Decoy Strategies

[Plush]

Preparing for my first year of turkey hunting solo and in all honestly truly hunting. I went one other time with an absolutely amazing mentor who stuck me in the perfect spot to down a nice gobbler about as fast as one could wish. That was about 8 years ago and I finally have the time to get back out there.

Now I know my mentor used a laydown hen paired with a gobbler. I bought a laydown hen to put in my arsenal, but I don't like the risk of sticking a gobbler decoy over it. To me the risk of scaring off a bird is too much with a gobbler decoy and I will be hunting on public land and prefer not to be put myself in a prime situation to get shot. That being said part of me really wants to pair up a jake decoy with it, possibly a 1/4 strut to position with it. Now I know there can be some risk to using a jake decoy, but the area I plan to hunt doesn't seem to have many jakes so I don't think the toms will be weery thinking a bunch of jakes are going to beat him up etc.

Would this be a good combo to run and better than the lone hen? Part of my thought process is to give a tom a situation that is going to get him worked up once he gets visual on the decoys and not need much more calling at that point. I am not confident in my mouth call abilities yet and the less calling once close probably the better.

Does this seem like a solid plan to attempt?

[blake_08]

I don't personally use decoys myself, but i see a lot of praise about the Funky Chicken decoy by flextone. It's a jake decoy and honestly it looks ridiculous, but i see a lot of people praising the funky chicken sitting over a hen decoy setup. You might look into it. Good luck this spring!

[EZ]

In all honest brother, forget the decoys and learn how to hunt turkeys. Learn how to find, strike and set up on birds. I'm not downing decoys and in the right situations, may help, but I believe you will learn much quicker by concentrating on your woodsmanship, learning your quarry and your calling. Good luck.

[Plush]

In all honest brother, forget the decoys and learn how to hunt turkeys. Learn how to find, strike and set up on birds. I'm not downing decoys and in the right situations, may help, but I believe you will learn much quicker by concentrating on your woodsmanship, learning your quarry and your calling. Good luck.

Appreciate the insight, but I think one can use decoys and work just as hard on the other parts of their game. I don't think a decoy takes away from other efforts. If decoys aren't your thing and not "true hunting" that is fine...I just don't really agree. You can have a wide array of success so many ways turkey hunting and you definitely don't need decoys...heck often times they can be the problem. But that is all in personal choice.

Regarding the funky chicken, yah, I have seen that one. I thought about how ridiculous it looks, but from a turkey standpoint I can see how it just looks like a ridiculously small jake that is easy pickens for a fight and with a hen can really get them excited for a showndown.

[coyote1]

Your plan can work.

I usually use a laydown hen, a Jake and a feeder hen. A Jake and laydown hen will work just as well.

Set them within 10 or 15 yards of where you are sitting, off to the side of where you expect birds to come from. Of course the birds don't always come from where expected but the goal is to keep their focus away from your position.  I like to leave about 3 feet between the hen and Jake.

Normally I see 1 of 2 things happen, the gobbler runs right into the decoys (always go for the Jake) or they hang up between 15 and 35 yards from the decoys. I hunt in timber 99% of the time so they are usually in range when they hang up.

The Jake may scare subordinate birds, i have seen a couple of birds shy away from the decoys. On the other hand, I have killed several 2 year and older birds with the setup I mentioned above.

[mtns2hunt]

In all honest brother, forget the decoys and learn how to hunt turkeys. Learn how to find, strike and set up on birds. I'm not downing decoys and in the right situations, may help, but I believe you will learn much quicker by concentrating on your woodsmanship, learning your quarry and your calling. Good luck.

Appreciate the insight, but I think one can use decoys and work just as hard on the other parts of their game. I don't think a decoy takes away from other efforts. If decoys aren't your thing and not "true hunting" that is fine...I just don't really agree. You can have a wide array of success so many ways turkey hunting and you definitely don't need decoys...heck often times they can be the problem. But that is all in personal choice.

Regarding the funky chicken, yah, I have seen that one. I thought about how ridiculous it looks, but from a turkey standpoint I can see how it just looks like a ridiculously small jake that is easy pickens for a fight and with a hen can really get them excited for a showndown.

Nothing wrong with decoys at all and at the same time you absolutely can work on the rest of your game. Not sure why certain individuals get fixated on their game is the only game. I would be extremely careful about decoys on public land tho. I would walk in as far from the crowd as possible. Having said that I still like the Gobbler earlier in the season standing over or by a lay down hen.

[EZ]

In all honest brother, forget the decoys and learn how to hunt turkeys. Learn how to find, strike and set up on birds. I'm not downing decoys and in the right situations, may help, but I believe you will learn much quicker by concentrating on your woodsmanship, learning your quarry and your calling. Good luck.

