Location: On an Island in the west coast of New England
Posts: 13,137
RE: what do you think about using turkey decoys
I use them in Vt when I can get them up. I have the carry lite 3 pack, 2 hens and a jake, but most of the time I don't have enough time to get them set due to a hot bird on the way. If you are setting up at the edge of a field in the dark then they help. I have found that they can help if the bird tends to hang up so the placement is important.
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Too busy with fishing to spend much time here.
Decoys is a good topic. The guy I have been hunting with the last 3 years, whom I'm trying to learn from, also uses 3 hens and a jake. One of the hens is in 'feeding' pose. Here's my question, other then having the jake where you can see him at about 25 yards and facing the bird in the 'feeding' pose, what is the key to decoy placement? I've also heard you shouldn't face the decoys to where it looks like they are looking toward where you're hiding.
Decoys are really helpful. I carry a jake and 2 hens. For effect, I re-painted my jake to look more realistic - I added more color to his head, and painted him really glossy black.
Be careful using them, b/c I had a guy blow my jake off the pole one day. It was a pretty scary situation. Luckily, he came in from my side, and I wasn't in the line of fire. I think the jake is more effective than the hens.
Location: On an Island in the west coast of New England
Posts: 13,137
RE: what do you think about using turkey decoys
I usually set them up as a 3 turkey flock headed out of the woods into the field. I place the 2 hens about 3 feet apart and the jake out to the side about 10 yards. I like to have them about 10 yards from the edge of the trees and I sit another 10 yards inside the woods. When I am on a ridge and walking and calling and I hear a bird answer a call I try to get 1 set up around 20 feet away in the woods then quickly set up against a tree. When the gobbler comes into sight and sees the decoy it helps to confirm that there is a hen and he will usually not hang up. If he comes into view and expects to see the hen and doesn't then often he will hang up. With turkeys there is no right or wrong way. What works one time will fail the next 4 times and so on. That is why it is a challenge.
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Too busy with fishing to spend much time here.
Decoys are like turkey calls. If used right, they can help. If used wrong, they'll hurt you. I carry 1-3 decoys, depending on the time of year. Early in the season, the hen-jake combo works well. Later in the season, after 6 weeks of being called to from hen-jake combos, the surviving toms won't have anything to do with them. I just carry a hen then.
Don't make the spread too easy to see. If the tom can see them from across the field, a lot of the time, he'll hang up and stut, expecting the hens to come to him. I try to set up so he's got to look for them, hopefully from within range. In heavy foliage, I don't use them at all. The toms are usually within range before they expect to see something.
As with all the other gadgets we carry, they are a tool which can increase your chances.
In the SC swamps and floodplains, when you can see him, he's usually in range or about to cross the line, so I don't waste my time setting out decoys. Hunting fields is another story and I only use 1 hen in feeding postion and 1 hen in alert/caller position the entire season.
We didn't have decoys when I began Turkey Wars 1960, so I didn't get into the decoy habit, but rather used the setup (woodsmanship) to make the gobbler hunt for the hen he heard calling. He had to come into range to see into the area and that was the objective....
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I'm like SC.When I started turkey huntin there were no decoys on the market so I still usually don't bother with them.However,One thing I love to do when huntin is experiment with diffrent tactics and such.The few times I have used dekes I've had success but I'm still not convinced I wouldn't have taken those birds without the dekes.
Like the wise old Swampbird I couldn't agree more!!YOUR set-up rather than the decoys is far more important to the success of the overall situation!I might use a Buckwing jake and hen the first week geared towards arousing the jealous attitude of grouped up 2 year old gobblers who still havn't established pecking order,but after that they go back in the closet!!!!
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I very seldom use them.When I have had success with them,I think I would have called the tom in without them.I found Wingbones reply interesting.If they don't see the decoys until they are within range why use them at all.
what do you think about using turkey decoys
