I am starting to wonder about the "magic" of decoys. I have 2 older hens (HS Strut I think) and a Primos Jake-moble. I had some issues with birds flairing from the jake with a tail fan on it so I removed that and thought, it looks like a 1/2 strut jake so I put that out with one of the hens pinned closer to the ground and the other hen 5 yards away. Yesterday, I had 2 toms step out and look at them from 90 yards and then walk off. I don't understand why I don't have luck with birds coming into my decoys. Is it that they are older and not as life like as the DSD? Am I setting them in the wrong spot? We were in a small wood lot with pasture all around with a road in the middle. We were set up on the edge of the road in a blind with the decoys 5 yards from us. Do I just toss them and forget about them or invest in better ones?
I have had two good interactions with toms and decoys in the past 6 years other than that, I have had toms turn around when they see it.
I only use them in places where you can see over 75 yards or in fields.
I hear you I am done with everything except maybe a hen, my wife bought me the Dakota jake quarter strut which looks great and had that and a relaxed hen and two mornings in a row gobs came to my food plot and seen jake and 3 gobs turned around and walked off and next morning a nice gob circled around and wondered off gobbling his head off. I know my setup was good, because in the afternoon 4 jakes came right in about 10 yards from me and also have had lone hens come in close. Wisconsin teacher I am frustrated and was told maybe I have a lot of sub-dominant gobs that have already had their butt kicked and want nothing to do with even a jake, maybe you have same problem. Scoot
It happens. I doubt it has anything to do with the look of the dekes. It could be late in the pecking order stage, and the skirting birds don't want to fight.
The answer is simple....in nature hens go to the gobbler.
When you call one to you you're going against nature.
It takes patience calling turkeys...it also takes not over calling to the point of sounding unnatural and losing the gobblers curiosity.
In the spring hens are nesting and generally are not very vocal...I killed a nice gobbler last week at 10:00 am I walked in and sat down at 8 am....I made three series of calls about 30 minutes apart on my box call about 9:40 a gobbler gobbled one time down the hill behind me...did I call or try and turn on him. NO
About 20 minutes later he walked over the hill in front of me and gobbled two times before he died.
Loose the decoys and make the gobbler hunt for you,
That sucks. I will almost always use my decoys. No they aren't the expensive ones and I only use 1. I think people get too wrapped up in multiple decoys and how to place them when they just need 1. Give the gobbler something to focus on. Works for me every year. Put a 22 lb bird on the ground Saturday morning.
This happened during the 2nd season in WI so the birds are still grouped up good here. I know they work but I just don't see the results that others see while in the field.
Depends on the hunt location for me.
I can take dekes, or leave them, but there are some really fun set-ups that I like to try on occasion.
I do believe that the good dekes can produce good results, but so can cheapy dekes.
Coves or bays in a crop field bottom can make for a good hunt.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v712/mudhen/IMG_5008_zpsa4b8626b.jpg)
Killed four toms last week, 2 with decoys, 2 without, all with calling.
I move decoys all over the place, rarely closer than 30 yards though, I'm trying to direct traffic more than anything else...
The only thing I know for sure is that nothing is sure when I'm turkey hunting....
mudhen
Quote from: L.F. Cox on April 28, 2014, 02:57:10 PM
The answer is simple....in nature hens go to the gobbler.
When you call one to you you're going against nature.
It takes patience calling turkeys...it also takes not over calling to the point of sounding unnatural and losing the gobblers curiosity.
In the spring hens are nesting and generally are not very vocal...I killed a nice gobbler last week at 10:00 am I walked in and sat down at 8 am....I made three series of calls about 30 minutes apart on my box call about 9:40 a gobbler gobbled one time down the hill behind me...did I call or try and turn on him. NO
About 20 minutes later he walked over the hill in front of me and gobbled two times before he died.
Loose the decoys and make the gobbler hunt for you,
some good advise here
Sadly I don't think anyone was home when I posted it....
We were the 1st to hunt our spot in KS. archery season and my buddy said the birds are blind and decoy shy. I told they are just being normal. I have hunted 12 days so far and have birds in the decoys2 times. A hen and the next day 7 jakes. I killed the jake.
