Ultimate Predator Wind Drift Decoy

[AlleninNM]

Let me start by saying, I have no affiliation with this company.  I use their bow mounted elk decoy and have had good success.  They make a bow mounted turkey decoy, but I am scared to use it on public land.  Just saw they had posted a video of a new wind drift turkey decoy and found it interesting.  Any thoughts?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUfkotD8h30

[Dtrkyman]

Would love a dozen of those in a goose spread for sure.  I am sure it will wok on turks.

[Greg Massey]

Run and gunners will love those decoys....

[fallhnt]

I don't think I hunted a day the wind was below 30 mph last year. I'll pass.

[Blong]

I don't think I hunted a day the wind was below 30 mph last year. I'll pass.

It would attract the meth head birds in the area! They do look good on the slight breeze though. Should be interesting to watch their development progress.

[TauntoHawk]

I respect people coming out with unique designs and not just knock offs. I'm sure a flock of these would work great bobbing around in a cut cornfield. Not something I'd buy but I agree motion is probably more important than ultrarealistic looks at catching a gobblers eye.



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[WNCTracker]

that is a neat idea they have, it probably wouldn't work unless conditions were ideal, but still it's good creativity.

[owlhoot]

Want to see the reaction from a gobbler after he pecks that hen decoy and swings around and pecks him in the butt!  Will he think HEY who's in charge here!

[renegade19]

Looks like a good idea with just a mild breeze.

[Marc]

In all types of hunting, considering ethical chase and take of game, there is a difference between utilizing all of the advantages, and creating an unfair advantage.

From the video, this would be a very gray area in between the two.

Personally, I want to attract the decoy with my own calling, and utilize the decoys to create a sense of distraction, or to make  the bird finish those last few yards.

I finally process of calling a bird in extremely satisfying. I think with decoys such is the sum of the satisfaction would be lost due to the fact that the birds would be coming into the decoys instead of my calling.

I think under the right conditions this type a decoy would be highly successful ( at least from what I saw on the video).

[AlleninNM]

I ordered a set of three to be delivered this week.  I mostly run and gun for Merriam's at between 8000 to 10,000 feet in the mountains.  I'll report back on the success, or lack thereof, later.  Still have a long month to go before I start chasing birds.

[AlleninNM]

Back from opening weekend for youth hunters.  My daughter has been going hunting with me since she was 5.  But this was the first time she had a tag.  Got to our spot at a pond a little after 6:00 p.m. after driving straight from school.  We were hunting at about 8000 feet.  We set up the three Wind Drifter decoys about 20 yards away and got set up.  The decoys come in a set of three.  Feeding hen, standing hen and a jake.  The wind was VERY light and sometimes still.  So the decoys were not moving much.  But they would move a little with a slight breeze.

As soon as I sat down I made one call on the box and immediately got a response from several hens about 200 yards into the forest.  They continued to call and it was clear they were headed our way.  But no gobbles.  As the flock came into view, we could see about 20 birds, with one tom in full continuous strut.  As they got closer, I could see a couple of other toms in the group.

The hens came into the far side of the pond and were milling about.  Suddenly a tom popped up on top of the middle of the dam and was looking straight at the decoys.  He started walking towards us along the dam when another tom joined him.  As they started walking on the dam, the big tom rushed over to them and attacked one of the toms, pushing him into the water.  That tom jumped out of the water and all three started running along the dam towards us.

I had told my daughter that once they reached a certain point on the dam, they were in range and she could shoot.  But they ran straight past that point and continue to run along the dam.  She started to panic and was afraid they would not stop.  I told her to wait and eventually she would have a shot. 

When they reached the end of the dam by the spillway, they stopped and started to mill around nervously.  The two smaller toms started to head down the opposite face of the dam and away from us.  I was afraid the toms were going to drop off the side of the dam and disappear.  I told her that if she was ready, to go ahead and shoot the larger tom, as he was standing still.  I barely got the words out of my mouth when she dropped the hammer at 25 yards.  The tom hit the dirt and flopped off the side of the dam, out of sight.  The rest of the flock was still on the far side of the pond, and continued to mill around after the shot.  The two remaining toms came back up on top of the dam and looked over at the decoys. 

We got up and went over to the bird.  He had expired in the spillway creek and looked a little frazzled.  But my daughter could not have been happier. 

It turns out the birds had stopped at the spillway, which was full of water.  They were walking down the spillway to cross where it narrows, and come over to our decoys.  So we missed the opportunity to see the toms up close reactions to the decoys.  But a 25 yards shot on a nice tom is hard to pass up for your first turkey.

Overall, I like the decoys.  Easy to pack and set up.  Even the little bit of motion we had seemed to catch the birds' attention and bring them in.  I did very little calling, as the birds were coming to us from the first call.  I will be going hunting several times over the next couple of weeks and will report on how they work.