Appreciate the insight, but I think one can use decoys and work just as hard on the other parts of their game. I don't think a decoy takes away from other efforts. If decoys aren't your thing and not "true hunting" that is fine...I just don't really agree. You can have a wide array of success so many ways turkey hunting and you definitely don't need decoys...heck often times they can be the problem. But that is all in personal choice.

Regarding the funky chicken, yah, I have seen that one. I thought about how ridiculous it looks, but from a turkey standpoint I can see how it just looks like a ridiculously small jake that is easy pickens for a fight and with a hen can really get them excited for a showndown.

Nothing wrong with decoys at all and at the same time you absolutely can work on the rest of your game. Not sure why certain individuals get fixated on their game is the only game. I would be extremely careful about decoys on public land tho. I would walk in as far from the crowd as possible. Having said that I still like the Gobbler earlier in the season standing over or by a lay down hen.

I was very reluctant to post what I did because of over reaction like this. I didn't say decoys were no good, or that my way was the only way, or that decoy use isn't "true" turkey hunting. I simply responded to an inexperienced hunter hunting public ground. I'll stand by my statement, because that's the advice I would give my best friend and it is the advise I gave my kids. IMHO, you will learn a lot more about turkeys and turkey hunting without the bulk, weight and inconvenience of toting decoys. You learn how to turkey hunt like that and you can go anywhere in the country and kill them.
I will use ANY legal method or tactic to kill or help me kill a turkey and I've only ever purchased one Feather Flex decoy. I would be more up set if I forgot my crow call than my decoy and that's not very upset.

To the OP..... Check out this website to get an idea what I'm talking about:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7eDrgE4sRia481eiDtu8wA

[Plush]

Well you essentially said one can't learn how to hunt or it would notably inhibit their ability learning to hunt by using a decoy. I don't really agree with that as I think that is painting with a broad brush. You are only going to learn as much as you choose and at the pace you decide. I know people that go deer hunting and have done so for years and literally know nothing about what goes on in a deer brain. Some are in such great areas/locations they can just go out there, get in their stand, and tag out in a few hours. They don't need to learn and choose not to.

Turkeys are no different. The only way a decoy is going to inhibit your learning is if you choose for it to be that way and depend on it like the holy grail. For some they can probably do that because of their hunting situation whereas in heavily hunted public land decoys can become bad rather than good really fast.

I already know come fall season I won't use a decoy or even any type of call because I know where the turkeys go post breeding season. They use a few roosting sights and travel corridors heavily. I know I will just need to set up on one of those travel corridors and wait...they will come. They just become so predicable in the deep hardwoods with zero hunting pressure in the fall.

Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

[MK M GOBL]

So here's my take, and I do hunt decoys and have no problem doing so, they are just a tool in the shed, times when I use and times I do not.

It may be that the piece of public you are on is different than what I have been on, seems to me a lot of hunter ethics and respect and such go right out the window, there is inherently more danger on public and you never know who is there. I hunt public different than I hunt private, yes I still hunt with care but reasonable sure I have the private I am on to myself, but have run into trespassers. So on public I do not hunt any type of jake or tom decoy, hens only and with caution. On private I can attest to how well my White Headed DSD Strutter works.

I can give some insight to the Funky Chicken, so from the behavioral/biological aspect of turkey hunting there are a number of body ques that one can learn, from the elongated neck of the Chicken and the amount of RED on the neck it is looking to instigate a fight, this is why they are coming to the decoy, and yes to a smaller degree the size of the body. So yes a Funky Chicken can work if you decide to use.

I have been hunting a White Headed Strutter, this will be my 20th year. So part of the WHITE design is that the strutter is in a Breeding Mode (of a Dominant Bird) and not looking for a fight, he is only interested in breeding his hen. Same thing with the response to this is 3 fold, A dominant ALPHA bird will come in to challenge the White Head as a response to him looking to breed, a BETA bird will come in as well because the White Head is not aggressive  at this stage, and we have OMEGA's and Jakes coming in as well. From what I have learned all turkeys all will come to the Strutter at the White Head stage and they all have a behavioral response to the breeding sequence, biology of this. I have spent a lot of time learning about turkeys from their behavior/biology and the social structure or what I call the "Dominance Game" and have learned a lot of this by studying turkeys and USING Decoys.

I do have a whole thread dedicated to Decoys, DSD's and how to hunt them "Right" on here, if you have any other questions just ask, more than happy to help!

http://oldgobbler.com/Forum/index.php/topic,70971.0.html


MK M GOBL

[EZ]

Well you essentially said one can't learn how to hunt or it would notably inhibit their ability learning to hunt by using a decoy. I don't really agree with that as I think that is painting with a broad brush. You are only going to learn as much as you choose and at the pace you decide. I know people that go deer hunting and have done so for years and literally know nothing about what goes on in a deer brain. Some are in such great areas/locations they can just go out there, get in their stand, and tag out in a few hours. They don't need to learn and choose not to.

