Cheating?

[Marc]

I've seen a few posts where folks' opinions are that using decoys is cheating.  I don't get it.  Can someone expound upon that philosophy?

The idea is that turkey decoys create an unfair advantage.  Get a bird's attention by calling, and then let the decoys do all the work... 

Learning to hunt without decoys takes a more skill, woodsman ship, and a better understanding of the turkey.

I grew up duck hunting, and decoys were part of the game.  So using decoys to turkey hunt seems natural to me, but I do understand the concept.  In duck and goose hunting we are seeing a lot of electronics and mechanical decoys being used.  Personally, I do not care for this, and would love to see the use of any electronic decoy or call ended...  I have come to live with, and accept the use of mechanical decoys and recorded callers for geese, but I would not be upset if they were restricted...  And, I still can and do choose not to use them.

As far as turkey hunting, personally, I feel that decoys are not such an unfair advantage, and generally for them to work the birds have to get somewhat close.  The interaction of the birds and the decoys can make things interesting at times, and it can make taking a new hunter much easier.  If I am taking someone who is inexperienced, I set up the decoys as to position the birds for a safe and hopefully close shot...

.

[Cutt]

I don't look at it at cheating if it's leagal, no diiferent than those using deer decoys, I guess?

I personally would rather have a bird hunt for me, than spot a decoy, and just like the challenge more without dekes.

[perrytrails]

Buy your tag, go hunting.

Abide the law and do it your way.

That's hunting...

I don't use decoys, seen more bad than good. Just my opinion. 

[silvestris]

Poison gas was legal in warfare before it was illegal.

[Treynolds]

I suppose I could buy into the perception of cheating, if the success rate of using a deke was always 100%.  But, even then, I wouldn't consider someone a cheater..... Just a different element of hunting.

[Cut N Run]

I've seen a few posts where folks' opinions are that using decoys is cheating.  I don't get it.  Can someone expound upon that philosophy?

Just reply with, "This guy thinks we're ALL cheaters..."

Brilliant!

[Blong]

Decoys are good when someone impaired needs them or a newbie that doesn't know how great a turkeys eyesight is yet.. I will take the thrill of not  knowing where he may or may show up rather than pointing my 3.5" 10 ga at a strutter and 2 hens from a pop up blind. I'm not against it, I just wont hunt like that unless taking a child or newbie because it is definitely an advantage. Instant gratification is the way now, no more learning to read sign or scout. Heck lets throw up  a pop up blind and a strutter and  shoot the crap out of these idiotic toms defending their territory!

[Gobspur]

I've seen a few posts where folks' opinions are that using decoys is cheating.  I don't get it.  Can someone expound upon that philosophy?

My answer to your question:  If folks' opinions are that using decoys is cheating.....can someone expand on that philosophy?  Well, what is it about using decoys that would make it considered cheating? First define cheating.  Correct or not, I'll define it here as an activity that is usually (not always) legal, but considered wrong by some set of ethical morals.  Next, ask what are decoys and what do they do, on the simplest level?  I believe most definitions would be along the lines of 'an imitation of an animal used by a person in some way to attract a live animal.'  Now ask: Even though legal, is that wrong?  And then next ask..... what is a turkey call?  I would probably answer that it 'is a call made by a person that sounds like a turkey, usually used to attract a turkey.'  Even though legal, is that wrong?

Now think about that and the similarities/differences.   Everyone has a different set of ethics.  From my ethical standpoint, they are the same.  If another hunters ethics tells them they are different, one is cheating, one is not, well that's okay too.  If we were all the same, we'd be like robots.

[Blong]

I roosted a bird last year for the opener, he was on the edge of a pipeline in large pines. I had to walk under him very early to get toward the field they had been using. I decided to try out a strutter and stuck it in the pipeline. When it is enough light for him to see it, he flies halfway and then runs all the way to it. He was dead in 30 seconds. I feel like I cheated both him and me. I'm not in it for the kill as much as I am in it for the game. I will not use another one unless it is for a child wanting to hunt.

Well, you didn't HAVE TO shoot him. 