I'm not a decoy fan. Most of my experiences with them have lead to spooked or hung up gobblers. I find it much better to set up in a fashion where the tom has to look for you and thus bring himself into gun range.
Quote from: Gooserbat on April 29, 2014, 10:04:14 AM
I'm not a decoy fan. Most of my experiences with them have lead to spooked or hung up gobblers. I find it much better to set up in a fashion where the tom has to look for you and thus bring himself into gun range.
+1 :z-winnersmiley:
I've killed birds over dekes, and I've killed birds not using dekes. In woods that are thick enough, I let the gobbler hunt the hen he heard (my calls). In more open places, which I hunt a lot, I give the gobbler a visual to go along with what he heard. I have had some awesome experiences using decoys!! And I've had some bad experiences using decoys.
I've had strutters come out with a harem of hens, see Bmobile with a real fan over a "ready" hen, and come running to their death, leaving all the ladies behind. I've also had gobblers skirt my strutter deke. It happens.
I've had gobblers come in and whip my jake deke's butt, then die. I've had subordinate gobblers afraid to come in on a jake deke. It happens.
I've had gobblers come strutting in to a hen decoy only, then die. I've had gobblers stand out of range, look, then walk away from a hen decoy. It happens too.
The point is that there is no magic to decoys. The right bird, in the right place, at the right time is magical, and can produce outstanding hunts! But if you use decoys regularly, you must anticipate that there will be some bad results as well.
Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't. Like all the other tactics in turkey hunting, the choice is a personal one. Do what you feel works best for you.
I personally do not like useing decoys. But if I do I use only a hen. I would try and setup where the gobbler has to come look for you. Good Luck.
not a decoy fan
Quote from: RutnNStrutn on April 29, 2014, 12:15:01 PM
I've killed birds over dekes, and I've killed birds not using dekes. In woods that are thick enough, I let the gobbler hunt the hen he heard (my calls). In more open places, which I hunt a lot, I give the gobbler a visual to go along with what he heard. I have had some awesome experiences using decoys!! And I've had some bad experiences using decoys.
I've had strutters come out with a harem of hens, see Bmobile with a real fan over a "ready" hen, and come running to their death, leaving all the ladies behind. I've also had gobblers skirt my strutter deke. It happens.
I've had gobblers come in and whip my jake deke's butt, then die. I've had subordinate gobblers afraid to come in on a jake deke. It happens.
I've had gobblers come strutting in to a hen decoy only, then die. I've had gobblers stand out of range, look, then walk away from a hen decoy. It happens too.
The point is that there is no magic to decoys. The right bird, in the right place, at the right time is magical, and can produce outstanding hunts! But if you use decoys regularly, you must anticipate that there will be some bad results as well.
Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't. Like all the other tactics in turkey hunting, the choice is a personal one. Do what you feel works best for you.
^^^ well said
I like dekes myself. Here in WI I do all my hunting 4-6th week. Seeing that on almost all the spots I hunt Im the 3-8th person to be hunting there and find the birds very call shy and what has worked best for me is setting up on a field I know the birds are working and set a hen dek up. I give her a little movement and the birds almost always come in without needing to touch the calls.
Here we go again, another thread on "To Deke or Not To Deke - That's My Question". :)
I'm not "married" to dekes, but I don't criticize others for using them; on most hunts, I use 'em, and I've *YET* in 15 years to see birds "spook" from them. I've got video I just posted on my channel where I used a jake/hen setup, and had 6 jakes come into my setup w/out a problem. Just my experience, but ... I've never seen a bird spook off my dekes, and they're the crappy, foam FeatherFlex jake & hen dekes...
What I've "learned" w/dekes is to use 'em on pasture & wide open road birds, and then leave 'em in the bag on woods birds. Birds that frequent pastures & walk roads, dekes seem to work fine; but when I'm hunting birds that like to stick to a head of woods, I usually make 'em try to find me, like LF Cox said. I've killed birds in pastures w/out dekes before, as well - so, again, I'm not married to 'em to the point that I have to use them on each & every hunt. But, I typically always carry them into the woods with me, in the event that I suspect they *might* work well, given a certain situation.
