decoy or not to decoy ?

[Gordie]

I have been wacthing some turkey hunting vids and some guys are using decoys and some just call with out any decoys.what do you guys think on this? what do you guys think the best decoy set up is and which decoys do you guys like?

[Borch]

Personally I don't use them very often. They can be very effective especially if you're hunting the earlier seasons. But as you get into the later seasons they'll cost you more birds then they'll lure in. Toms see them and strut and gobble until the real hens so up and lead him away or he'll see them and high tail it into the next county.

When they do work later in the season it's usually on a 2 year old satelite tom who's quickly trying to sneak in and love up a hen before the dominate bird shows up to kick his butt. Usually these guys don't talk much before they are on the decoy.

Good Luck!

[gurkster]

I use a 2 hen and 1 Jake setup. More than once I have had a Turkey come in and nail that Jake. I don't know what chances it might have cost me, but I do know it has helped on several occasions.

[123fish]

I too have had a gobbler come in and circle my jake decoy eye to eye just daring it to make a move. I also have had a gobbler coming on a dead run come around a bend and see my jake and hen decoy and instantly stop and head the other way into the woods. There is not going to be a definite answer on your question. I'm sure if your hunting birds that are pressured a lot with guys using decoys those birds are going to be harder to decoy. It won't take long to find out.

[HateHumminbird]

Quote:

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It won't take long to find out.

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Exactly. Let the birds dictate your tactics. As Borch said, later season I don't use them at all unless bowhunting, and even then, I can honestly say they've cost me more birds than they've helped me kill. That said, I like to move around a bit, and don't really have the patience to sit over a deke for too long anyway.

It's not to say decoys don't have their time and place! Early season, or esp in an area with an abundance of gobblers, you're trying to key in on the competitive nature of these birds. After these birds have been called to or have just plain had their butt handed to them too many times, they think twice about running headlong towards the next hen in a breeding position with a jake standing next to it.

Joel

[RodNGun]

It is day-to-day. I have hunted of the roost in the a.m. with decoys and without. Have gotten birds both ways. I have also hunted birds that are on the move without a decoy that are grouped up and have had to belly crawl for 5 hours before dropping one of the Toms. No time to set the decoys out cause you are not stationary your mobile. I have cut birds off from the roost to the feed field, and called them in cause they didn't know where the bird was that was calling to them and harvested one. It just depends on how you are trying to harvest the bird. If you are in heavy woodland area that visibility is low. The decoy will not do anything. If you are set up the edge of a field where the visibility of your decoy is crucial then yes use a decoy. It just depends on where you are hunting. In those videos you see that.

[FarByondDrivn]

Couldn't agree more with the advice you guys are giving. I have found that they are great early in the year, but in the later seasons, they don't seem to be as effective. The only setup I have gotten good results out of later in the year is a single feeding hen with a "bobble-head". It seems like, later in the year, they really want the hens to come to them. I don't know of its pressure related or more of a time of year deal.

[SCCO9803]

Anyone tried the new Pretty Boy decoy? I bought one and am curious if anyone has used them. It may scare the younger ones but it sure seems like it would upset the old gobbler.

[Sturg]

Decoys have been very effective for me in the later seasons. I use a mounted strutting tom and I hunt the G & H periods in MN and the 5th in WI. There is no hanging up and I've had toms leave hens and come right to the decoy. We've taken doubles 3 times. I would think the new strutting deke would work very well, especially if you throw a real tail on it. I hunt private land, use a blind, and setup where the birds can see the decoys from a long ways. Jakes are sometimes reluctant but not always. I set the tom up with one hen and 9 out of tens times the toms will go right to the tom and ignore the hen.

[huntmup]

I have been hearing and reading about guys using a jake fan and 6 to 11 hens, with the mix of feeding and looking hens. This setup is said to work the first couple seasons.

Has anyone tried it??