Decoy motion?

[STP22]

Hello, all!

While watching a few turkey hunts on YouTube, I try to pay particular attention to decoys and setup.

One thing I noticed...why they are all static decoys? I wonder what some slight head movement or occasional puffing up or tail fanning would do to excite birds. I'm not taking 'Mojo" action. Just something other than a static position. Maybe it's solution looking for a problem as static ones seem to work fine. I don't know.

Thoughts?

Steve

[dirt road ninja]

As long as it's not spinning like a top I can't see where movement would hurt you.

[Cut N Run]

My youngest brother gave me one of those motion stakes from Bass Pro last year.  I thought it was a joke, until I tried it.  I have a Flambeau strutter decoy that I'd only used a couple times before, but that motion stake really helped make it look more realistic. 

We get two turkey tags here in N.C., I take one bird with decoys and another without.  I made a jake fan and a short beard for the decoy and it looks great. I used it for the first time last year don't know how much the movement helped, but it didn't appear to hurt anything. The gobbler I killed with the decoy was a suicidal 2 year old that most likely could have been killed with no visual aid.

Jim

[Bowguy]

Depending on situation I'll use some black fire line attached to the stake. Gotta make sure you have unobstructed shot at stake. Don't want the line tangling n causing branches to move

[Marc]

Flambeau sells a decoy called a motion hen.  Back in the day, it was probably the most realistic decoy sold.

There was a pull-string which moved the head so that it bobbed up and down.  It worked quite well as to stimulating birds to come in, but the decoy was a pain in the butt, and once set up, you were not going anywhere.

The decoy is still sold, it is a hard decoy, and comes with a base (that I would just throw away)...  I used an old arrow with the fletching, and used it as a stake, right where the base would attatch.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/343907/flambeau-motion-hen-turkey-decoy-polymer

[deerbasshunter3]

The way I see it, if a turkey will come to a motionless foam bird with no legs (Or just the one straight leg (stake)), I don't see why a little movement would hurt.

I purchased an Avian feeding hen and a Pretty Boy Jr. and they both seem like they will move on their respective stakes with a slight breeze.

I was going to get the motion stake, but i figured with my luck the gobbler would walk into the string and be gone in a flash.

[gobbler777]

When it was legal, I used a battery operated motion stake with decoy once. It worked nicely ... in fact, it was deadly.

[MKMGOBL]

I just did this one today I still have a few things to fine tune & finish but for the most part, it's ready.

https://youtu.be/LYYfhI5vnnk

[BlakeJ]

I just did this one today I still have a few things to fine tune & finish but for the most part, it's ready.

https://youtu.be/LYYfhI5vnnk

What motion stake is that? Kinda noisy, I'd try to do a lil soundproofing on it.

[jakesdad]

Ive always just used small diameter aluminum or carbon arrows as stakes and let the wind be my motion activator.On fairly breezy days a couple of sticks stuck in the ground about 4-5 inches both sides of the tail keeps them from spinning like tops. Like a lot of things theres a fine line between not enough and too much and I always err on the side of not enough.

[MEbeardlover]

Turkeys read the body language of other turkeys. A still, motionless turkey can be read as alert, which can be read as a danger signal. Any movement from wind or otherwise can put birds at ease instead of on alert.

[Cutt]

Not really into using decoys, but to each his own. Natural wind movent of a decoy is one thing, but once electronics, batteries, etc. come into play for movement, to me that's going overboard. Might as well use a live hen and tie it to a stake?

[STP22]

Thank you, guys.
It was something I just wondering about.
MKMGOBL...that is a great idea on your decoy. I bet movement like that would be deadly!
Cutt...I hear you. I guess we hunt the way we are comfortable with. I don't necessarily agree, but I understand. We all try to mimic the sounds of a turkey to call one in. We try to sound as realistic as possible and even have a "conversation" with a bird. I know it's not the exact same thing since calling a turkey takes a hunter's skill and decoy motion (motorized) doesn't. But, a lot of hunters use the Mojo for waterfowl and find it ethical.
It's just surprises me how many birds seem to run right up to a motionless bird and, like MEbeardlover suggested, it doesn't spook them off as being on "alert."
I know some decoys swivel with some wind. I was thinking about using a thin camo string or fishing line rigged to be low on the ground that would provide some controlled pivot to provide additional coaxing. I would love to see a decoy with the head and neck that bobs in the wind or string manipulation.
The only real concern is using such a life-like decoy on public land.
It was just a thought more than anything.
Steve

[jims]

I had a smart ole tom the other day actually fly down the canyon and land on the other side of my decoys.  As soon as he landed he strutted.  He was still super spooky and watched my decoys for about 15 minutes.  Every time I called he gobbled and strutted but finally liked my calling enough he couldn't stand it any more and came my direction.  If he saw decoy movement I'm sure that would have prompted him to come over quicker but sticking with the calling finally worked.

I just bought a remote control decoy movement stand from Basspro that I'm anxious to try out.  I don't think it would hurt!