Since Alabama season opened a few weeks ago I havent been able to get on here much, man did I miss some cooly heated debates!
So I thought I would give my 2 pesos worth, starting with decoys.
I hope a few of you respond so we can have a friendly chat, I also hope to learn something as well.
My thoughts on decoys;
I have NO issue with the use of decoys, period! If you want to use them and it is legal where you hunt then by all means use them.
Here are my reservations...do not say you "called" a bird up within range while using some type of male decoy (strutter, half strut, etc). Your calling may or may not have had anything to do with it, but your decoy lured that bird within range, period (if it didnt why waste the effort of putting one out). Its perfectly OK in my book to use one of these decoys, but I have talked with a lot of hunters over the last few years that claim they "called" a bird up and I later discovered they used a strutter decoy. A lot of times I have caught a gobblers attention with some calling, but when an territorial male sees a strutter decoy he has a mission and that is to intimidate my decoy. The majority of birds I have killed over a strutter decoy I never once made a peep.
If you solely depend on decoys use, then you may be doing more harm than good. I know this from experience. When strutter decoys first came out, they were like turning on the feeder. Birds would sometimes run 500 yards to these things. After a couple years the birds seemed to have backed away from them and have become sensitive as well. Using them at the right time is more crucial now, and I honestly do not know when that time is. All I know is that it works for some and some turn and run the other way or hang up. You may get lucky and hunt a group of birds that have never seen a decoy, I had that chance once and the fun wore off quick.
Decoy quality; a $5 dollar inflatable pink flamingo spray painted black is just as good as a $300 real taxidermy decoy. Feel free to spend the $$ but do know that the purpose of a decoy is to get a bird within range and the focus off you, not try to have the live turkey breed it. Yes a b-mobile or Cally Morris decoy will drive a bird crazy but a spray painted pink flamingo will get him in close enough for the shot as well.
I posted a video a few days ago and it shows a real good example of my decoy experience.
I personally limit the use of ALL decoys now but I do have some that I use from time to time, they have become my plan B in a sense.
Why do I limit the use?
-My pack/vest is much lighter and getting around is much easier
-Lately decoys have hung up more birds for me than lured any in.
-I do not hunt fields as much as I used to
-Public land birds seem to treat decoys like they are the boogy monster
-I like calling in birds and love how they react when they get close but cannot pin point the source
When I decide to take a video camera with me on a turkey hunt I usually use decoys. Simply because if the birds are interested in the decoys it makes for really cool video.
Well, those are my 2 pennies worth. Im sure one penny will contradict the other but those are my thoughts non the less and if you read to far into this and think I am trying to sound "elite" or professional then you have missed the point completely.
FYI...I am going to hunt some public land over the weekend with my bow, no blind, and no decoy because I cannot sit still long enough to justify a blind and the woods are so thick a decoy would be pointless. It is a very humbling experience I think everyone should try at least once.
So I thought I would give my 2 pesos worth, starting with decoys.
I hope a few of you respond so we can have a friendly chat, I also hope to learn something as well.
My thoughts on decoys;
I have NO issue with the use of decoys, period! If you want to use them and it is legal where you hunt then by all means use them.
Here are my reservations...do not say you "called" a bird up within range while using some type of male decoy (strutter, half strut, etc). Your calling may or may not have had anything to do with it, but your decoy lured that bird within range, period (if it didnt why waste the effort of putting one out). Its perfectly OK in my book to use one of these decoys, but I have talked with a lot of hunters over the last few years that claim they "called" a bird up and I later discovered they used a strutter decoy. A lot of times I have caught a gobblers attention with some calling, but when an territorial male sees a strutter decoy he has a mission and that is to intimidate my decoy. The majority of birds I have killed over a strutter decoy I never once made a peep.
If you solely depend on decoys use, then you may be doing more harm than good. I know this from experience. When strutter decoys first came out, they were like turning on the feeder. Birds would sometimes run 500 yards to these things. After a couple years the birds seemed to have backed away from them and have become sensitive as well. Using them at the right time is more crucial now, and I honestly do not know when that time is. All I know is that it works for some and some turn and run the other way or hang up. You may get lucky and hunt a group of birds that have never seen a decoy, I had that chance once and the fun wore off quick.
Decoy quality; a $5 dollar inflatable pink flamingo spray painted black is just as good as a $300 real taxidermy decoy. Feel free to spend the $$ but do know that the purpose of a decoy is to get a bird within range and the focus off you, not try to have the live turkey breed it. Yes a b-mobile or Cally Morris decoy will drive a bird crazy but a spray painted pink flamingo will get him in close enough for the shot as well.
I posted a video a few days ago and it shows a real good example of my decoy experience.
I personally limit the use of ALL decoys now but I do have some that I use from time to time, they have become my plan B in a sense.
Why do I limit the use?
-My pack/vest is much lighter and getting around is much easier
-Lately decoys have hung up more birds for me than lured any in.
-I do not hunt fields as much as I used to
-Public land birds seem to treat decoys like they are the boogy monster
-I like calling in birds and love how they react when they get close but cannot pin point the source
When I decide to take a video camera with me on a turkey hunt I usually use decoys. Simply because if the birds are interested in the decoys it makes for really cool video.
Well, those are my 2 pennies worth. Im sure one penny will contradict the other but those are my thoughts non the less and if you read to far into this and think I am trying to sound "elite" or professional then you have missed the point completely.
FYI...I am going to hunt some public land over the weekend with my bow, no blind, and no decoy because I cannot sit still long enough to justify a blind and the woods are so thick a decoy would be pointless. It is a very humbling experience I think everyone should try at least once.
