Just grabbing your attention – don't go getting offended by this post. I was just curious how many guys on here use decoys exclusively all of the time at every setup vs how many use them some of the time when the circumstance dictates it vs how many don't bother with them at all and don't even own one.
As for myself...I used to use them on nearly every hunt but the turkeys never really paid much attention to them. In fact the very first turkey I killed, still my biggest to date, completely ignored the decoy I had set out. I wrote it off at the time, but I pretty much weeded them out of my arsenal over the years and considered them more of a nuisance to my style of hunting. I'm a very mobile hunter and don't like to be bothered setting them up at each stand. I rarely, if ever, set up in a field of any kind. I prefer to be in the woods where the turkeys have to look for that mystery hen a little harder. Has that cost me some birds? Probably, but I can't really say for sure? All of the birds I have taken since that first one were harvested without the use of any decoys. I haven't owned one for years. Now I'm not saying they don't work, we all know they do. So how many of you guys go without? I was considering purchasing another one, but I need some convincing to do so.
By the way, I'm a very avid waterfowler as well, but prefer those decoys to be made of cork or cedar. And I have seen turkey decoys made of cedar...now that's always an option.
Thanks for the input,
Steve
Don't even own one.
Saw 7 die this year. Guess how many were killed on decoy setups. 0.
I don't have any anymore. There have been times when hunting solo they could have helped but I am able to still get birds without them. I don't think I will buy another just because I like to travel light.
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Don't use them hardly ever....once you begin to do without something you discover I really did not need that to begin with. The hunt is more satisfying when you begin to harvest birds without baiting them with a decoy. Now some will say that using a call is also baiting them to commit to something that is luring them in, but to lure a bird, deer, or any other animal into your setup is just part of hunting and each there own...what is legal and fits your style...go for it. Is it cheating...yes to me it is, but the next guy that uses one to him it is not and if you are happy harvesting a gobbler with a decoy and it is legal where you hunt its fine with me.
use them sometimes, mostly in field set ups where they can see for a long way. I like to hear them gobble and it seems like they do it more if they don't see a decoy, if they do they seem to just spit and drum and strut. they have their time and place just not always for me
I don't own any
i own an avian hen dont hardly use it but i have
I use decoys regularly, but I've learned there are times you leave them home. Here they are legal and are like any call in my vest, another tool I use to get the bird close for clean shot.
I have an inflatable hen and Jake from cherokee sports. Rarely use them, but they do have a place.
guessn as you said to each his own on the decoys....
i have two DSD feeder hens and one alert (i use as submissive only)
last year a jake tryd to breed my feeding hen at 15yds from my blind in the woods after a heavy rain ???
this year wife shot a jake that ran passd my blind after my calln and mountd my submissive hen and as he was humpn away,
she shot it right off her back ???
two days later i shot one after my calln and he came in with two hens,
strutd all the way up to the submissive hen again and tryd to make
eye contact with her, i shot ??
and in both years i think my hens got beat up by more hens than i can count, must be some kind of domainance thing among hens ??
but today i walkd in about a mile and didnt take them and shot a
22lbs, 1 1/2 in spur and 1 5/8 spur, with a 10 1/2in beard...
so i use them most always....good luck either way russ
I mainly hunt public land and over the decades have shot more without decoy's then with. It is a tool in the box used "right" works. but I have seen alot more turn off from mine than come into it, the ones that did was "HOT" anyway. So, for me don't really use them.
Thanks for the input guys. I have to say though, I honestly felt like I was the only turkey hunter east of the Mississippi that doesn't use decoys. It seems like everybody does around here. I don't necessarily have a problem with them, and I wouldn't go as far as classifying them along with bait, I just can't justify the use of one for my style of hunting. I use plenty of duck decoys, but that's a whole different ball game - yet the same principle. I suppose I'll spend that money on other "goodies" and stick to my same style of hunting.
Steve
Every gobbler I have ever taken is "Old School" without the use of blinds or decoys. I don't carry a decoy in my vest. I even use old fashioned lead shot! :o
own several, all are collecting dust. I'm on the move alot and too much of a hassle most of the time. if I hunted from a blind in the same spot day in and day out I might use them. I try to find turkeys that are gobbling and not just set and wait for one to find me.
Use them every time and love it. Four of six birds I have seen harvested this spring have fought the jake decoy....it never gets old watching. I also hunt allot with kids so they help center up the birds. Yup, blind also. I like to sit and drink coffee,text and move around.
I also have an enclosed trailer for eight dozen goose decoys. I think I just have a decoy fetish.
Yes I also use a spinning wing decoy for ducks.
I have a single hen, that I use very sparingly. I like to be mobile when turkey hunting.
My waterfowl decoys are handcarved; ducks are cork or cedar & geese are foam or cork. I would love a hollow cedar turkey but with two little boys in diapers it isn't going to be this year...
The past 3 years I've carried a foam hen in my vest and rarely put it out.
Im tired of it taking up space and the rattling stakes. Next season, decoy free.
