decoys. yes or no?

[Turkeyman]

I'm neither a "deeker" nor "blinder". Now...the politically correct response is that, if it's legal in the area you hunt, it's okay. And that's okay! Thus I don't condemn anyone who abides by that. But, personally, I get satisfaction when I call a bird in sans deek or blind. But maybe that's just me.

[Dfowlup]

It pretty much depends on what you want to accomplish and how you hunt.  I've pretty much always used decoys but I hunt fields a lot and I bowhunt some as well.  I enjoy getting video and watching how the birds react to a decoy.  I enjoy the hunt itself.  The videos below are from this year and include field setups, food plot setups and woods setups.  One thing I've always learned to do was to use two jake decoys and set them side by side.  If I put a hen or two out I will set them 10 yards or so away from the jake decoys.  This signifies subdominance and most often helps with less aggressive gobblers.

My son and my first Georgia 2020 Gobblers  https://youtu.be/I8AnA8nvRuI

An agressive hen attacks my hen decoy  https://youtu.be/e8ol8RHAbkg

My son's second Georgia 2020 Gobbler https://www.facebook.com/fowleroutdoors/videos/363188234570150/

My hunting partners Georgia 2020 Bowkill  https://youtu.be/vKM_pTgm9qQ

My agonizing bow miss!  https://youtu.be/XRflF69k3io


I have other videos from previous years that show success with decoys.  I have had a few encounters where the decoy probably hurt and caused a gobbler to shy away but I think in those cases the setup and decoy placement were partially to blame.

My YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftMctHN3LXOzs1eHicSH_Q
My Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pg/fowleroutdoors/videos/?ref=page_internal

[g8rvet]

Most of us that have hunted spring gobblers very long have made up our minds on whether we want to use decoys or not.  I suspect that decision has been based primarily on where we hunt and the conditions we face there.  There are places where they are definitely not necessary to calling in and killing gobblers,....and there are places where I can fully imagine they are. 

I believe the real discussion here is about giving our newer hunters valid information regarding decoy use.  It's easy to imagine a new turkey hunter shopping for turkey hunting stuff looking at the dozens of decoy options and saying to himself,..."Gee, I guess I gotta get one of those if I'm gonna hunt turkeys and do it 'right'".

Some folks will probably look at this discussion from the same perspective they do in waterfowl hunting.  That is, to be a "traditional" waterfowler, you set out decoys.  That is not really what "traditional" turkey hunting is about, and that is why you see such varying (and sometimes extreme) views about it in discussions like this. 

So, for the new guys that are confused:  It is your choice to use decoys or not, but if you are wondering whether they are considered to be necessary for you to be classified as a "sporting" turkey hunter, the answer to that is,...no, they are not.

You know, that is a great perspective.  I kind of feel that those that do not use decoys for ducks or geese are not fooling the birds and calling them in.  I feel like pass shooting is kind of the less sporting way to kill ducks.  I have done it a time or two (always on woodies, decoys don't much work on them), but don't feel like there was any real accomplishment on my part.  I had never really thought of it like that, but that is a great analogy.