more real "should" work better.  Early in the season I don't think it matters as much.  They'll rush in to fight as long as there's a red head and it looks somewhat like a turkey.  A tom that's been beaten down by jakes will be scared off regardless of what the decoy looks like.

These are just my observations and I may be totally wrong...

[Dtrkyman]

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Before DSD I used stuffer decoys a Taxidermist friend made me, the difference was ridiculous, still have a hen I use occasionally, the hens really hate her and she takes a beating, no idea how she has survived so long?

Then switched to DSD for convenience, most times I use the jake solo, I do not have a breeding hen deke but have borrowed one.

Guiding guys they make a major difference, particularly once the birds commit guys are not getting busted.

I can count on one hand the times I think the decoy hindered me and birds skirt it, and I could not even guess how many birds were shot right off that Jakes back!

[AndyN]

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Depends on the birds. Most of the time I run one jake and 1-2 hens. Last year we had a bunch of jakes around and they wouldn't come near a jake decoy. Ended up shooting both of my KS birds over a single hen. Only time the strutter comes out is early on big winter flocks or if I'm in some taller stubble and need the added visibility.

[Marc]

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The use and success of decoys will vary tremendously depending on the situation...

The time of year, the amount of hunting pressure, bird populations, etc. can all play into the the amount of success (or lack thereof) of the use of decoys.

Talking to someone who uses the "Funky Chicken" decoy on both private and public has told me that on private land, no other decoy works as well, whereas on public ground, birds run from it instead of towards it.

Dominant bird might attack that stutter...  Old tom being harrassed by jakes, might run from a jake decoy.  Horney bird mid-season might run towards that hen decoy, while a more pressured bird might stand 80 yards away strutting and gobbling expecting that hen to make the next few steps towards him.

Hunting open areas, I tend to prefer the use of decoys...  Especially if it is an area birds are likely to approach seeing a decoy (or decoy setup).  Hunting thicker woods, I am more apt to let the bird wander through looking for that hen he heard. 

Sometimes that tom in those thick woods come in those last few yards "painfully" slow.  But even if he does not see that hen, he will often keep coming.  Those are the birds you hit with a soft cluck or pur when they get behind and obstruction...  Maybe tentatively scratch a few leaves.  Couple seasons ago, I had a bird at about 60 yards in clear view, and it took well over an hour for him to get inside of 20 yards...   He was in the open the whole time, and I never moved or made a sound...  He would casually feed, then go into strut for a moment or two, and continue feeding towards me, at an absurdly slow pace;  I let him keep coming, until he was at 20 yards, and periscoped his head (in what appeared to me to be a mild state of alarm).  That is when I gave him reason for his alarm.

[Pope n Young]

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I stole this from another guy.  Interesting idea...

Here's one of mine....Before you laugh and discredit it, just think about it a little....

There used to be an old black man that lived out here in our community. He worked for an old lady, taking care of her small cattle operation. He fed the cows, fixed fences, baled hay, all that kind of stuff....The old lady owned a few hundred acres of land, and this old guy was in the woods all the time, keeping up with the fences, so he was always running into turkeys.

Anyway, I noticed him cleaning turkeys several times each spring when I'd come out of the woods (my property butts up to the old lady's place on 2 sides). Finally one morning when I saw him out there I wheeled up in there to talk turkey with this old gentleman.

We chatted a while, and he informed me he used no calls, decoys, or anything of that nature....I figured he was crawling and bushwacking them, or roost shooting, but this guy was in his 70's, so I felt it wasn't my place to discuss ethics with him. Just before I left, he invited me to go with him the next morning, and he'd show me his little secret....It was an offer I couldn't refuse. The next morning I was there bright and early....We struck out, him in the lead, me following. We got to the top of a big hardwood ridge with an old logging road on top of it, and the road ran out into a small pasture, probably about an acre or so in size. We took a seat right at the pasture edge where the old road came into the field, and waited on daylight....As dawn began to break, sure enough, a gobbler fired off at the other end of the little pasture. I felt certain he would pitch down in the pasture, and meander right up the road towards us. But I didn't plan to do any calling....I wanted to see what the old man had up his sleeve. This bird was really tearing it up, gobbling his head off. Then they started pitching down, and it wasn't one bird, it was three longbeards....Soon as they hit the ground, the old man reached back in his game vest, and pulled out a little "Tony the Tiger" looking stuffed animal. I mean it was glowing orange in color. I was about to die, trying to figure out what in the world he was doing, and then he tossed it out into the edge of the field. It stood out like a turd in a punchbowl....Then he raised his gun up and got ready. Sure enough, a few minutes later, here came the longbeards, headed right to us....All of a sudden, they spied that stuffed animal laying there, and they froze. You could have knocked them over with a feather....They stood there and eyeballed it for about 10 minutes or so, then all of a sudden broke out into a trot, and ran right up on top of the dang thing. They had no idea we were even on the planet with them, they were so engrossed with this orange intruder.....With no fanfare at all, the old man dropped a bomb on one of them. The other two flew out....I was shocked at what I had just witnessed. The old man looked back at me, and said "It works every time, son.".....