QuoteMy waterfowl decoys are handcarved; ducks are cork or cedar & geese are foam or cork. I would love a hollow cedar turkey but with two little boys in diapers it isn't going to be this year
Hank...I thought I recognized your name - You're a regular over on DBHP too aren't ya? Small world, ya just gotta love the hand carved decoys.
This has been a very enlightening thread...here I thought there would be more guys trying to convince me that turkey decoys are the way to go...You guys have convinced me not to change a thing. I'm certainly glad too. When I was using turkey decoys many years ago I really hated dealing with them and it seemed they would always be in the wrong spot. I'll continue to live without them and be much more mobile in the woods...That's my kind of hunting.
Thank again for the input guys,
Steve
Quote from: Onpoint on May 09, 2013, 05:03:00 PM
Saw 7 die this year. Guess how many were killed on decoy setups. 0.
I saw 15 hit the dirt and didn't use a decoy. That ain't cause I don't think they are useful or have there place though. I would like to try out a spread in a huge pasture on some stubborn birds and see what they are about.
I like decoys, don't use them every single time out though. Mainly when bowhunting, they are almost necessary in that case to get them in right where you want them for a good bowshot. Carrying the scattergun it can go either way, I'll use them when set up on som field birds but hardly ever in the timber. Also, on the rare occasion when I do hunt public land, they stay in the truck. Especially my dsd jake. Too many yahoos on public ground would blast away without thinking
Quote from: Onpoint on May 09, 2013, 05:03:00 PM
Saw 7 die this year. Guess how many were killed on decoy setups. 0.
X2 I called in 7 birds to the barrel in 11 days of hunting, not one was over decoys. I own 3 avain X I just don't carry them because they aren't necessary, just like I dont carry all the calls I own, just whats needed. I set them up twice this season when hunting large fields where I didn't know exactly where the birds would be roosted, both times I didn't have any birds come to the fields so i put them away got in the woods and got birds killed without them.
Although i think they have there place I never use them. I sometimes cover miles in a day and cant seem to justify carrying them. Plus I never know were the next gobble will come from and rarly have enough time to set one up. I do feel if you are hunting a large field sometimes they are needed to get them to come to a particular spot. also good for judging range in an open field.
Quote from: Steve on May 13, 2013, 10:09:24 AM
Hank...I thought I recognized your name - You're a regular over on DBHP too aren't ya? Small world, ya just gotta love the hand carved decoys.
That'd be me... Very small, and the Internet makes it even smaller :)
I own them and ussually always carry one with me but would say 80% of my set ups are without one. especially running and gunning if im in the woods I am generally not worrying with my decoy and rarely in the woods will it make a difference. Often when setting up in a field or clearing if its a known area birds frequen I will place a decoy or 2 out.
I always carry and use a decoy if not for hunting purposes , then for safety - if anyone is getting shot its Mr. plastic
I have witnessed a fatal turkey hunting incident , been in the area when others have been shot, or shot at ,know other people who have been shot , and or left behind by the shooter - Florida is the worst place for turkey hunting , if its not , I feel sorry for the people who do hunt in a worse place
I like the reaction I get from the turkeys when I use a decoy , but most importantly ...I like the added security blanket of having a decoy , its like a seat-belt for turkey hunting
Yes and no. Now that I live in Oklahoma and chase Rios, I use decoys more. Different bird, yes, but the open terrain calls for them. Back home in MO I was more likely to hunt woods and would not use decoys much.
I like certain decoys, and I use them in certain situations.
This year I killed 4 over dekes, and 6 without, so who knows?
I like decoys for fields, rainy days, windy days, hilly areas, etc.
I rarely use them when I run & gun.
To me, decoys like the DSDs, are a fun part of turkey hunting.
I would certainly not consider them cheating in any way, they often don't work, and I have found running & gunning to be FAR more productive. Moving around, using different calls, getting between the tom and his hen, are much easier ways to kill a bird.
Using stationary decoys goes against a turkey's nature. He gobbles. She goes to him. Simple as that. Sure, he might come looking for the source of the call, but in nature, the hen is supposed to go to the gobbling/displaying tom.
So the runners and gunners are perfectly imitating what a hen is supposed to do, so success logically follows.
Don't know why everyone thinks running & gunning is so unusually clever, pay attention to what the birds do, and you will see that it matches nature very well :)
mudhen
If Im planning on hunting a field or other open area I use decoys. If I expect the hunt to happen in the woods I don't use decoys. I had never killed a field bird till this year. Saw four die in the fields and all came into a stutter/jake and hen.
My 1st years hunting turkey and I will doing this every season now. I had a hen decoy that I used but none of the turkey was interrested in her. So, I just put her up and took some advice and just called. I stalked my Boss Tom and he was my 1st kill. No decoys needed. Now I noticed that all birds are different in different locations. So, I might end using decoys on properties that are way too small to gun and run. I did see a Tom that rather run with deer. I might have to set up a deer decoy in order to kill that bird...LOL
Like I said, I rarely use them. And after this thread got me thinking about it, I realized I have never shot a turkey using one in 15 successfull years.