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Decoy questions / reactions ?

RUGER

RUGER

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Ok I am just curious. After talking to someone this weekend about how his Pretty Boy scared birds off but his buddy's B Mobile worked like a charm it got me to wondering.
In regards to decoys I am actually curious as to everyone's experiences with them.
I personally, have never had a positive reaction to my decoys by a turkey, never.
I have used just hens, I have used hens with jakes and I have used the pretty boy and pretty girl (with and without a second hen).
If I see any reaction at all to the pretty boy it is usually one of, oh crap ! and they move on through the area while seemingly trying to do so without the strutter seeing them.
I have seen this reaction by jakes, never a longbeard.
The longbeards I have seen while using pretty boy just strutted on by on their business, never giving him a second look.
I have seen a hen cut a gobbler off at the pass and lead him away from my decoys.
So I guess my "poll" or question is this,
What percentage of "success" do you see with your decoy set up, whatever it is.

I guess the most commonly used spreads are,
Lone hen:
2 or more hens:
Hen with Jake:
Strutter and receptive hen:

Feel free to add your spread if it is different.
My results are simple,
0% success
50% negative results
50% no reaction at all


What is everyone else seeing?
 
Lone Hen 100%
Hen & Jake 100%
P/B P/G 0%

I had a mature gobbler come in and when he saw pretty boy he changed he tune real quick and started looking for the nearest exit.
 
lone or two hens is my way to go. although a few years aog i had two hens and a jake out and out of know where a gobble came in and tore my jake up, oh well i was out of a jake and he lost his life. i guess i won
 
i personally dont like the full strutters but that is because i am usually on them move so i dont like carrying it.

i will use and have had VERY good sucess using 2 hens and 1 jake in a field close enough the birds and fly down and land near them (picture duck hunting type)

killed 2 birds last year with them flying directly into my decoys and 1 so far this year. However with one place i hunt they roost in the same spot 90% of the time and i know where they fly down to so the decoys are more of a comfert factor.

i would say FOR ME decoys have helped 60-70% of the time. However i dont use them all the time and will only use them if I KNOW i have time to put them out. After the morning hunts I usually dont use them because i am walking till i hear or see a bird.

I have heard alot of people have birds NOT like the strutters sitting out but others seem to like them so not sure.

after morning I only use 1 jake 1 hen if i use any


Flock in field for first light 70%
1 jake 1 hen set up 50/50
 
Every decoy Ive used the birds act like they have seen a ghost.The birds also are heavily hunted too.Dont even tote them around anymore.
Jake decoy 0%
Hen decoy 0%
Both 0 %
 
Last saturday
1 jake
2 hens
had 22 jakes check it out.

Today:
1 Jake
3 hens
Had ol two beards and his many friends standing right in the middle of them.

I've always used them and have never had any problems.

I did have a B-mobile last year and never got any response out of it. Sold it this year.
 
just a side note...

had a buddy have a bmobile up this afternoon. He had a group of hens come in with a longbeard following. the hens came all the way in and were all in the decoys however the LB would not get closer then 70yds...hens walked out of the decs after about 20mins and the LB worked his way around the bmobile but NEVER would come in closer then 70yds to the thing.
 
Tremendous success with all decoys.

In 20+ years of hunting, the general rules apply

Hens seem to be most interested in hen decoys and generally ignore gobbler decoys (until later in the season)

Gobblers seem to ignore hen decoys and go for the gobbler decoys when you use both.

I've NEVER had a bird spook off a decoy. And I've had them standing in the middle of decoys at a distance of 8-12" for 5 minutes purring/ talking to them.

The biggest problem with decoys is getting the bird you're after to see them.
 

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