::)
Anybody else just shake their head when they opened up the Spring Cabela's catalog and there's all these motion turkey decoys?
What ever happened to finesse and skill?
Yup, apparently woodsmanship and calling skills are over rated. ::)
I've always hunted hardwoods, so maybe it is different for folks hunting fields. But for me, decoys are very secondary. I don't use them to try to bring a bird in... to me, if I have time to put one or two out, they're just for giving him something to look at when he's getting close rather than scanning for a 200 pound, 6 foot hen.
I have one property that I use decoys on. It a 180 acre hay farm with the only form of cover being just around the fringe and absolutely no woods. There is a hunting club on the back side and the birds are unbelievably spooky. I don't use them to draw birds I use them to make birds feel at ease.
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I hunt a long walk up hill and hunt ridges and drainage's of National Forest. It's all I can do to get myself back in there so tents and decoys are not an option with me.
Finesse and skill? I don't believe you get the point why some people like to use decoys. I use them mainly for the enjoyment of seeing a bird come in and act totally stupid and that includes hens and gobblers. You don't need decoys to kill birds just like you don't need fancy Mossy Oak and Realtree camo. I use to get off from work, run out to my favorite hunting spot and call in birds wearing blue jeans, tee-shirt and tennis shoes. But now that I can afford a few I wear them. Same goes with fancy shotgun shells, like Nitro's, Hevi 13 and so on. Old # 4's use to kill a lot of birds. You don't need blinds, but its nice to set in and drink a cup of coffee while sitting back and enjoying the beautiful day God gave me. I like to run and gun too. I have a lot of fun doing it, but do it less the older I get. This is my way of looking at it, but someone else's may be different
To me, its all about enjoying the sport of turkey hunting no matter what floats your boat.
We are only on this earth for a short time, so enjoy it , be safe and have a great turkey season.
Later, choke
I don't even own a decoy but it's unbelievable how realistic some of the new ones are. I don't use them because I believe they would hurt me more than help. I don't hunt fields and the last thing I want is for one to spot my decoy and hang up at 60 yds. I like to keep them guessing which usually keeps them coming my way.
My intent was not to offend, I apologize if I did so.
It just seems like hunting in general is getting cluttered with too many fancy gismos. Guys think that they have to have a truck full of the latest and greatest gear in order to punch a tag.
I look at them as just another tool that can make the experience a little more fun.
I started hunting turkeys with my bow last year after getting my first bird of the season with my 835. A good "strutter" decoy can really help get the bird a little closer and position him for a shot.
When I hunted with my 835 I didn't worry too much about using decoys but I would sometimes set them up for birds off the roost. But when running and gunning, I never took the time.
Try them or not..... they will work some times..... others they won't. Just like my calling! :funnyturkey:
Like Michigander, I didn't mean to offend. I just feel like jurk-rigs are for the duck swamp, not the turkey woods.
Haha, yall remember that gobbler silhouette decoy that came out a couple years ago... you put it on your barrel so you can hide behind it and crawl towards birds?
I dont use decoys on 90% of my hunts and I'd say the 10% I do are in situations where I KNOW a bird is either roosted and going to fly down on to a big field OR they are going to go to a big field and I'm going to set up on and it and wait on them, based on scouting.
I started out hunting for about 10 years without them, started using them for field hunting and now kind of backed off of them again a few years ago because they just got to be more trouble than they are worth for me.
It's just another tool in the tool box IMO.
The turkey hunting industry has blown up but so has the duck/waterfowl industry and deer hunting industry. Overall, I'm not sure if it's good or bad for the sport but it is what it is.
Quote from: SouthEastNC on March 11, 2013, 12:00:45 PM
Like Michigander, I didn't mean to offend. I just feel like jurk-rigs are for the duck swamp, not the turkey woods.
Haha, yall remember that gobbler silhouette decoy that came out a couple years ago... you put it on your barrel so you can hide behind it and crawl towards birds?
Not intending to start an argument, but what makes motion decoys, or decoys in general, ok for duck hunting but not for turkey hunting? I've heard people claim you ain't a real duck hunter if you don't use decys (jump/pass shooting) but also hear people claim real turkey hunters don't use decoys. I hear this all the time yet can't for the life of me see the logic of this attitude.
Budtrip, good point. I'd say for me, I grew up roost-shooting wood-ducks standing at the edge of small impoundments or duck-holes. When I got older, I started getting into the swamp or impoundments and hunting over decoys with guys who could work duck-calls. Obviously that is a completely different type of hunting and much more challenging then just pass-shooting. I'll still do a roost-shoot when I know there are birds somewhere, but taking-out a couple woodies leaving the roost doesn't give me the same satisfaction as dropping big-ducks that circled 3 or 4 times before deciding to come into the spread. One is shooting at birds that are just passively flying, the other involves tricking the birds to drop their guard.
Just my perspective.
^^^Ok I gotcha. Makes sense to me.
I generally use decoys, as others have said, to give a gobbler something to focus on. I like to see them completely fooled and like to see the reactions from them and how they interact with the new hen in town...It's cool...I've also used them on call shy toms in open fields. I'll just sit quietly and let the new girl on the block work her silent magic.. :)
That said, I take the most satisfaction from calling one in, especially if he's a tough one or one with hens and I have to pull out something from my bag of tricks...Nothing more satisfying than getting a reluctant bird to come in to a fight or scratching or a gobbling competitor or a hen leaving him...Big fun!
I hunt and outfit in multiple states,KS ,NEB,OK and decoys are an integral part of getting mature birds to pitch down and come or close the distance in a huge field,plus as was said its cool to watch the interaction that dsd decoys get from real birds.Watching a mature gobbler beat up a decoy is a riot.
yes for the most part i sit in a blind, and yes i run decoys 7 or 9 of them the sceery inflateable ones ,love them i will run them till i can find any more of them .and yes i sit and work my bird to me . to me it more rewarding to call that bird to me then chase after one .but everyones different just getting older i sit back and watch the day go by now ..i look at it this way i am out in the woods whats better then that .
If I spotted one of the new strutting decoys in a field, I'd probably waste a whole lot of time trying to stalk and get within range of it!
I'll be honest, I don't hunt turkeys for the cheap meat, I can buy that at the grocery store ;D
I turkey hunt for the gobbles, the fans, the beards, the spurs, the whole 9 yards.
I love to SEE the birds :icon_thumright:
I love to collect turkey hunting accessories, so gizmos and gadgets are my thing.
As to decoys specifically, we use them often, 100% of the time with archery and pellet guns, and I want the best decoy possible, so that's why I try to use the ultra-realistic decoys.
But, no decoy can be great too...
mudhen
to clarify - not knocking DSDs or other high-detail deekes.
i'm talking about the emergence of motion-decoys like this guy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQlDuY6eOvE
That decoy is ridiculous.