Decoy Strategies

[mspaci]

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I use them every once in a while, I use the blow up ones because they are so light & easy to carry. I tend to more get into positions where he has to look for me. When he comes into sight he is dead. I tend to use where a bird might see a ways, but thats not my usual set up. Mike

[EZ]

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All is good, fellas.  I don't believe there was any intent to criticize anyone's way of hunting,...just the point to be made to newer hunters that the "I have to have decoys and put them out to kill gobblers" mind-set that is promoted by so many companies and some hunters, as well, can come back to bite you in the butt if you take that as gospel. 

It is sometimes difficult to tell if someone has that mind-set or not,...and some of us just want to make sure those folks that might think that understand that decoys, in many instances, are not at all necessary to call and kill gobblers.   

That's pretty much exactly what I was saying.

I was also speaking to the OP's specific situation. Inexperienced hunter obviously wanting to learn and hunting public ground.

[LaLongbeard]

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Best decoy strategy I’ve come up with is to wait until the person is fumbling around with his gun or something and I put the decoy in the truck lock the door, tell them if there hunting with me come on, and I then walk away. It usually works pretty well only had one or two people try and bring a decoy a second time.

[Marc]

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I am going to ride the middle here, and say that sometimes decoys are a useful tool, and sometimes not.

Running & Gunning, is walking the woods, periodically calling (not in the open), and trying to drum up a gobble...  Once you hear a bird respond, you then hunt that bird...  You decide if you should (or can) make some ground between you and the bird, and setting up quickly is often key.  I personally have had more failures caused by funking with decoys in these situations, and in wooded areas where I am trying to strike up a bird, the decoys stay in the truck...

Hunting a pasture or open area with henned up birds, I have found decoys to be quite useful on occasion.  And the interaction of the birds is quite different.  Sometimes a bird that has lost one too many fights will see the jake decoy and run like heck when he sees yours...  All too often with just hen decoys, a tom will hang up and strut just out of range.

Personally, I like a jake/hen combination; I might consider using multiple hens, but I will not use multiple jakes..  Put the jake where you want to shoot the bird, cause the tom will almost always address the jake decoy first.

I put my decoys in close, and to my left (as I am a right-handed shooter).  If my furthest decoy is 15 yards, and a bird hangs up 20 yards from the decoys, they are still in good range.

I want my decoys visible from multiple points of approach.  I never cease to be surprised by the direction a bird is coming from, and the direction they end up finally approaching from.

Some say decoys give a turkey hunter an unfair advantage...  I would disagree, and so would so many decoy companies.  However, decoys do not always benefit you...  That wary tom will often continue forward motion looking for that hen that is calling (i.e. you calling), and will stop and strut when he sees your hen decoy...  That same tom will often continue forward motion when he does not see that hen he is looking for.

If I see a bird approaching to my calling, I do NOT call if I can see the bird (if at all possible).  If the bird changes direction, I will try and wait until he is behind an obstruction to call at him.  And if a bird is coming towards me, I stop calling...  Sometimes they can approach painfully slowly and the temptation to call and hurry them up is overwhelming; I have succumb to that temptation all too often, much to my ruin.

[Plush]

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Thanks for the great advice Marc. I have been mulling many strategies and a lot of it will depend on how much the toms move around come hunting season. I might have to drop the weight and prepare for miles of trekking to find them if they end up deep in the woods.

One of my favorite learning tools is terrible low end YouTube videos. Because it is mostly unedited and shows a turkey coming in without skipping the slow methodical approach. Decoys can definitely hang up a turkey or really draw out it coming in. The one turkey I have shot came in hot, but once it got within view of the decoys did a total 360 pass (behind the blind and all) before confronting the decoys. Interestingly that gobbler came up on the back of the decoys.

Every strategy has its positives and flaws. Decoys are definitely not exempt from that.

