Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

Well we had a greatthread about Turkeys and calling yesterday. I was hoping we could have another great one on Setup/Setup of Decoys.

How close to you setup to where they roost?

How many Decoys do you use/take with you?

What decoy do you use?

Do you have a pattern you set the decoys up in? A formula?

How close to you setup to where they roost? 150 yds at the "Hub" of our farm. We have two lanes and they meet where I setup.

How many Decoys do you use/take with you? On our farm I take 8 4 jakes 4 hens

What decoy do you use? I use Cabela's Brand

Do you have a pattern you set the decoys up in? A formula? I use TOOD, I set 6 decoys out in a Triangle pattern. Two Sets(Jake.Hen) 5 yards in front of my blind. With the Jakes facing me, and the hens facing away. I put a set staright out in front of me 20 yds away. I do this so when a turkey is in the middle of the set I know haw far he is away from me.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

How close to you setup to where they roost? 150 yds at the "Hub" of our farm. We have two lanes and they meet where I setup.

How many Decoys do you use/take with you? Three hens, one jake

What decoy do you use? I use whatever was on sale when I bought them (from DiiiicksSportingGoods)

Do you have a pattern you set the decoys up in? A formula?10 yards out, the jake facing me, 12-15 yards out the hens facing away.

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RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

TRY to stay 150yds from where I think they might be. In the woods....this is difficult, most times.

Typically....one lone hen.

Hardcore hen.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

How close to you setup to where they roost?

Depends, as close as I feel I can get without alarming the birds any givin morning, be that 50 yards to 150 yrds. When they are on the roost, I WANT them to see my decoy, and fly into them.


How many Decoys do you use/take with you?

Two. "Aggresive Jake" and A hen.


What decoy do you use?

See above


Do you have a pattern you set the decoys up in?

I set the Jake behind the hen, and stake in the hen so it looks submissive. Esentially a breeding pair. Othertimes, just a the jake. I set them 5-10 yards from my blind. My goal before I shoot, get the turkey I'm going to shoot to attack my Jake decoy, it is already beat up after 3 seasons:D

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here's a question if you are going to use an off set of hens to jakes should you use more hens or more jakes when setting up?

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

IMO

Jakes. That gobbler won't take a liking to the little boys trying to "get on" his hens.

(this is assuming he isn't with a hoard of hens to begin with)

Edit: I've only tried this a few times. 2 jakes and a hen. I've never used more than three at any given point.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

How close will obviously depend on many factors and varibles that seem to change from day to day but if givin the choice it is nice to set up somewhere between 100 to 200 yards from the roost. That being said however, there are many instances where scouting has indicated to me that the birds WILL be visiting a particular foodplot or strut zone and at these locations I'll pop up the DB blind and stay there until a shooter shows up or legal shooting time ends.

The number of decoys I set out will also vary. Depending on how I'm set up and what phase of bredding the turks are into at the time. However, my favorite set up is a Pretty Boy and pretty girl as well as a couple of extra hens thrown into the mix. I want a tom to think that even if he doesn't feel like fighting, there maystill be a chance to come in and steal one of the hens away. My decoys are always set up close to my blind and never more than 15 yards or so.

Generally I like the Tom, or Jake, decoy to face the blind but again cover and conditions will dictate how I position them exactly. Most importantly, I position the male decoy exactly where I want to take my shot.

Here's our successful set-up from last weeks IL Youth Season. The 5 strutters showed up to the left of the photo and were working/strutting their way to the Pretty Boy when my Daughter smoked one! :)

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

How close to you setup to where they roost?depends on the foliage. I stay pretty far back until theleaves obstruct their vision. Once it thickens-up, I'll slip in tight. A lot depends on whether I know exactly where they're roosted - and how dark it is when I'm slipping in.

How many Decoys do you use/take with you? 2-4. If I plan accordingly, I take the Prettyboy/girl and my 2 foam cheapos.

What decoy do you use?Pretty boy/girl, 1 el-cheapo foam hen, and one Flambeau jake (the one with the plastic head)

Do you have a pattern you set the decoys up in? A formula? I just put them out in an area where they can be seen.

I kill lots of birds off of the dekes, but usually those same birds would be dead no matter whether I had dekes out or not. I just like to draw them to a certain point so I know the yardage and get a little bit ofa show. I like watching them interact with the decoys. It can be pretty funny sometimes.

Note: If I'm lugging in the Prettyboy, I have to stay back away from the roost areas, b/c that thing is loud to carry through the woods. Especially in the dark. A twig scrapes the plastic, and it sounds like somebody is pounding on a snare drum.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

How close to you setup to where they roost?
Normally rather far as they are always roosted across the property line.


