So ive been doing alot of reading and searching on the board lately. This will be the first year i take my daughter (6) along with me hunting. Ive always been a run and gun guy and only carried a hen decoy maybe half the time in the last 20 years. So knowing i will be hunting in a blind mostly due to wiggly kiddo, i decided to go with a jake and hen decoy setup. I was reading the recommendations here and alot say a jake and upright hen (and some say breeder if grass is short enough)... not alot saying feeder hen. any particular reason why an upright hen vs. a feeder hen? Just curious. I have bought one of each, just wanted to find out the why. Im hunting western MO and Eastern KS if that makes any difference.
Thanks for any help and guidance
If you have a jake and hen, the toms will almost certainly address the jake decoy first...
I think that the preference for an upright hen is simply intuitive thinking... That upright hen just "seems" more naturally enticing, and watching interactions with hens, the dominant hens will generally address and upright hen before a feeder...
I always put my decoys (especially the jake) to my left as I am a right-handed shooter... Easier for a right-handed shooter to swing, mount, or point to the left side (obviously opposite for a left-handed shooter).
Quote from: Marc on February 27, 2017, 11:27:11 PM
If you have a jake and hen, the toms will almost certainly address the jake decoy first...
I think that the preference for an upright hen is simply intuitive thinking... That upright hen just "seems" more naturally enticing, and watching interactions with hens, the dominant hens will generally address and upright hen before a feeder...
I always put my decoys (especially the jake) to my left as I am a right-handed shooter... Easier for a right-handed shooter to swing, mount, or point to the left side (obviously opposite for a left-handed shooter).
Agree, and put the decoys facing you. so the gobbler will come around to the front of the decoys and i don't like my decoys moving a lot...
I used to be a big run and gun type turkey chaser. As I get longer in the tooth and have a young son working his way up the ranks I am doing much more blind hunting and using decoys. First, decoys - these new decoys are absolutely incredible! I have to AVIAN X (strutting Jake and hen) as well as 4-5 of the older styles (feather flex and carry lite). The detail on the new line blows away the old foam models. I have even repainted and added real turkey feathers to them to give them a facelift....it has helped. Second, location - I typically spread the small flock out in front of blind and face the jakes - facing hens (make sense)....I try to not put them more than 10-15yds or so away from the blind and have them where I can get a good shot from any approach 180 degrees. Now with bow....that's a different monster! One I have not been good at....the gun is much more forgiving on set up! This pic was taken where this gobbler strutted for the last time.....he came in full strut to the face of the jake decoy....separating the jake from the hen. pic was taken from the blind....7-8 yards away!
So is it just personal preference on the upright hen vs the feeder..or is there a method to the madness
I'd say personal preference.....all of mine just happen to be upright! I'd think a couple of each would make for a more realistic set up though. Never see a flock of birds that are all doing the same thing at the same time..... Good luck, PaLongshank
I use decoys in Fall too and find hens will go to the feeder hen 90% of the time while using more than one decoy. No real magic. You can use a upright hen as a breeder too.
Quote from: Mizzouhntr on February 27, 2017, 10:35:16 PM
So ive been doing alot of reading and searching on the board lately. This will be the first year i take my daughter (6) along with me hunting. Ive always been a run and gun guy and only carried a hen decoy maybe half the time in the last 20 years. So knowing i will be hunting in a blind mostly due to wiggly kiddo, i decided to go with a jake and hen decoy setup. I was reading the recommendations here and alot say a jake and upright hen (and some say breeder if grass is short enough)... not alot saying feeder hen. any particular reason why an upright hen vs. a feeder hen? Just curious. I have bought one of each, just wanted to find out the why. Im hunting western MO and Eastern KS if that makes any difference.
Thanks for any help and guidance
I agree with lots of what was said. My only advice would be that when you are ready for your daughter to kill a bird, ditch the jake decoy. Since you will probably want her to take any legal turkey.
One thing I always do is set my Strutter/Jake closest to the blind, the bird coming in will pass all the hens to get to the most dominant bird first. Set your Jake at 15yards and leave space between it and the hen at minimum enough room so a tom can walk between without bumping. I let mine move with the wind (if very windy I bump the deke with the rubber grommet "DSD's" to slow the movement)
One more thing with the blind, if a 5hub blind set it up as a diamond to your set not a square. Point that diamond tip in the direction of you dekes with dekes set to shooters strong side.
