I agree with the Mississippian, but remain overall "neutral" on the issue of turkey decoys,
which I have found overall as much a liability as an asset, and in the big scheme of everything, may make little difference in the annual turkey harvest, and even if used, do not necessarily cause one to "miss out" on that rich experience.
Having used them extensively in years past, I have generally chosen to no longer use them, as they are just usually (for me) more a liability. The one exception is a sitting hen decoy, positioned such it cannot be seen by a gobbler UNTIL he's already been called in, already in good range. I often do this when I take a newbie, simply because it can actually "enrich" the experience, and allow much more opportunity for making a perfect head shot.
When hunting by myself, I rarely take that sitting hen decoy, as it's more about providing more time for a good head shot, and nothing about drawing in a bird. The reason I "hide" it is because too often when a Tom sees a decoy, he will totally stop coming in, then walk away, expecting that hen to come to him (which is how it normally happens in Nature). When used, I want him to be in a good spot to be shot, WHEN he first sees it.
As far as any decoy helping me kill a turkey, I believe I get much more help from today's higher quality shotshells designed for more uniform patterns, or maybe from my optical sights on my turkey guns. I really don't want to be hypocritical in condemning someone with only a small acreage to hunt, who wants to try a decoy. If he does it enough, he'll likely come to the conclusion they're overall as much liability as asset.
That said, I am very opposed to "fanning", mainly because this tactic doesn't allow as much opportunity for ethical shot placement, and is a relatively dangerous tactic. Turkey hunting is already perhaps the most dangerous hunting sport in TN. I also do not believe "fanning" consistently works like many assume, and like turkey decoys in general, it's legality or not, may have little effect on the annual turkey harvest.
If we really want to do something greatly worthwhile to help our wild turkey flourish, we are quite limited from a regulations standpoint, while the simplest & most obvious changes seem to be overlooked most, as we focus on dividing hunters instead of real solutions. We need to be careful for what we wish. Maybe in outlawing decoys, we should outlaw "heavier than lead" shotshells, specialized "turkey" chokes, and optical sights?
Also, when I'm hunting public land, I actually believe it benefits my hunting when I see other hunters using decoys, sitting in a tent, on the edge of a field. They are therefore not running around the backwoods, busting the opportunities I can now enjoy more because they're staying put, watching their decoys.
Regulatory wise, I continue to believe the simplest, most effect thing we could do here in TN would be to open our turkey season the 2nd Saturday of April (instead of the 1st), and until & unless our turkey flocks appear to be flourishing, reduce the limit back to 2 annually. Not saying there aren't other things which can be done, but this is "simple", and doesn't divide us hunters like so many other ideas.
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