[TRG3]

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The Funky Chicken decoy serves three purposes, (1) it should be one of the safest gobbler decoys since it's pitiful size is all out of proportion to a real bird which should stop any other hunter from shooting at it, (2) it doesn't spook a real gobbler like a tom in full strut might do, (3) it's a very light weight decoy compared to a full bodied gobbler which makes carrying one and a couple of hens in a tote much more tolerable...or set up a couple of Funky Chicken decoys neck-to-neck and use fighting purrs to simulate a peck order fight, something that might bring in a call shy tom. You can't reason why such an odd looking thing like the Funky Chicken would entice a gobbler to come in, but it works and I've got three of them in case one gets flogged beyond repair.

[Plush]

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The Funky Chicken decoy serves three purposes, (1) it should be one of the safest gobbler decoys since it's pitiful size is all out of proportion to a real bird which should stop any other hunter from shooting at it, (2) it doesn't spook a real gobbler like a tom in full strut might do, (3) it's a very light weight decoy compared to a full bodied gobbler which makes carrying one and a couple of hens in a tote much more tolerable...or set up a couple of Funky Chicken decoys neck-to-neck and use fighting purrs to simulate a peck order fight, something that might bring in a call shy tom. You can't reason why such an odd looking thing like the Funky Chicken would entice a gobbler to come in, but it works and I've got three of them in case one gets flogged beyond repair.

Thanks for the first hand experience comments about the funky chicken. I think I am going to go ahead and add one of those to the arsenal. Seems like a safe bet to get good responses and fairly safe for public land. I certainly don't expect to see anyone out while hunting, but I guess we will see.

[BKnisley]

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Let us know how it works out Plush.

Just wanted to add my 2¢ if I could.

Opening day I intend to set out a half strut avian X, along with a laydown hen, and a feeder hen. First, this is private land that is managed for deer/turkey...this applies only to my experience and situation.  I'm working this large field (4 acres) that is either in clover or beans. Historically this area cuts a strutting area (south) and roosting (north). In my mind I'm trying to draw attention from across a large area, and pick a fight! It gets my blood going seeing turkeys work decoys! Visually I think it may help to see birds when they hit a transition area or fence row. Agree with TRG3 that the size of the Funky Chicken could really help fire one up. Again just my 2¢.

With that being said I will ditch the decoys should the situation dictate if the field set up doesn't pan out. The turkey in my profile picture came from a long uneventful day in which we caught up to a group of toms working along a fence row after a fruitless morning sit. We packed up shop and went mobile...no decoys...just listening...listening...listening...gobble...listening...gobble...then moving to where we thought we could make a play and ended up with a shot after crawling up a dried creek bed, peeked our heads over, and there they were.

Have fun with it and let us know how it works for you. You've got some great info from some great folks here at OG!!!

[Plush]

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Thanks for the reply BK. Appreciate all the responses and differing takes. I have gotten a lot of productive scouting done finally. I found a great spot to set up on one roosting spot that would stick me in a nice flat opening between their roost and the creek.

Only kicker is the creek is still mostly frozen over and if not it is majorly flooded from snow melt...so no way the turkeys would cross it then. It will be interesting to see what side they end up getting “stuck” on so to speak.

[BKnisley]

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I have gotten a lot of productive scouting done finally.

Sounds like you've done the homework, and that is the hardest part in my opinion.

Don't sweat the creek. They may pitch over if they have to. Again just my  . You can adapt on the fly as long as you can see where they prefer to be should calling prove fruitless.

[SD_smith]

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Maybe try a lone 1/4 or 1/2 strut Jake? I’ve done it a few times over the last couple of seasons and it seems to work just as good as adding a hen. My thinking is that a gobbler can see the Jake with that “hen calling” in the same area. They still usually come to check it out. In the Black Hills I’ve been on flocks that aren’t still broken up from the winter and a henned up Merriam is as nerve racking as they get. So I’ll kinda roost hunt them in the afternoons and eventually they make their way to the same draws or ridge they like and see the decoy. Food for thought.

[Plush]

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Maybe try a lone 1/4 or 1/2 strut Jake? I’ve done it a few times over the last couple of seasons and it seems to work just as good as adding a hen. My thinking is that a gobbler can see the Jake with that “hen calling” in the same area. They still usually come to check it out. In the Black Hills I’ve been on flocks that aren’t still broken up from the winter and a henned up Merriam is as nerve racking as they get. So I’ll kinda roost hunt them in the afternoons and eventually they make their way to the same draws or ridge they like and see the decoy. Food for thought.

