Full strut Tom Decoy?? And my 7yr olds 1st bird

[chadly]

I stumbled upon this forum about three weeks ago and have been lurking ever since.  I love reading all the stories.  I have question in regards to the new decoys I bought this year.  Pretty Penny and Peeking Tom.
I set them up for the youth season and did not have good results.  The first bird that came in had a hen and let the hen leave as he stayed and strutted for about fifteen minutes.  He appeared to be a very mature bird.  He was very vocal cutting me off most of the time when I spoke to him.  It was an incredible show but at 50-60 yards a bit too far.  He eventually took off in the direction the hen went.
We heard other birds gobbling and decided to move at 7am.  By 7:30 we were set up again and by 8:00am we had a mature bird strutting and talking to us about 125 yards away.  He would come no closer than 70 yards.  He carried on for fifty minutes then another mature tom joined him.  They refused to come in. 
I can only conclude that full strut decoy was intimidating them?
The next morning we went back but a different location.  This time I set up two hens and red head jake.  Minutes after fly down the three jakes and a hen heard me calling then spotted us.  Upon seeing the decoys the jakes' ran so fast to us the hen was running and flying to keep up.  They stopped at 22 yards and the biggest one went into full strut.  My son Joshua (age 7) got his first bird.  He was happy and so was I. 
I will give the full fan/strutting tom another try but wondering if it only works if your hunting the dominate bird?

[VaTuRkStOmPeR]

 Awesome pics of your son!

I would discourage your use of the strutter decoys.  Person, I have observed the same reactions you describe and I feel a 1/4 strut jake decoy is more effective at accomplishing the intended result.

I run a DSD jake and up to two DSD hens depending on the situation. We removed strutters from our arsenal years ago and have never regretted that decision.

[sbraham]

Great job on getting the little guy a bird! Sounds like he got to see some action. As for the strutter decoy.... the only problem i had run into was facing the decoy towards where the bird is coming from. They do approach cautiously at times with the decoy head on. Since i now face the strutter toward me, i have had no problems. Gobblers dont seem to mind attacking from the rear

[captin_hook]

Congrats on your sons first bird! As far as the strutted decoy goes, I think sometimes they don't want to fight another big boy, they'd rather go play with their hens. Jakes on the other hand have no fear and will come in for the fight any day. Jmo

[JVA54]

 Congrats!!

[tomstopper]

Congrats on your sons first bird! As far as the strutted decoy goes, I think sometimes they don't want to fight another big boy, they'd rather go play with their hens. Jakes on the other hand have no fear and will come in for the fight any day. Jmo

^^^This. Congrats to both you and your son.....

[COssman14]

Congrats

[Bigspurs68]

Tell him great job on his first bird! I have had good luck with a full strut decoy but many more birds have came on a string to a half strut decoy with a real fan. A little less intimidating maybe. I'm not a decoy man myself but with the kids, they are the ticket sometimes.

[DirtNap647]

Congrats to him full strut decoys work both ways more toward dominant birds

[steveo]

Way to go !!! Congrats to the young man, that birds is almost as y'all as he is!

[RutnNStrutn]

First off, congrats to you and your boy on his bird!!
As for the dekes, I use them all. Hens, jakes, strutters, depends on the situation as to which combo I use. Yes, I have had strutter dekes intimidate gobblers, and jakes. But I've also had jake dekes intimidate gobblers, and jakes. I've also had gobblers stand out of range eying a hen deke, and refusing to come in. However, I've also had some super exciting hunts with a strutting deke, and I've had gobblers leave their hens and run in to battle my strutting deke.
To sum it up, dekes can be good, and dekes can be bad. Depends on the situtation and the bird. I wouldn't give up on your strutting deke, if you do you'll miss out on a lot of fun! Just know that you will always run the risk of scaring off a subordinate gobbler. Also, I always put my strutter away for the year about halfway through the season.
Good luck!

[jblackburn]

^ this

And congrats to the young man!!

[chadly]

Thanks for all the reply's.  I will try the strutting tom again.  He is my best looking decoy.  My season starts in 6 days.  Not that I'm counting. 

[Dan Mallia]

First off, congrats to you and your boy on his bird!!
As for the dekes, I use them all. Hens, jakes, strutters, depends on the situation as to which combo I use. Yes, I have had strutter dekes intimidate gobblers, and jakes. But I've also had jake dekes intimidate gobblers, and jakes. I've also had gobblers stand out of range eying a hen deke, and refusing to come in. However, I've also had some super exciting hunts with a strutting deke, and I've had gobblers leave their hens and run in to battle my strutting deke.
To sum it up, dekes can be good, and dekes can be bad. Depends on the situtation and the bird. I wouldn't give up on your strutting deke, if you do you'll miss out on a lot of fun! Just know that you will always run the risk of scaring off a subordinate gobbler. Also, I always put my strutter away for the year about halfway through the season.
Good luck!

Good tips and congrats on your sons bird!!

[chadly]

First off, congrats to you and your boy on his bird!!
As for the dekes, I use them all. Hens, jakes, strutters, depends on the situation as to which combo I use. Yes, I have had strutter dekes intimidate gobblers, and jakes. But I've also had jake dekes intimidate gobblers, and jakes. I've also had gobblers stand out of range eying a hen deke, and refusing to come in. However, I've also had some super exciting hunts with a strutting deke, and I've had gobblers leave their hens and run in to battle my strutting deke.
To sum it up, dekes can be good, and dekes can be bad. Depends on the situtation and the bird. I wouldn't give up on your strutting deke, if you do you'll miss out on a lot of fun! Just know that you will always run the risk of scaring off a subordinate gobbler. Also, I always put my strutter away for the year about halfway through the season.
Good luck!

Why do you put the strutter away half way through season?