How many Decoys do you use/take with you?

I take 3 & use anywhere from 1-3, a jake & 2 hens.

What decoy do you use?
Regular ones from dik's (flambeau maybe?)


Do you have a pattern you set the decoys up in? A formula?

No I just kind of put them out where i want to draw the turkey to, or where they can see it.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

How close to you setup to where they roost? This spring I am goint to set up right under the roost.

How many Decoys do you use/take with you? 3, two hens and a jake.

What decoy do you use? See above, don't know the brand.

Do you have a pattern you set the decoys up in? A formula? 2 hens at 10 yards and a jake at 13 yards like he has the hens blocked off.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

One tip for setting up on roosted birds: If they're roosted on a hillside - I usually play the odds and set up my dekes on the high-side. Obviously, there are no absolutes in this game, but more often than not, they'll pitch down off the roost to the high-side of the hill.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

Super good advice!

I learned this last fall. I went in early afternoon and waited for them to come to roost and found that they liked to fly up to roost from the high side as well. The next morning they pitched off the roost to the top of the hill then worked their way down.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

How far?

I don't try to get closer than 100 yards of the roost. Especially if I know which way they like to fly down. Nothing is worse than moving in and getting busted right off the bat. The rest of the day is an uphill battle.

How many and what set up?

I use 3, two hens and a jake. I usually set the hens up facing perpendicular to my position so the gobbler will strut to them coming in sideways to get their attention. The jake is facing me because if the gobbler wants to intimidate him he'll come closer to "get in his face" and for safety sake. If the jake is facing me and someone tries to blast him they can only see the beard from the sides.

What kind?

1 Feather Flex, 2 Flambeau, all cheapo foams.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

Some of the are actually pretty humorous in doing so. They take off running to gain flight, easier.:D

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Yeah they don't fly real well, as we all know:D

We've heard them get off the roost, sometimes it sounds like a boeing 737 flying through the trees.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

As close as I can till I'm about 50-75 yards out. With or without foliage I hate to get closer than this when they are on the roost. If I know they are on the ground though I get as close as I can without spooking them and am fairly aggressive here.

I don't know why, but I've setup right on roosted birds soooo many times when it was still dark enough to know they didn't see me, and even though they respond from the roost they fly down the other way and leave the area, usually shutting up when they hit the ground. When I don't setup super close and hang back 75ish yards or so, I have much better luck.

As has already been said, they seem to like to fly to the uphill side of a side hill when coming off the roost, and they like to fly from the uphill side to roost as well. I've also noticed that it's MUCH more difficult to get a tom to commit to coming up a hill as compared to paralleling the hill or coming down the hill.

I have 3 decoys with me at all times. A bobble head buckwing breeding pair, an el cheapo flambeau hen, and another el cheapo jake. If I'm sitting for a long stretch w/ time to setup such as in bowhunting, I'll usually setup all of them. If I'm in a rush with a hot bird near I'll usually only setup the hen, maybe the jake too if time permits. When setting up, I face the jake towards me, the breeding pair broadside to me, and the hen facing away from me. When bowhunting I set them up all 10-15 yards from the blind.

Read above

I honestly don't think it really matters much. The only thing I can say is the closer to the blind the better IMHO. I think with a bow the decoys are a help because you can shut up on the calls when the bird is 50 yards out and let him lock onto the decoys to bring him in those last few steps. With the decoys holding his attention, it seems like you get away with a lot more movement which can be critical when bowhunting.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

My set up last year was a pretty boy and pretty girl, I put the pretty boy facing me about 20 yards away, im in a natural ground blind so i dont want it to close so as not to get caught drawing. I put the hen about two feet in the front of him. Pretty boy was getting his A$$ kicked last year so i had to put an arrow in his A$$ kicker :D:DI have a secret weapon for this year, but its a secret [8D]

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

I personally believe you can get however close you want, if you get in early enough. Early season I shoot for 100 yards. Later in the season 60-80 yards is more like it.

I use one mounted hen that a buddy made for me, and a foam jake. IMO, the jake is most important. Jake facing me, hens facing away. Preferably I put them behind a tree, so that gives me time to draw.

Good luck!

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I get as close as I feel I can get away with.

My new secret weapon and a hen. 15 yards out.

RE: Bowhunting Turkeys Decoy Sets/Setups
 

Good Info shared here guys,

I am looking forward to Tax day. Its our Turkey opener. My boys and I have been keeping tabs on a nice little group of gobblers and hens. Should be fun.