Decoy Direction

[Timberland Taxidermy]

Just curious what everyone's thoughts are on this. I have my own opinions, but I want others to chime in before I give mine.

[Marc]

Away from me, and away from where I think the birds will come from...

Decoy facing me, puts the attention on me.
Decoy facing the tom, might make the tom wait for the hen to come to him...

I put the hen decoy out about 15 to 20 yards parallel to me, facing away from where I think/hope the tom will come from.

Problem is, they never come from where they are coming from. 

[8up]

I say toward me.
A gobbler will often approach the interloper from the front, usually quartering in.
That puts his tail toward me and his eyes focused away.



YMMV

[jblackburn]

I always put decoys facing towards me or off to an angle from me.  Usually this is away from where the birds are coming.  In my mind I want it to look like the decoys are leaving the area.  Might be overthinking, but it seems to work for me when I use decoys.

[Timberland Taxidermy]

I should preface my comments with this, I bowhunt so my objective is to get the gobbler to look away so that I may draw my bow. That being said, I was always told the same thing 8up said, "A gobbler will often approach the interloper from the front, usually quartering in." I have found that this is not the case, and in fact the opposite is true. We decoyed nearly 100 birds this year, and not one of them approached from head on. Here is a sample of what we found this year. Notice all of these birds are approaching from behind, and generally stand parallel to the decoy. Our success went up when we started staking the decoy facing away from us. As for shotgunning, it isn't nearly as imperative and I would probably just try to avoid facing the decoy directly toward the birds I was calling, and anticipate them to circle around and get parallel with the decoy. I also think when using a jake decoy you want the gobbler to be able to see the decoy's head. JMO

[TarheelTurk]

I usually in the past have them all face the same general direction like they do naturally when feeding etc.... , most cases towards me and never towards the oncoming bird. timberland brought ( and others  also ) up some great tips.


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[34NY]

I've had 2 hens up both facing away from me and the toms.  I've tried 1 hen also facing away and parallel.  I've tried my Jake in all directions.  Not a single bird has closed the distance for a bow shot.  I've been in fields and timber.  That has been my season so far.  Some 19-20 birds not one shot taken.  Next step is no decoys.  Getting late here in NY and no tags punched makes for a frustrating season.

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[cajun1085]

So, yesterday was the first time I had a bird this year, not want to come in a just destroy my jake decoy. The bird yesterday was a young gobbler. I don't blame him for being scared in that area. Last week I killed the dominate bird not 50 yards from that spot. I should have only had my hen decoys out.

Also 34NY, what decoys are you using? I think it does make a difference in certain areas or pressured areas to have realistic decoys.

[Timberland Taxidermy]

Cajun, I agree completely. Good realistic decoys make a HUGE difference.

[cajun1085]

Cajun, I agree completely. Good realistic decoys make a HUGE difference.

Do you use stuffers?

[Timberland Taxidermy]

I do, but I also own a DSD that I use on rainy days.

[DirtNap647]

to the side of me

[Marc]

I've had 2 hens up both facing away from me and the toms.  I've tried 1 hen also facing away and parallel.  I've tried my Jake in all directions.  Not a single bird has closed the distance for a bow shot.  I've been in fields and timber.  That has been my season so far.  Some 19-20 birds not one shot taken.  Next step is no decoys.  Getting late here in NY and no tags punched makes for a frustrating season.

I no longer bow hunt...  But I am now interested in taking a bird with a pellet rifle.

I had no success with decoys, and the only two birds I killed this season were with the decoys were in the truck.

But I was thinking if I were hunting with a pellet rifle or bow, I would take the stake off my hen decoy (DSD leading hen which looks more like a breeder without the stake) and put it in taller grass, making it so that the bird will only see that decoy if he is close to it.  Not necessarily to attract the bird to my location, but to put the bird where I want him, and draw attention off me, so that I can take the shot when he is there...

[sixbird]

I generally put the jake decoy facing me. Birds come in from all directions but almost invariably they will eventually come around to face the jake which puts them facing away from me. They'll usually strut which puts their tail between them and me. That's when I move...KABOOM!!!

[busta biggun]

I generally put the jake decoy facing me. Birds come in from all directions but almost invariably they will eventually come around to face the jake which puts them facing away from me. They'll usually strut which puts their tail between them and me. That's when I move...KABOOM!!!

This. I do it not because of which direction I want the gobbler to approach, but I do NOT want the jake facing the oncoming gobbler because that is a more aggressive stance. If he is facing away from the approaching gobbler he could be perceived as either being timid or unaware of the big bird. If he is staring him down it could be perceived as an act of aggression and cause an approaching bird to back off. I saw it happen this spring. A group of birds came in, (jake facing me) and the whole group spun that deke around. After my buddy shot his gobbler another gobbler approached. The jake was spun around so that he was facing the oncoming bird. When the big bird got closer he started getting antsy and turned around. I still shot him, but it seemed pretty clear to me what happened. I got this all on film. I will post it later and let you guys be the judge.