Strutter decoy situations?

[RiverRoost]

Picked up a strutter on sale at the end of last season just because.  I know sometimes a younger, less dominant bird may shy away from coming in on a strutter sometimes. When and how do you like to use a strutter?

Or shorten his fan and beard like a Jake?

[jims]

I imagine a jake tail and beard may help.  Also a strutter decoy that is smaller in size may be less intimidating?  I'm sure toms that have been beat up the time you will be hunting will likely be a little less prone to respond favorably to a large strutter decoy with aggressive calling.  I watched a dominate tom beat up quite a few jakes and smaller toms one evening.  The next day I got aggressive with him and he tried to beat up the decoy I was hiding behind!  Obviously if something doesn't work...be willing to try something new!  I always try to think like the animal I am hunting to figure out a strategy that works.

[MK M GOBL]

I hunt with a strutter a lot and have great success, over 175 birds with mine and counting! Learning placement, number of decoys and "which" hens are placed where has lead to much of my success. I use a full fan, long beard and we kill everything from a jake to the boss of the timber with him. There is a "right" way to hunt a strutter and more than just sticking them in the field... lessons are earned but the rewards are amazing! There are very few times that when I use my DSD's that I do not have the strutter out and yes he is that effective. I never let all the secrets out but he is one of them...

MK M GOBL

[Fan Club]

I've had the Pretty Boy full strut decoy since they first came out (2006) and using a strutter is the closest thing to a sure deal when hunting with decoys. Why? Because if you just hunt with hen decoys and use hen calls, the real hens might get jealous and take the gobbler away. But sometimes a gobbler will actually leave hens to confront an intruder. As mentioned, early season and late season seem to work best. Early, the toms are fighting for territory and when the hens aren't receptive yet, the urge to fight is stronger than the urge to breed. Late in the season toms are willing to fight over the last available breeding hens.

I always use a real cured tail and any of the devices that create movement are beneficial. (like Avian X Lifeline). I put a squatting breeding hen about 6-7 feet away and a feeding hen maybe 10 yards to the side. The three bird setup works fine but don't be afraid to experiment. Field edges work real good allowing you to set up in shade and cover while the decoys can be seen from a distance. Here's my kicker... the calling. I use a mouth call and slate at the same time and make quite a racket for 20-30 secs. (or you can do it with a buddy) Yelping, cutting, cackles, the kitchen sink. The pros call this "The Calling Clinic". Because I hunt all private land I throw in a couple gobbles on a tube or a box. The idea is to create the illusion that there's a party going on without your gobbler. When he approaches, he gets the visual confirmation that there is a party going on...without him. At that point it's usually all over but the high-fiving as they can't get there fast enough. It goes without saying that you should be careful with a strutter decoy and pass on the gobbles if you are hunting public land.

True, some toms will avoid a strutter, but they are usually two year olds that have had their tail whipped. The majority of toms I have tagged over PB are 3 and 4 yr old boss gobblers... In that regard a strutter deke provides some natural selection. I also use high quality Avian-X hen decoys, your setup will only be as good as the weakest link. Will it work all the time? Absolutely not, nothing does. But it will give you an advantage over just blind calling, hoping to strike a lovesick lonely bird. let us know how you do this spring!


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[dirt road ninja]

Use it the same way you'd use any other decoy. Put where turkeys can see it in an area they are know to frequent and then hide. Don't over think it.

[cornfedkiller]

I hunt with a strutter a lot and have great success, over 175 birds with mine and counting! Learning placement, number of decoys and "which" hens are placed where has lead to much of my success. I use a full fan, long beard and we kill everything from a jake to the boss of the timber with him. There is a "right" way to hunt a strutter and more than just sticking them in the field... lessons are earned but the rewards are amazing! There are very few times that when I use my DSD's that I do not have the strutter out and yes he is that effective. I never let all the secrets out but he is one of them...

MK M GOBL

175?! Dang!

I hunt with a DSD strutter as well, so I'm curious to hear more about the bolded part above...

[MK M GOBL]

I hunt with a strutter a lot and have great success, over 175 birds with mine and counting! Learning placement, number of decoys and "which" hens are placed where has lead to much of my success. I use a full fan, long beard and we kill everything from a jake to the boss of the timber with him. There is a "right" way to hunt a strutter and more than just sticking them in the field... lessons are earned but the rewards are amazing! There are very few times that when I use my DSD's that I do not have the strutter out and yes he is that effective. I never let all the secrets out but he is one of them...

MK M GOBL

175?! Dang!

I hunt with a DSD strutter as well, so I'm curious to hear more about the bolded part above...

I have hunted with a number of "Strutter" decoys the DSD is just the latest and best decoy I have used and it holds up. I did have some durability issues with some early models of other decoys (who remembers Tommy T from Feather Flex) the old foam body didn't always hold up...So here are a few tips/tactics I have.

1) Distance:     If you are bow hunting place the strutter at 10-12 yards (I just step it off in that range) He is always the closet decoy to you.
                        Same goes with the shot gun 15-17 yards (I do this just because if you double the distance you can easily
                        judge a bird out at "under 40". I myself look for the up-close hunt and kill at the mentioned ranges.

                       * Normally a bird will walk past every other decoy and come right to the strutter.

2) Hens:     Depending on season I will use up to 5-6 decoys in the early season (and who I am hunting with, have to carry it in
                  and back out with a bird on your back) and down to 1 during late season (this just goes with nature, still in groups
                  as breading season begins and late/nesting where there are fewer hens together).

3) Placement:    So I never place a hen decoy so close to my strutter that another tom cannot walk between them, this allows
                        him to do 1 of 2 things either deal with the strutter or tend to the hen either way it works.

4) Placement.2     A little of this goes with RH/LH shooters on which side of them we set up the decoys, just always making
                          sure the bird has to walk past the shooters weak side to get to the decoy of course otherwise they are
                          already coming from the strong side.

5) Placement.3     So here is how my  "set" goes... Upright Hen is placed closest to the strutter 3-4ft away, when a feeding hen
                           is added to the set she is off of the others by another 6-10 feet of them and if a 3rd Leading hen is added
                           she is also about same range just near to the feeding hen as she is the boss of the group.
                           * as a note to this you will have to adjust you set to your conditions, i.e. I set decoys on the crest of a hill
                              and will set some to each side of crest with strutter on the crest.

6) Jake     I do use a jake at times and mostly just early on, he is set a 6-8 ft back away from the strutter as a subordinate. I
                will also at times forgo the strutter when I'm in run and gun mode, I can fit a hen with a jake in the same carry bag
               and go.

So these are my general game plan rules, Decoys are for open spaces whether fields or pastured/open timber. I don't have them out in most timber situations. You need to learn how to apply these generals to your hunting ground, season and time of year. A lot of this will come with experience and become more natural as you make your sets. Just watch what your birds are doing locally and apply to your set. And yes there is more to it but like I said I never let all the secrets out... PM me if you have more questions

MK M GOBL

[tha bugman]

Mostly when I am blind hunting field edges just pop it out with a couple of hens and call about every 15 min. 

[Dr Juice]

Use a smaller fan, preferably a jake fan, and have the decoy facing you to force the bird to come into his face ... and then BLAST!