Decoys or no decoys?

[Mnrookie]

Thank you for your input and advice, greatly appreciated.
Good luck hunting

[Mnrookie]

Thank you sir. I'm practicing with a Zink slate call and Lynch slate call. Doing ok, not impressed with Zink slate call, inconsistent in my opinion.

[btomlin]

I only use decoys if a bird can see it from a distance.  If I'm hunting in timber esp public timber(which I mostly do), I never use a decoy.  I don't remember using a deke on my last 7 or 8 birds, probably more.  I like em looking for me and try to set up so when I can see them....they are already in tight gun range.

[Jeremy66]

Not here.  I have taken them along before but always end up wishing they were in the truck.  If I had a good private field that I knew birds were using they may work for you, but that's not my case.

[Pluffmud]

I don't use decoys when hunting public land. I have used strutter/hen decoys on private land and have killed birds. The show you get when you a gobbler zeros in on a strutter decoy is awesome. That being said, I'm not against decoys. The main reason I dont use decoys anymore is because I enjoy the challenge of bringing the birds in solely with my calling abilities. That, and I also don't want to get shot in the face using a decoy on public land. That's another big reason lol.

[Howie g]

Leave the deeks .

[rakkin6]

I will use decoys if I am hunting fields just to pull them in closer if I need to. I hunt on a military post (Fort Campbell). So you get assigned areas and some areas have some very large fields that get used for DZ's etc., some areas you get are nothing but hardwoods. in the early season if I use a decoy i might put out a 1/4 strut jake and a hen decoy. If it is later in the season I leave the Jake at home and just put out a hen. Reason being and I could be wrong but it seems that later in the year after the Tom's have been whooped up on by some Jakes they are less likely to come to a setup with a Jake. But just like everything else they are just a tool. I try to practice with a mouth call year round and about a month out I will pull out my other calls and start running them also. Just my .02 cents. Good luck and stay safe.