Quote from: RutnNStrutn on April 29, 2014, 12:15:01 PM
I've killed birds over dekes, and I've killed birds not using dekes. In woods that are thick enough, I let the gobbler hunt the hen he heard (my calls). In more open places, which I hunt a lot, I give the gobbler a visual to go along with what he heard. I have had some awesome experiences using decoys!! And I've had some bad experiences using decoys.
I've had strutters come out with a harem of hens, see Bmobile with a real fan over a "ready" hen, and come running to their death, leaving all the ladies behind. I've also had gobblers skirt my strutter deke. It happens.
I've had gobblers come in and whip my jake deke's butt, then die. I've had subordinate gobblers afraid to come in on a jake deke. It happens.
I've had gobblers come strutting in to a hen decoy only, then die. I've had gobblers stand out of range, look, then walk away from a hen decoy. It happens too.
The point is that there is no magic to decoys. The right bird, in the right place, at the right time is magical, and can produce outstanding hunts! But if you use decoys regularly, you must anticipate that there will be some bad results as well.
Sometimes it works well, sometimes it doesn't. Like all the other tactics in turkey hunting, the choice is a personal one. Do what you feel works best for you.
My sentiments exactly. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't.. if I had a decoy out and it didn't work I'd say I shouldn't of used it...if I had a decoy out and it worked, I'd say I should of used it..catch 22..I use them sometimes and sometimes I don't.
Had an interesting experience 2 weeks ago. Me and my buddy set up on a field where we had been seeing 10+ birds a day. The field is very large so we split up he went to one end and I went to the other end with the idea of they had to walk in front of one of us. We had at least 9 different gobblers all around us. When the time came for them to fly down 2 toms in full strut entered the field in the middle of my buddy and I. They walked out into the field about 60 yards they looked up to the decoys my buddy had set out which was a Dakota Semi-Strut Jake and a Avian-X hen. They saw it went into full strut and turned into the opposite direction towards me. I only had a Avian-X hen set out facing towards me at about 15 yards. I yelped at them and had them gobble back went into full strut and circled me the closest I got them was about 65-70 yards. Its a debate whether they work or not because some people have success and others don't. Just thought I would share my story!
I've found that in certain situations they work others not at all. Saturday afternoon I sat 30 yards away from my Jake and 2 hen decoy setup. I heard a tom gobble and got ready, a few minutes later he entered the the field about 75 yards away. Once he saw the Jake with 2 hens he came running looking to fight. In this instance they worked.
I think my decoy question got deleted
There is no sure thing
Is rather have 200$ in one call then
200$ in decoys
Another thing
Set up and woodsman ship
You will learn a lot more about where a gobbler will come to and where he won't
Hunting without decoys
Which in return will help you kill turkeys in many different situations and areas
Quote from: NECKRINGER on April 29, 2014, 10:12:26 PM
Another thing
Set up and woodsman ship
You will learn a lot more about where a gobbler will come to and where he won't
Hunting without decoys
Which in return will help you kill turkeys in many different situations and areas
Ditto this ^
I prefer not to use a decoy unless necessary. If I do, it's a hen. No spread of any sorts. My farm is real open timber and pasture. A visual is always nice there.
also
when hunting in the woods
if I gain 20 yds on a bird to put decoys out. why would I turn around and walk away from him and give him that 20 yds right back?
that is a retreat
I think it's more important that you set up in a pace that the turkey already wants to be than whether or not you have decoys out. IMHO scouting is much more important than having decoys out or not.
I bow hunt for turkeys and have a few friends that do too. We always run decoys but not just any decoy. We are all using DSD's. Our success ration has gone up significantly since using these things. We are running these decoys within 10 yards of our blinds.
I'm not a product pusher but I really do believe in the DSD's because we have seen the difference with our own eyes. They are costly but worth every penny for the success we have had with them.
I hunted the first 3 days of our season with them and had a tom into them each day. 2 birds were killed with bows.
In my opinion my calling would be the thing that makes toms hang up. I might over do it from time to time but just like hearing them gobble.