Well the thing is I already have the hen decoy so it almost seems obvious to pair them if one does have both. Is a hen decoy with a jake really going to scare off a bird when the jake decoy by itself wouldn't?

[SD_smith]

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Maybe try a lone 1/4 or 1/2 strut Jake? I’ve done it a few times over the last couple of seasons and it seems to work just as good as adding a hen. My thinking is that a gobbler can see the Jake with that “hen calling” in the same area. They still usually come to check it out. In the Black Hills I’ve been on flocks that aren’t still broken up from the winter and a henned up Merriam is as nerve racking as they get. So I’ll kinda roost hunt them in the afternoons and eventually they make their way to the same draws or ridge they like and see the decoy. Food for thought.

Well the thing is I already have the hen decoy so it almost seems obvious to pair them if one does have both. Is a hen decoy with a jake really going to scare off a bird when the jake decoy by itself wouldn't?

That’s cool. I have 4 hen decoys, but if I could just carry one and get the same effect then why not? Like I already said...food for thought.

[Plush]

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Maybe try a lone 1/4 or 1/2 strut Jake? I’ve done it a few times over the last couple of seasons and it seems to work just as good as adding a hen. My thinking is that a gobbler can see the Jake with that “hen calling” in the same area. They still usually come to check it out. In the Black Hills I’ve been on flocks that aren’t still broken up from the winter and a henned up Merriam is as nerve racking as they get. So I’ll kinda roost hunt them in the afternoons and eventually they make their way to the same draws or ridge they like and see the decoy. Food for thought.

Well the thing is I already have the hen decoy so it almost seems obvious to pair them if one does have both. Is a hen decoy with a jake really going to scare off a bird when the jake decoy by itself wouldn't?

That’s cool. I have 4 hen decoys, but if I could just carry one and get the same effect then why not? Like I already said...food for thought.

Efficiency is nice, I do see what you are saying. Thanks! Always appreciate different input!

[Dfowlup]

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Ok, I just posted to this topic on another post but here's my take:

It pretty much depends on what you want to accomplish and how you hunt.  I've pretty much always used decoys but I hunt fields a lot and I bowhunt some as well.  I enjoy getting video and watching how the birds react to a decoy.  I enjoy the hunt itself.  The videos below are from this year and include field setups, food plot setups and woods setups.  One thing I've always learned to do was to use two jake decoys and set them side by side.  If I put a hen or two out I will set them 10 yards or so away from the jake decoys.  This signifies subdominance and most often helps with less aggressive gobblers.  I have been using the Avian Quarter strut Jakes for years with a lot of success. I feel if you've called the bird to a point he can see the decoys you've pretty much done your job calling.  Field birds in my opinion are harder to kill than woods birds.  I'm beyond the "run and gun" that I used to do because I enjoy watching the birds strut and attack my decoys. I do hunt from a blind a lot but I don't hunt a lot of private land.  I don't want to wander around the woods pushing birds in the next county especially when I know the birds aren't gobbling.  It's been tough here in Georgia for the last few years with the turkey population down to what I feel is an all time low.  To each his own but I respect how anyone hunts as long as it's legal.

My son and my first Georgia 2020 Gobblers  https://youtu.be/I8AnA8nvRuI

An agressive hen attacks my hen decoy  https://youtu.be/e8ol8RHAbkg

My son's second Georgia 2020 Gobbler https://www.facebook.com/fowleroutdoors/videos/363188234570150/

My hunting partners Georgia 2020 Bowkill  https://youtu.be/vKM_pTgm9qQ

My agonizing bow miss!  https://youtu.be/XRflF69k3io


I have other videos from previous years that show success with decoys.  I have had a few encounters where the decoy probably hurt and caused a gobbler to shy away but I think in those cases the setup and decoy placement were partially to blame.

My YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftMctHN3LXOzs1eHicSH_Q
My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/fowleroutdoors/videos/?ref=page_internal