Even tho I' m guessing the results will be 50-50...what is the answer? You guys use them or no. And those that don' t....why?

This year I believe I am going to opt to not use them. My reason is because many hunters are successful without them and I' m not willing to have a tom get hung up or even spooked because of the decoy. This does happen on occasion. But if I were to use decoys I would try to do get the decoy to sit lower on the stake and a little closer to the ground (many dekes sit too high and don' t look lifelike), and I would attach a string so I can give it motion. I think toms get hung up or spooked when they don' t see the damn thing moving. So my answer is opt not to use them.

Kitsap makes very good points, they do get spooked occasionally and if you use dekes ,sit them low like he said and also find 1 or 2 that don,t raise their head, a raised head can mean that the turkey has spotted danger and that may spook off a tom thats coming in.

Two replies over the whole weekend?? Guess most guys don' t have an opinion either way like me??

I' ll use them. However I usually only use them 50% of the time at most. Using in the more open areas I hunt.

There have always been times i had wished i had them with me but never a time when I had them with me that I wish I didnt. (Hope that makes sense).
In other words, I carry mine with me now all the time whether or not I plan to use them.

I always use em when bowhuntin, and most of the time when gun huntin.
decoys will help you get a turkey 95% of the time.
I' ve never had one not come in after he has spotted my deeks.
I know some hunters have, but I' ll take my chances with my decoys.

I use them when I bowhunt and leave them at home when gun hunting. I think they help. I have never had a turkey run from them or act as if afraid of them. I have had several jakes attack them. Always worth a laugh.

Thanks guys...gonna get me some.

I have a set of Buckwing' s (hen & jake combo). They are brand new and never been used. This season will be the first for them. The collapsible " umbrella" inside them is a cool feature.

Buckwings are wicked shiny, but are still real nice looking. What I did to sort of tone down that irridecent bright shine, is CAREFULLY take some #000 steel wool and go lighly down along the feathers. Believe it or not, it worked. The Buckwings are still shiny, but, at least they don' t have that blinding glow to them.

I have the jake in a standard position, and originally had the hen in an upright position. But I changed that, after reading that an upright, alert, decoy means danger, and will spook a gobbler.

I turkey hunted last season without decoys and it was a bust. Total, complete, skunk. [:' (]

Turkeysrule, I think the rule of thumb is a hen/jake combo, or two hens and a jake. There' s hundreds of varieties of decoys out there. The coolest, but probably most dangerous decoys are the inflatable ones called Sceery. I saw them over the weekend at a store and couldn' t believe the appearance. I mean, you do a double take when seeing them. Yes, they are that real!! But, they inflate like a balloon. {BAM! - oops, sorry pal, I shot your deke. Oh man, sorry... it' s in shreds now!} Or worse, you could have another hunter see the Sceery decoy, think it' s actually real, and get waaaaaay to close for comfort, if you know what I mean! []

Butch