MK M GOBL
I use a jake and 2 feeder hens. Reason I like them is I think my setup looks more relaxed that way. I've used semi upright decoys before also with no problems. I've seen some upright hen decoys that in my opinion seem to upright and alert looking.
I appreciate all the help.. never blind hunted, so it sounds like a great tip on putting it setup as a diamond not a square. I felt as if the feeder was more relaxed... but every thread i searched all say upright hen, which i was curious if there was a bird anatomy reason why. Thank you all for the help and suggestions
Quote from: g8rvet on February 28, 2017, 08:25:23 PM
I agree with lots of what was said. My only advice would be that when you are ready for your daughter to kill a bird, ditch the jake decoy. Since you will probably want her to take any legal turkey.
I do not think that a jake decoy will hurt your chances of pulling in a jake.
I could be off, but it has been my experience that birds will hang up more often on hen only decoys... Heck, I have seen jakes beat the crap out of jake decoys in the past (almost seems like revenge).
If you are hunting where there is fairly tall foliage the upright hen will likely be a lot easier for turkeys to spot than a feeder? I hunt where there are few toms and the few toms that are present are with hens. For some reason the toms don't want anything to do with jake decoys? If a tom is with hens he'll just takes his hens and go the opposite direction when he sees a jake with hen decoys.
Quote from: Marc on March 01, 2017, 10:57:29 PM
Quote from: g8rvet on February 28, 2017, 08:25:23 PM
I agree with lots of what was said. My only advice would be that when you are ready for your daughter to kill a bird, ditch the jake decoy. Since you will probably want her to take any legal turkey.
I do not think that a jake decoy will hurt your chances of pulling in a jake.
I could be off, but it has been my experience that birds will hang up more often on hen only decoys... Heck, I have seen jakes beat the crap out of jake decoys in the past (almost seems like revenge).
X2
I had a bird hang up this past year. a Gobbler. he would not close the distance and stood at about 60 yards, strutting and gobbling for nearly an hour. He finally fed off the field, gobbling as he left. Once he left the field and I was sure where he was, I snuck out and pulled the jake. An hour later, he came right in and took a truck ride. Same bird as he had an odd shaped beard. Maybe he was just subordinate, or a pansy, but he dang sure eyeballed that jake the whole time. I don't use a jake much anyways, and have had hens, jakes and Toms all in to my 2 hen dekes, plenty of times. Just thought I would share my one experience of a bird hanging up. Your mileage may vary.
Quote from: Mizzouhntr on March 01, 2017, 12:11:09 PM
I appreciate all the help.. never blind hunted, so it sounds like a great tip on putting it setup as a diamond not a square. I felt as if the feeder was more relaxed... but every thread i searched all say upright hen, which i was curious if there was a bird anatomy reason why. Thank you all for the help and suggestions
If you are going to have 3 dekes out I would have a (DSD) Upright Hen, Feeding Hen and Jake (the strutter is bit less mobile but I have had Great!! success with mine, you do need to learn how to hunt him right but we have killed jakes right in on a strutting tom decoy)
This was my buddies daughter and this jake came in on a full strut tom, she tipped him at 15 yards!
MK M GOBL
If I could only have 2 decoys it would be a half or quarter strut jake and an upright hen. The upright hen can be set on a stake away from the jake or placed on the ground just in front of the jake like they are breeding. I had great luck with the breeding setup last year.
I appreciate all the suggestions. I thought about going to some land i have permission to be on a week before opener..just no hunting on this land and put a setup out and bring the kiddo and have some fun just calling and see what decoy setup seems to work. Obviously to save my land and not educate my birds
So do you guys put the Jake or the gen closest to you?
Quote from: RiverRoost on March 08, 2017, 09:40:25 PM
So do you guys put the Jake or the gen closest to you?
I always set Jake/Strutter closest to me/us, that deke is set at 15 yards and to shooters strong side and hens are spaced so a tom/jake can walk around/between the dekes at any point give them some "elbow room".
MK M GOBL
I wouldn't put decoys too close. Tight patterns with kids at 15 yds can be scary.
Quote from: BBD on April 15, 2017, 09:45:12 PM
I wouldn't put decoys too close. Tight patterns with kids at 15 yds can be scary.
I have had birds hang up on decoys... You can generally shoot the bird before he gets to the decoys.
