Ok, so many of you know I have been looking for a good turkey spot in Central, PA. Well after knocking on a few doors I got permission to hunt some fields and a small strip of land. After some scouting yesterday and today, I know there is at least one long beard and about 8-10 hens. Today out in the field I watched the tom strut around for about an hour with the hens out in a corn field. It was quite though, didn't hear any gobbles. Anyway, he's missing some tail feathers so I'm assuming he's a fighter. This is my question, normally when hunting I'll either put out a single hen or I'll put out a small flock with a jake, submissive hen, feeder, and looker. Do you think I should put out a strutter instead of the jake to get him mad? What would you put out? How would you attack the situation? Thanks, Tom
If he's missing feathers he could have been the one beat on and shy away.. but I'm not big on using strutting decoy espically right out of the gate. I would stick with the jake and two hens
I too like a jake decoy better than a Strutter.
i would say he is a more of a survivor than a fighter, i'm not a decoy guy so i would either pattern him or look for a bird that wants to play and come back to him later when his hens are nesting.
I'd stay off in the woods a little bit, just enough for you to see him but him not see you, then figure out a direction he's heading in and go get in front of him by staying in the woods.
Out west, we hunt a lot of field turkeys just like this. Decoys lock you into a location, for better or worse, and dont leave you many options if the gobbler doesnt respond like you want him to.