decoys. yes or no?

[frydarinj]

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so curious as to everyone's thoughts are on decoys. i've used them in the past with mixed results, so this year i purchased a couple dave smith decoys (feeding hen and 1/4strut jake) thinking an old tom would come in looking for a fight. instead a tom came up the hill behind me, seen them, stared and walked back way he came. do you all like using decoys or think you have better success without?

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[BTH]

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I think they can be a "wrench" for the certain nut you need to get too sometime. Food plots, gas lines, fields, roads or power company easements and I will use them on occasion if scouting and glassing shows me he has an ego or likes to fight. OR if there is little to no cover available where he likes to be. I believe it takes their focus off of me and any slight mistake or movement I may make.  If using only one in most situations I like the jake. Seen them hang up just out of range on a hen only decoy in the above mentioned open areas too many times. 

However, I will use a hen only decoy if the property I am on has shown me little to no hen activity and their are multiple toms on it that all like the same area . IE competition.... boy to girl ratio is  skewed toward the toms.

In the woods, no sir, I want him to hunt me up and keep coming. 

[county hunter]

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Answer, No. Do not like using decoys. Reasons, extra to carry and some times have to move. I have found that the birds will find you without them.

[MK M GOBL]

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Really depends on how and where you hunt. Most of the ground I hunt is fields, kill some timber birds too but primarily field birds. In my head when a Tom walks out in to the open and has heard a "hen" out there talking to him I would guess he would expect to see her. Different from a timber hunt where it's a looking for her game.

I use DSD's and everything from Strutter (White Head), 3/4 strut Jake, upright hen, feeding hen, leading hen and a submissive hen.

I have "rules" I go by for setting decoys and there is a lot to learning how to hunt them "right".

As always just a tool in the shed.


MK M GOBL

[guesswho]

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Negative.  Couldn't pay me to hunt over one.  I have done it, but never enjoyed it like like I do without them.   That being said, I wish everybody used them except me. 

[Sir-diealot]

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Depends on my mood to be honest.

[LaLongbeard]

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Never used one. I hunt Gobblers in the woods and don’t think a decoy would be of any help. In the woods if your set up right the Gobbler has to come find you. I called two in Monday that circled around thru a thicket and came up on my left shoulder at 5 feet. The one I shot slowly inched his way in front of my gun barell. I had not called in 15 min they knew exactly were the last call came from. That one was about too close but I don’t think watching one strutt up to a decoy in a field would be half as exciting.

[mspaci]

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usually no

[Candyman]

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No

[Southerngobbler]

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When they work its pretty cool. Watching one act like a fool around your decoy is a lot of fun. I feel like if I have some decoys out in front of me I can relax a little more. Have a nice enjoyably sit and not have to have your attention level be on full alert the whole time.  That being said you'll kill more birds without them. They'll slow ya down cuz you wont want to move even when you know a move would be best-just too much trouble to relocate the decs in a suitable place. In the end if you leave them in the truck you'll hunt more like a turkey hunter should. But if your just looking for a nice easy sit bring them along.

[Plush]

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I enjoy using them, but not always. In the woods I won’t unless it is pretty open and even then I don’t like to bring it in the woods. If I move spots and I end up somewhere that isn’t where I want to set up the decoy then I have to either hide it or set it up anyway.

I like to see the display they will put on for hens or how they will confront a male decoy. You can’t really experience that without a decoy and that close up.

They can help or hurt you...and they can be enjoyable to hunt with or make it less fulfilling to some. Do what you enjoy doing and understand when they can be beneficial or when they can hurt you. Even past situational reasons every turkey reacts differently.

[Happy]

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Killed my first handful of birds without a decoy. Then killed another handful using hen decoys. Then I quit using them entirely.  Never have used a Male decoy for personal reasons. So I have nothing to say in regards to them. If I was to throw out a blanket statement in reference to the use of hen decoys it would be this.
If someone doesn't really know what they are doing a hen decoy would probably help them more than hurt them. However if someone does have a little Turkey hunting knowledge and skill it would probably hurt them more than help them.

[frydarinj]

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When they work its pretty cool. Watching one act like a fool around your decoy is a lot of fun. I feel like if I have some decoys out in front of me I can relax a little more. Have a nice enjoyably sit and not have to have your attention level be on full alert the whole time.  That being said you'll kill more birds without them. They'll slow ya down cuz you wont want to move even when you know a move would be best-just too much trouble to relocate the decs in a suitable place. In the end if you leave them in the truck you'll hunt more like a turkey hunter should. But if your just looking for a nice easy sit bring them along.

ive had the same experience with my boss buck deer decoy. had them run from it but also killed a nice buck that had a stand off with it with his ears laid back and grunting at it. same with decoys predator hunting. seems i have more luck actually killing without them but its a blast when it does work out 

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[Marc]

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I grew up hunting birds (primarily waterfowl), and was self-learned in turkey hunting (early 1990's).

When I first started hunting turkeys, it was my impression that decoys were a necessary aspect of turkey hunting.  As a waterfowl hunter, calling in birds over decoys was the "natural order" of hunting them.

I got busted trying to set up decoys, I had birds hang up on decoys, I had decoys tip over and scare birds...  I did have a couple come in to get killed though.

As hunted some different areas and different terrain, I started hunting without decoys, and found that often times, it was more productive...  Birds often continue that forward motion looking for that hen he cannot see.

There were times hunting this year, where I called in hens (with toms behind them), and I am fairly certain that had I had a decoy (or two out) those hens would have addressed my decoys and pulled the toms all the way in....

I have enjoyed the interaction of birds working into a decoy, and to see a tom run across a meadow to address that jake decoy.  I have also enjoyed the anticipation of calling that tom in the woods that is cautiously moving forward looking for that hen (at an unbearably slow pace).

My current thinking is that in the woods, or with cover or tall grass, that the decoys are more trouble than they are worth, and I hunt without them.  If I am hunting an open meadow or pasture, I typically utilize a jake/hen combo.  I am more likely to utilize decoys early in the season, or if I am hunting with a beginning hunter.

Admittedly, for me personally, I have found a bit more satisfaction calling in birds without decoys...  I just feel like I "tricked" them more.  But I take no issue in utilizing decoys successfully either.

[EZ]

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Answer, No. Do not like using decoys. Reasons, extra to carry and some times have to move. I have found that the birds will find you without them.

Yep, nothing against them, just have little use for them..... and I do hunt fields about 40% 0f my spring season.