Turkeys are no different. The only way a decoy is going to inhibit your learning is if you choose for it to be that way and depend on it like the holy grail. For some they can probably do that because of their hunting situation whereas in heavily hunted public land decoys can become bad rather than good really fast.

I already know come fall season I won't use a decoy or even any type of call because I know where the turkeys go post breeding season. They use a few roosting sights and travel corridors heavily. I know I will just need to set up on one of those travel corridors and wait...they will come. They just become so predicable in the deep hardwoods with zero hunting pressure in the fall.

Thanks for the link, I will check it out.

Sorry I said anything. I was truly trying to give good advice based on 35 years of hunting these birds and putting a huge pile of beards and spurs on the wall.

Hunt the way you want.

I absolutely would never hunt any decoy on Public ground. But that's just me. Good luck.

[silvestris]

Don,t feel bad, EZ.  My dear friend, Kenny Morgan, essentially got run off of forums by expressing his opinion concerning decoys, and he was the best turkey hunter I ever had the pleasure to know.  I hope he up there hunting them with only his gun and caller.

[GobbleNut]

In all honest brother, forget the decoys and learn how to hunt turkeys. Learn how to find, strike and set up on birds. I'm not downing decoys and in the right situations, may help, but I believe you will learn much quicker by concentrating on your woodsmanship, learning your quarry and your calling. Good luck.

EZ, this statement is pretty close to what my reply would have been to the topic, as well.  Your subsequent responses were right on the money from my perspective, too.  However, I think the thing that a lot of us don't take into consideration with our own personal circumstances is what another persons circumstances might be. 

This is what I mean by that comment.  I can see how, on a very small property,...or wide-open agricultural area,...setting in one place with decoys out would perhaps be a better strategy than moving around much.  But if that is all you have to work with, then you do what is most advantageous to you.  On the other hand, there are places that choosing to sit in one spot over decoys is the worst possible hunting method you could select. 

Some of the places I hunt, I will walk several miles (6-8 or more, in many cases) to strike active gobblers.  I do that because it is the BEST way to hunt those areas.  Try doing that carrying two or three full sized decoys with you and see how far you get!  In those circumstance, find a hot gobbler, set up properly on him, and call correctly,...and he will die.  ....No decoys needed.  That, I believe, is the message to be passed on to less-experienced hunters. 

Of course, whether or not someone should feel "better" about killing a bird that way is just a matter of personal opinion.  The point to be made is that "pigeon-holing" yourself into hunting with (and sometimes without) decoys will, at times, put you at a disadvantage.  If a guy is fine with that, and chooses to hunt one way or the other exclusively, go for it!

Personally, I always try to find large enough areas to hunt that I can realistically rule out having to sit over decoys.  I would rather hunt a public area big enough to do that than a small, private-land spot where I have to use that tactic,...even if my chances of success are much higher on the small, private parcel.  I make those decisions knowing full well that I am very possibly decreasing my chances of success,....but internally, I feel much better about "the hunt". 

I'm sure there are folks that believe that setting up decoys and hunting over them like waterfowl hunters over duck decoys is the "way to go".  That is just peachy-keen by me!   Jokingly (and yet, a bit seriously) I say this,..."Don't have a hissy fit when you set up decoys on a bird roosted a quarter mile away and some other hunter that doesn't know you are there moves in on him, sets up, calls him off the roost, and kills him before he ever gets a chance to eyeball your decoys".   

Perhaps the old adage "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" might apply here.   

[EZ]

Just wanted to clear up that I never intend to offend anyone. I always give the best advice (if someone asks) that I know to give and I will never dis anyone's legal method of hunting. I do have good reasons for any of my opinions and will gladly talk with anyone about them in a PM or even a telephone call (if they want to know).
Thanks.

[Plush]

I completely agree decoys are not always the way to go. I am not really doubting that. I just don't really think one is negatively hurting their education of turkey hunting by having one in their arsenal. That is all. There are a number of turkey hunters on YouTube I enjoy to watch that either hunt over decoys often and some that never do. I also watch one person who enjoys a running and gunning style approach.

[GobbleNut]

All is good, fellas.  I don't believe there was any intent to criticize anyone's way of hunting,...just the point to be made to newer hunters that the "I have to have decoys and put them out to kill gobblers" mind-set that is promoted by so many companies and some hunters, as well, can come back to bite you in the butt if you take that as gospel. 

It is sometimes difficult to tell if someone has that mind-set or not,...and some of us just want to make sure those folks that might think that understand that decoys, in many instances, are not at all necessary to call and kill gobblers.