Question for you blind hunters...

[perrytrails]

Do you use decoys or not with your blind?

I have taken many turkey with out decoys, and have had many experiences with. Seems when they see decoys they hang up and usually leave. Even decoys with movement.

I'm just wondering if I use the blind without decoys should I keep it at field edge or fence row? Or out in middle of field?

[cornfedkiller]

I always use decoys when hunting from the blind...Realistic decoys are key - they dont realize that the decoys are not real until they are in/on them..

[Thunderbolt]

I always use decoys with my blinds....blinds and yes all blinds stickout in some way to an animal....you need the decoys to take the attention off the blind...and movement.....just my 2 cents...Thunderbolt

[DblClk]

I always use decoys when archery hunting. I usually use two hens and a Jake.  Keep the decoys close to the blind 5-10 yards.  Face the Jake decoy towards the blind that way the gobbler will have his back to you allowing you to draw unseen.  This set up has worked great for me and the birds don't seem to be one bit concerned with the blind.  I always set up the blind in the open and have never had a problem.

[BandedSpur]

Man, when I saw the subject "Blind Hunters", I thought, now that would take skill, a blind hunter killing a turkey with a bow.

But now I understand.

Seriously, decoys seem to work well in the morning but not so well in the afternoon for me. And the turkeys don't seem to pay any attention to the blind, unlike deer, who need the blind to be well brushed in and given time to get used to it.

[Hayudog]

As others I always use decoys if I'm bow hunting and only became successful bow hunting when I started hunting from a blind.  I use a  Jake decoy- strutting or not, and a hen.  My B Mobile I cut down a fan to look like a Jake, and shortened the beard.  Put the male decoy facing your blind. I sometimes put the hen under as if he is mounting her.  Drives the dominate bird to really come to the decoy.   Had one attack the strutter so hard he bent the metal stake on a B Mobile.

In this picture the group had hung up on the far side of a thicket.  I never could see them.  It was about 8:30 late in the season, and I guess all the hens had gone to their nests.  They wouldn't come through until another gobbler came from 180'.  And when they came, they came all the way.  They bumped the jake decoy and turned it so it faced the side.