Anyway, we hit the road to go clean his bird....He asked me if I'd ever noticed how nosy and curious a turkey is. I admitted I had....He said he'd pulled the same trick over the years, with all variety of objects a turkey had never seen. And it worked with all of them. He said he finally decided to use Tony the Tiger exclusively, because he was small, light weight, easy to tote around, and brightly colored....The old man was always out in those woods, and knew where the birds liked to hang out, so he knew where to sit, and then he'd just toss "Ol' Tony" out where the birds could see it. After they put their eyes on it, it was just a matter of time until they'd come to investigate....I'm here to tell you- It worked.

That old man died several years ago. I've never shared his secret with anybody....I wouldn't say it's the most ethical way to fool a turkey, but it dang sure gets the job done. I tried it myself one afternoon on a bird that had been giving me fits for weeks. Except I used a big neon green stuffed animal (a frog)....Tossed it out in the field, made a few calls to get the birds attention, as he was a couple of hundred yards away. As soon as he caught sight of it, he locked on to it, and 20 minutes later I shot him at 15 yards.

Turkeys are naturally curious animals....If you get in a bind with an old warhorse, give this technique a try. You might be shocked at what develops.

[guesswho]

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I’d venture a guess that wasn’t in Barbour county Alabama.

[High plains drifter]

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That's awesome. I'm going to try that. My son has lots of stuffed animals.

[GobbleNut]

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I stole this from another guy.  Interesting idea...

Here's one of mine....Before you laugh and discredit it, just think about it a little....

There used to be an old black man that lived out here in our community. He worked for an old lady, taking care of her small cattle operation. He fed the cows, fixed fences, baled hay, all that kind of stuff....The old lady owned a few hundred acres of land, and this old guy was in the woods all the time, keeping up with the fences, so he was always running into turkeys.

Anyway, I noticed him cleaning turkeys several times each spring when I'd come out of the woods (my property butts up to the old lady's place on 2 sides). Finally one morning when I saw him out there I wheeled up in there to talk turkey with this old gentleman.

We chatted a while, and he informed me he used no calls, decoys, or anything of that nature....I figured he was crawling and bushwacking them, or roost shooting, but this guy was in his 70's, so I felt it wasn't my place to discuss ethics with him. Just before I left, he invited me to go with him the next morning, and he'd show me his little secret....It was an offer I couldn't refuse. The next morning I was there bright and early....We struck out, him in the lead, me following. We got to the top of a big hardwood ridge with an old logging road on top of it, and the road ran out into a small pasture, probably about an acre or so in size. We took a seat right at the pasture edge where the old road came into the field, and waited on daylight....As dawn began to break, sure enough, a gobbler fired off at the other end of the little pasture. I felt certain he would pitch down in the pasture, and meander right up the road towards us. But I didn't plan to do any calling....I wanted to see what the old man had up his sleeve. This bird was really tearing it up, gobbling his head off. Then they started pitching down, and it wasn't one bird, it was three longbeards....Soon as they hit the ground, the old man reached back in his game vest, and pulled out a little "Tony the Tiger" looking stuffed animal. I mean it was glowing orange in color. I was about to die, trying to figure out what in the world he was doing, and then he tossed it out into the edge of the field. It stood out like a turd in a punchbowl....Then he raised his gun up and got ready. Sure enough, a few minutes later, here came the longbeards, headed right to us....All of a sudden, they spied that stuffed animal laying there, and they froze. You could have knocked them over with a feather....They stood there and eyeballed it for about 10 minutes or so, then all of a sudden broke out into a trot, and ran right up on top of the dang thing. They had no idea we were even on the planet with them, they were so engrossed with this orange intruder.....With no fanfare at all, the old man dropped a bomb on one of them. The other two flew out....I was shocked at what I had just witnessed. The old man looked back at me, and said "It works every time, son.".....

Anyway, we hit the road to go clean his bird....He asked me if I'd ever noticed how nosy and curious a turkey is. I admitted I had....He said he'd pulled the same trick over the years, with all variety of objects a turkey had never seen. And it worked with all of them. He said he finally decided to use Tony the Tiger exclusively, because he was small, light weight, easy to tote around, and brightly colored....The old man was always out in those woods, and knew where the birds liked to hang out, so he knew where to sit, and then he'd just toss "Ol' Tony" out where the birds could see it. After they put their eyes on it, it was just a matter of time until they'd come to investigate....I'm here to tell you- It worked.