Exactly. Hahaha

I did have to shoot him. If you beat a bird at the game and don't shoot him, you are being untrue to him and yourself. I cant remember if it was Mr Gene or Col. Tom that wrote about calling up a bird while hidden behind some torn down fence and letting him walk and then feeling terrible about it but that is the way I feel also. It is a spiritual thing to me and when he is lying there in a pile of bloody feathers, I have very mixed emotions. Its not uncommon for me to tear up with overwhelming joy,sadness and thankfulness after checkmate. I believe it was Ben Rogers that said something to the extent that if he could breath life in him and hunt him again tomorrow that he would. Im not in it for the kill and eating although they are spectacular, one can dove or squirrel hunt for that. I don't expect everyone to understand but I am willing to bet that the guys that have been after them for many years know exactly what I'm trying to say.

[El Pavo Grande]

Though I occasionally hunt with decoys while hunting with others who use them, I don't like using them.  I won't go as far as saying it's cheating.  Do I think it takes much skill to set out a full strut decoy and wait for a gobbler to flog it?  No.  Do I think many don't learn to hunt, but rely on soley on decoys?  Yes.  Just my opinion.  And the marketing of these full strut decoys, and decoys in general, have really soured me to them.  I hate a lot of what the $$hunting$$ industry has done "promoting" products. 

I don't agree 100% with the concept that if it's legal, it's acceptable.  One such example is mechanical decoys.  Mechanical or remote control decoys are cheating in my opinion.  There has to be a line drawn somewhere.  Many will disagree with me, but we owe turkeys more respect than flipping a switch and having a motorized decoy lead one to you.  Turkeys have pea sized brains with no ability to reason, but rather an instinct to survive.  Killing just one in this manner is one too many.

[dejake]

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Re: Cheating?

« Reply #30 on: March 12, 2015, 08:51:35 PM »
Now we're getting somewhere.  I posed this question because on two other threads, folks had stated that using decoys was "cheating" providing an "unfair advantage".  How in the world can the concept of fairness enter this equation.  We are predators and turkeys are prey.  Is it cheating that a cheetah is faster than a gazelle, that a cougar can leap from cover, that wolves kill with numbers?  I think not.  Man's advantage is his intellect, which is why we're the ultimate predator.  Because of our intellect, we can pick and choose what tools we wish to use.  As such, some choose to make the game more challenging. And yes, it's a game for the majority of us; we don't NEED to hunt for survival (but that's another topic).  So, in this game there is no fairness, there is no cheating, just each man's set of personal rules that gives him the greatest satisfaction.  As we advance in our skill, I think most of us try to make things more challenging.  As someone stated earlier, I won't kill a deer with a firearm anymore either, just doesn't give me the same satisfaction.
Each man has his own code, and that's fine, but don't label any legal means "cheating" because it's not your preference.  To each, his own.

[Ihuntoldschool]

I completely agree with Blong.  He DID have to shoot that bird, that is the way the game is played. Once you decide to introduce them into the game, you have to be prepared for what can happen. But, I can only imagine the pain he went thru afterwards, I do not ever want to be in that position.

Now I don't care if you use them or not. But with the decoys available now, it is like having a live bird out there in front of you. To me it is more about how you play the game, not about winning or losing on any given day/hunt.

I still think there is something to be said for the "True Turkey Hunters" who really learn/learned how to hunt these birds they way they were intended to be hunted without taking any shortcuts or disrespecting the bird in any way.

[dejake]

Who determined the "way" they're supposed to be hunted?  Why does utilizing that method dictate that they're a "true turkey hunter"?

[GSLAM95]

Hey turkey season is open down South and soon to be open in the North get out and go, enjoy it however you want and hope to see some pics and threads that are about something less controversial in the future.  Hunters are always under fire by a lot of groups.  Gheeez we are a small group of the overall population so quit bickering among yourselves and simply enjoy it however you choose. 

[GobbleNut]

To me, personally, using decoys is not cheating,...it is just not as enjoyable as proactively searching for a gobbling turkey and trying to call him in.  If someone else thinks its more fun to set out decoys and wait for a gobbler to show up,...more power to you.