Decoy design question
 

I am planning on designing and building my own decoy for this season. I was hoping to get some input or advice. Feel free to give advice outside of these questions, I thought they would be a good way to get started. Thanks!

1) What kind of turkey decoy do you currently use that has the most success?

2) What kind of features on your top turkey decoy do you like the best?

3) What features would you like to see added to your turkey decoy for optimal hunting experience?

Thanks!

Duplicate this !

http://www.davesmithdecoys.com/catalog.php?item=43

I second that. In my opinion, it's the best looking decoy.

My best decoy is a stuffed bird by my taxidermist. I also use Zink decoys, which are very good. It's my opinion that one of the reasons these dekes, and ones like dave smith makes, are so effective, is the three dimensional detail of the "feathers" , although if you look at the realistic look(eyes, heads, body shape, color) of these dekes, it's exceptional, especially compared to some of the old decoys from years ago.

Frankly, I don't think that turkey's brains are sophisticated enough to tell any decoy from a real turkey. They are birds. I think they key in on color and shape. If it looks like a turkey, it's a turkey. I've got an old foam hen decoy that I turned into a jake by spraying the body flat black and using tennis shoe paint to change the neck to white and the top of the head red. The toms attack it as if it's a real jake. Turkey hunters are, by nature, "gadget" guys. I think the expensive realistic decoys are designed to attract turkey hunters, not necessarily turkeys.

No all decoys are not the same. Sure the old foam ones will work especially early in the season. But they do not compare to the stuffed or dave smith type decoys. No it is not a gadget far from it they work and they work way to well.

But they don't work 100% of the time.......they can do the opposite and keep your intended quarry away.


Questions is why design your own when they are far too many good decoys brands on the market.

JW

Questions is why design your own when they are far too many good decoys brands on the market.

JW[/QUOTE]

It may be like making your own turkey call....there's a ton of great calls on the market but calling in a gobbler on a call you made yourself is very rewarding. That's my guess.

By the time they get close enough to realize its not a real hen, its too late!!!! Dirt nap time.

It's human nature for us to view a decoy from our perspective and think it looks great or looks more realistic to us than another. I agree that turkeys just aren't that smart. I think it's more likely that posture and/or movement are more effective than color or contour of the feathers, etc.

I swore off decoys for years because I believed, and still have a nagging feeling, that in areas with decent populations they make more toms nervous than those they entice. When I stopped using them my success rate increased significantly.

Now on to being the hypocrite that I am...

A couple of years ago I started using them sparingly and shot one of my biggest birds over them so now I'm getting back on the bandwagon. I am a gadget guy like the next, so I keep looking for that golden decoy and buying more, even though I can't say that to date I have found anything that performs any better than the cheap foam ones I started out with. My 2 purchases this winter were:

- "The best turkey decoy ever" Dakota Extreme Jake http://bestturkeydecoy.com/. I know a couple of others personally that have sworn by it, and its supposed claim to fame is its posture. There may be something to it.

- Zink Avian X Feeder https://www.avian-x.com/index.php?op...how&Itemid=331. Admittedly I got it because I think it just looks like a lifelike turkey...I know, I just said it probably doesn't make much of a difference to the turkey!