That old man died several years ago. I've never shared his secret with anybody....I wouldn't say it's the most ethical way to fool a turkey, but it dang sure gets the job done. I tried it myself one afternoon on a bird that had been giving me fits for weeks. Except I used a big neon green stuffed animal (a frog)....Tossed it out in the field, made a few calls to get the birds attention, as he was a couple of hundred yards away. As soon as he caught sight of it, he locked on to it, and 20 minutes later I shot him at 15 yards.

Turkeys are naturally curious animals....If you get in a bind with an old warhorse, give this technique a try. You might be shocked at what develops.

Quite the story, and I do find a certain amount of humor and entertainment in it....but when I actually think about it, all this does for me is make me ask why some people hunt turkeys?  What is the motivation for shooting a turkey by using any sort of tactic such as this?   

[Paulmyr]

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My thoughts exactly GobbleNut. There was a time when I 1st started if I heard of such a tactic it might have been considered.

My goals back then were much different than they are now. I was green and killing was a priority. Those goals quickly changed as I gained respect for the bird and the methodology behind taking a Tom.

Don't get me wrong. I still like to kill them. It just seems ,for me, it would very anti climatic to use such a tactic. My motivations in pursuing this quarry have changed dramatically since them 1st couple years. I need to play the game. I need to hear them gobble. Killing them? Not so much.

[MK M GOBL]

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Quite the story, and I do find a certain amount of humor and entertainment in it....but when I actually think about it, all this does for me is make me ask why some people hunt turkeys?  What is the motivation for shooting a turkey by using any sort of tactic such as this?   

I asked a guy this at one point, he had a spot. He never called, never scouted (found a spot on his property by accident) and this is when he started turkey "hunting". So on the back of his property there is some timber the birds are in then a big swampy piece before you would get to his ag fields, there is an old railroad bed running through this swamp and leads to the edge of the field. So he sees these turkeys (seasonally) everyday from the house, they fly down, get to picking around get together and make their way to that field using the railroad bed, same path every day... and basically same time. He kills a bird there every year just by sitting there and birds walk by... (scouting is a pretty loose term here). I asked several time to come "hunt" with me and he said he was good, get my bird every year.

I hunt with as many as I can, different farms different timber different hunts, a different game. It's in that as to why I turkey hunt.


MK M GOBL

[g8rvet]

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This story reminds me of my Great Uncle talking to my dad.  My dad was heading out to deer hunt and my uncle was scoffing at him. "I don't see why a grown man would waste time chasing deer around".  I thought it odd, because I knew for a fact he liked venison.  He proceeded, "When we wanted some venison for the freezer, I grabbed a spotlight and sat up the hayloft and waited for a nice fat doe to walk by and I would shoot her in the head with a .22.  I didn't worry about seasons, they were on my land so they were my deer, not the states."

I think that generation (he was in his 70s in the 70s!) did not see it as hunting, they saw it as  harvesting like someone walking out to the yard and picking out a chicken for the pan. Glad that way of thinking has passed.

sorry GobbleNut if any of this was too vulgar-  -  Glad you said something, I have no idea what that cat is talkin about. 

[rt2bowhunter]

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I'm still not sure what i'm going to do. I'm still setting here this morning remembering. The Gobblers that rushed in and the Hens that checked my decoys out. Even the coyotes that ran in to get a meal as did the red tail hawk swoop in only to change there minds at the last second. And the Gobblers in full strut that were coming only to look like there feathers fell off as soon as they seen the decoys.

 Maybe there like a Turkey call. Sometimes you walk out of the woods the GOAT caller of all times. With a gobbler over your shoulder so to speak. And other times with your tail between your legs. Because the Gobblers mood is all that matters.

 Thanks for all the advice And please if theres anymore let it pour .

[PNWturkey]

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Any tips maybe i'm missing something.

rt2bowhunter - have you ever hunted an entire season in recent history without using decoys at all?

About 20 years ago I was an exclusive decoy user and used them on every setup on public (Iowa) or private land (Kansas).  An experienced hunting buddy convinced me to try hunting one season without decoys.  I learned so much that year and have never used decoys since!  The only time I feel like they might be advantageous would be in extremely open/flat country like western KS where there is limited topography to use to your advantage.

If there are trees/topography I feel the odds are better without decoys; I always try to set up on a gobbler so that the first time I see him he is in shotgun range.  YMMV...