Quote from: BBD on April 15, 2017, 09:45:12 PM
I wouldn't put decoys too close. Tight patterns with kids at 15 yds can be scary.
It would depend on your setup and gun...
I have 6 down for the year with the kids and closest at 11 yards and farthest at 17 yards, all of guns are scoped and Dead On at 15 yards.
MK M GOBL
This is great stuff. What is your experience with 3 decoys as follows:
1. Upright hen facing the direction away from where you think the Toms will come. Often placed to my left.
2. A jake in a breeding position over another hen place on the ground (i.e, not staked)
The jake/breeding hen will be placed facing the blind about 7 yards away as I am bow hunting.
I typically only use the jake and upright hen but was considering adding the second hen in a breeding position with the jake.
I know there is no right answer but was wondering if this has more to gain than lose or visa versa?
Quote from: backforty on March 03, 2017, 06:46:37 PM
If I could only have 2 decoys it would be a half or quarter strut jake and an upright hen. The upright hen can be set on a stake away from the jake or placed on the ground just in front of the jake like they are breeding. I had great luck with the breeding setup last year.
X 1000 on this setup. It will pull them a long distance once they see that red in the Avian X Half Strutter Jake.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
When I've hunted over decoys, I've had great success using a feeder hen and a jake. I normally set the hen 5-10 yards from me and angling like she was going to pass to my right (I shoot left) to give the impression that she's already looked in the area I am and is comfortable enough to feed.
I set the jake 12-20 yards where he is more visible, slightly to my right, like he is following the hen. Most gobblers either attack the jake decoy, or die before they get the chance.
I only know of a couple of times when gobblers shied away from the jake decoy. Once was the last day of the season when a pair of two year olds (brothers?) skirted the the edge of the woods and continued the direction they were going. The other was an big gobbler who only gobbled once before he showed up. It was raining and he stayed farther out in the field before he drifted off.
Jim
Quote from: Mizzouhntr on February 27, 2017, 10:35:16 PM
So ive been doing alot of reading and searching on the board lately. This will be the first year i take my daughter (6) along with me hunting. Ive always been a run and gun guy and only carried a hen decoy maybe half the time in the last 20 years. So knowing i will be hunting in a blind mostly due to wiggly kiddo, i decided to go with a jake and hen decoy setup. I was reading the recommendations here and alot say a jake and upright hen (and some say breeder if grass is short enough)... not alot saying feeder hen. any particular reason why an upright hen vs. a feeder hen? Just curious. I have bought one of each, just wanted to find out the why. Im hunting western MO and Eastern KS if that makes any difference.
Thanks for any help and guidance
Personally I don't step out of the truck without a decoy , for safety reasons if anyone is going sneak up on you perpetuate a hunting accedent .....the decoy will take the fall
Your out west where it's open , likely it's gonna be hard to make a gobbler commit unless they hear and SEE a hen , I prefer just a hen , but the jake decoy seems to piss em off, put the hen sitting at the base of the jake standing , keep the decoys close so she can take a easy shot
Good luck I hope you and your daughter have a good hunt.--shannon
Good thread. I hardly use decoys, it's probably been almost ten years but I had a situation yesterday where I had a gobbler come in and go into strut and then turned around and left. Ten more feet and I would have had a shot. I'm thinking that he left because he didn't see the hen. I'm going to carry a feeding next time.
In the first Illinois 2017 spring season (April 3-7), I used my Pretty Boy over a hen in the breeding position and a feeder hen. Four subordinate gobblers came in shortly after fly down and flogged my tom decoy, much to the dismay of one of them. My next season was the third (April 14-19) where two birds would not come in to the Pretty Boy but stayed about 60 yards out and gobbled. They circled my position while gobbling, but would not closed the distance, finally leaving. I returned to the exact spot the following morning with my Funky Chicken and a feeding hen, tagging out at 5:55 a.m. My final permit is for the fifth and final season (April 27-May 4) where I will use my Funky Chicken, the feeder hen, and possibly the hen in the breeding position. While these are not intimidating decoys, they are also much lighter to carry than the Pretty Boy! In addition, I can stuff an extra jacket, etc. in the mesh decoy bag. These lighter decoys also are much easier to put on taller stakes to keep them above the ground vegetation in the later spring. Last year during the final season, I used a stake that put the foam jake a foot taller than the gobbler than came in to flog it.