bnhcomputing

Which gives you a better chance for success? Turkey hunting with decoys, or no decoys at all?

Pro's / Con's to decoys?

Tree climber

not me ; had my decoy shot one time..
it's been in the safe ever since.

Deer_Tracker

I prefer a decoy because it keeps the gobblers attention, unless he has pinpointed your calling location which happened to me last weekend at which point my buddy shot the bird 14 steps away...lol. Although have had people stalk my decoy before and they weren't suppose to even be hunting that land so you have to be careful as well. But for the most part a decoy to me is what keeps the attention of the gobbler off me so i have a little more room to move and take him.

sour01

This was the first year we could use decoys in Alabama. From my experience this season---the answer to your question would be---it depends.

My second hunt of the year I had about 8 hens in a grassy field leading a struting Tom right to me. When the hens got sight of the decoys (they were about 80 yards from me) they hung up and did a 180 leading the Tom away. I did not use decoys the next several hunts.

From my hunt yesterday, I decided to put them out and a lone Tom came in silently to the dekes.

My gut feeling is that since it is late season----decoys might be productive for lonesome Toms looking for love.

Sooo---I'm not sure there is a good definitive answer to your question.

hawglips

I haven't used one in a few years. Spook too many birds for my tastes.

Hal

quiksilver

If you use a decoy, it should look good. Those el-cheapo cookie-cutter foam generic decoys make better car washing sponges than they make a good hunting aid.

Flambeau just introduced a "Master's Series" jake that I would shoot if I saw it. It's that good.

Like Treeclimber, I also had my decoy shot, and it was a very scary ordeal - you must use it wisely, and be wary of other hunters.

I've killed a lot of birds off my decoys, and I use them quite often. Would the birds have come in anyway?? maybe. Who knows?

If you do go for the decoy, just make sure you get a good one, or if you get a cheapo, it will be fine as long as you paint him up really nice. Give that head some really bright coloration (Bright red waddles, blue head and a white crown) Also give him a coat of glossy glack paint on his chest and back, along with some irridescent glaze if you can find it (look at a craft shop for it).

Trust me, if you think it looks fake, they will too. Turkeys' eyesight is very keen and sometimes it takes a little more to fool 'em, and you want every advantage you can get.

GATurkHunter

I too have had mixed results. I've had a tom come to the decoy without me even getting the call out of my vest to hens being very social with the decoys to the lead hen doing a complete about face the second they saw the decoys taking the rest of the birds with her.
I always carry them but dont always use them.

Box Call

In prior years, I had been using one jake and one hen with very limited success. I hunt public land and was a bit concerned whenever I put the jake out, and I always wondered if seeing the male decoy was preventing other males from coming to my setup. This year I just used a single hen and seemed to have much better success. One day had a hen stand beside my decoy while the gobbler that was trailing behind her came into range for me to take him. Next day had another gobbler coming into my setup only to be taken away by a real hen (they have names for women like that!), and the next day had a long beard come in on his own, and when he spied the decoy, he spit, drummed, and did everything he could to get her to go to him. He was only 25 yards from me, but the decoy sure held his attention. I messed it up by shooting over his head, but the decoy did help. I also started placing my decoy just over a ridge line so the gobbler has to commit to coming up over the ridge to find his date. When he sees her, he is already in range. I think this could prevent him from hanging up if he could see her from say 100 yards or so. Maybe as the season goes on, may be a good time to try without the decoy. Just depends if the birds you are hunting had any bad experiences associated with decoys.

Good luck!

FroMan

6 to 1, half dozen to the other.

A decoy, can bring in a bird the extra so many yards....but, a decoy can also hang up birds just out of shooting range.

It's your call.

DaveH

I have shot a number of birds coming in to a single hen decoy. I have also seen them give my 2 hens and a jake set-up a wary eye and not come close enough. I have heard tremendous success stories about hen and jake sets and bought mine for that reason, but they have never worked for me. Even though I had all my dekes in the truck last week, I only used a single hen. The first gobbler did eye her cautiously, but came in to a few soft clucks. The 2nd one strutted 100 yards away for over 45 mins which made me think the decoy was going to cost me a longbeard. However, a calling sequence timed when he was behind some trees made him come in --I think the cutting was what sealed the deal. I probably will stay with a single hen from now on.