The majority of the land I have access to hunt is open cow pasture bordered by a good blend of woods. Most of my sets have to start in the fields. I have always thought that these sets scream for decoys, but I worry about setting decoys out in the field in the dark with Gobblers roosted on the field edges. It seems like to me that would strike the gobbler as unnatural, seeing several turkeys motionless out in a field before he or any other turkey has flown down.
What do you guys with more experience think about this? Am I reading too much into it or would seeing motionless decoys from his roost for 30 minutes before fly down potentially raise some red flags?
When he sees hen decoys in the field he will start gobbling his arrss off , when he sees they won't come to him hell fly down
It works just fine. Have had hens nearly land on a decoy in a field.
I hunt fields a lot and never been an issue, on my morning sets only thing to watch is if "Full Moon" that you can be seen. I always walk timber edge till I'm at set (learned not to cross the field), then unbag the decoys, have stakes ready and set quickly. I'm always out early and ready to go before I hear that first gobble.
MK M GOBL
Thanks for the info everybody. I never thought about the fact that if the hens wouldn't come to him that he might get frustrated.
Never been an issue for us. Probably better to set them out in the dark rather than try and set them at daybreak when it's way more likely to be seen.
Yep, it may not seem like it sometimes, but they`re really not that bright. Excellent senses? Yes, most definitely. Great cognition? Not so much.
Quote from: MK M GOBL on April 01, 2020, 08:43:33 PM
I hunt field a lot and never been an issue, on my morning sets only thing to watch is if "Full Moon" that you can be seen. I always walk timber edge till I'm at set (learned not to cross the field), then unbag the decoys, have stakes ready and set quickly. I'm always out early and ready to go before I hear that first gobble.
MK M GOBL
I had to wait for the moon to set in NE years ago. Then I was able to set up and arrowed two longbeards.
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Quote from: tlh2865 on April 01, 2020, 07:59:05 PM
The majority of the land I have access to hunt is open cow pasture bordered by a good blend of woods. Most of my sets have to start in the fields. I have always thought that these sets scream for decoys, but I worry about setting decoys out in the field in the dark with Gobblers roosted on the field edges. It seems like to me that would strike the gobbler as unnatural, seeing several turkeys motionless out in a field before he or any other turkey has flown down.
What do you guys with more experience think about this? Am I reading too much into it or would seeing motionless decoys from his roost for 30 minutes before fly down potentially raise some red flags?
Yes, you are reading way too much into it. Get them out in the dark. Sit quietly. Shoot turkey when he flies down and comes to your decoys...hopefully ;)
Good Luck!
Quote from: PharmHunter on April 02, 2020, 12:54:31 PM
Quote from: tlh2865 on April 01, 2020, 07:59:05 PM
The majority of the land I have access to hunt is open cow pasture bordered by a good blend of woods. Most of my sets have to start in the fields. I have always thought that these sets scream for decoys, but I worry about setting decoys out in the field in the dark with Gobblers roosted on the field edges. It seems like to me that would strike the gobbler as unnatural, seeing several turkeys motionless out in a field before he or any other turkey has flown down.
What do you guys with more experience think about this? Am I reading too much into it or would seeing motionless decoys from his roost for 30 minutes before fly down potentially raise some red flags?
Haha hopefully being the key word ;D
Yes, you are reading way too much into it. Get them out in the dark. Sit quietly. Shoot turkey when he flies down and comes to your decoys...hopefully ;)
Good Luck!
If you already know where you plan to set up, go in a few days ahead of time and set some sticks, pine cones, or stones at the ideal place you intend to set your decoy from your tree (don't forget to prune any limbs in the way). About 20 years ago, I set some decoys out in the dark that ended up being too close and in the wrong direction from me. A pair of gobblers roosted nearby came straight into them at fly down. It was impossible to shoot because trees in the way blocked the barrel swing. The birds were close enough that I couldn't move without getting busted. I could only sit and watch 'em both walk past me inside 10 yards. Lesson learned.
I tagged out on one of those gobblers two days later by hunting from the same tree. That time, the decoy was in the right spot that I'd marked after failing two days before.
Jim