Decoys

[ruger7mag]

Judging by social media, I think it's safe to say that AT LEAST 50% of the toms taken are over decoys. I personally know people who kill the piss out of them with their blinds and decoys. These same people would struggle to kill a bird much less two every year.
Like someone else said, a pile of big hooks have been posted on social media this year. I'd be willing to bet that a very large percentage of those birds were reaped or decoyed.

I would say at least 50% of turkeys are killed using some type of call


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If you include the ones that "called them in" with their decoys, then I agree. If not, the birds that are reaped, decoyed, ambushed, and shot over corn will exceed the 50%.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

If you do not know that predators kill more turkeys than humans, there is no reason to discuss turkeys with you and yes there is research and proof.

Adult turkeys, like we are discussing? I have seen/read the research and data on poults in the southeast (50-70% mortality rate first two weeks), but never read a scientific peer reviewed article that substantiated how lethal predators were on adult turkeys. You got a link?

My comment was not made towards adult turkeys but turkeys in general, it was a serious comment made in sarcastic jest, kind of like, let's all gang up against the predators instead of each other. However, i do not think there are many scientific peer reviewed journals on turkey deaths because, from the biologists i have talked to, it is hard to necropsy a dead bird you can't find.


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[Goodtimekiller]

Judging by social media, I think it's safe to say that AT LEAST 50% of the toms taken are over decoys. I personally know people who kill the piss out of them with their blinds and decoys. These same people would struggle to kill a bird much less two every year.
Like someone else said, a pile of big hooks have been posted on social media this year. I'd be willing to bet that a very large percentage of those birds were reaped or decoyed.

I would say at least 50% of turkeys are killed using some type of call


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If you include the ones that "called them in" with their decoys, then I agree. If not, the birds that are reaped, decoyed, ambushed, and shot over corn will exceed the 50%.

Everybody on this forum acts like the entire nation is reaping turkeys but 90% of people on this forum are against it. I think everyone here is studying too much social media when they should be watching for turkeys. Most people i talk to about reaping/fanning do not know about it or use it. Corn is already outlawed so that doesn't really count for our discussion. But i think most of the turkeys that are reaped, ambushed and decoyed are also called to.


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[Boll Weevil]

You can disagree all you like but predators hunt 365 days a year and destroy nests constantly during the entire nesting season.

Perhaps you misread my response; I agree with you on this point.

 

[Andy S.]

Everybody on this forum acts like the entire nation is reaping turkeys but 90% of people on this forum are against it. I think everyone here is studying too much social media when they should be watching for turkeys. Most people i talk to about reaping/fanning do not know about it or use it.

I thought you may have been on to something, so I checked social media right before this post. It did not disappoint.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

If you do not know that predators kill more turkeys than humans, there is no reason to discuss turkeys with you and yes there is research and proof.

Adult turkeys, like we are discussing? I have seen/read the research and data on poults in the southeast (50-70% mortality rate first two weeks), but never read a scientific peer reviewed article that substantiated how lethal predators were on adult turkeys. You got a link?

The Mississippi WF&P states on their site that 1/3-1/2 of adult hens will be killed in a year along with 10% of adult males. Almost all of these kills occur during the nesting period. SO, predators are killing a huge number of hens, the major reproductive machine of the turkey AND at nesting time so the eggs do not hatch. I do not know if their info is peer reviewed but that is one thing i found.


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[Goodtimekiller]

You can disagree all you like but predators hunt 365 days a year and destroy nests constantly during the entire nesting season.

Perhaps you misread my response; I agree with you on this point.

oh sorry


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[ruger7mag]

I would say at least 50% of turkeys are killed using some type of call


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If you include the ones that "called them in" with their decoys, then I agree. If not, the birds that are reaped, decoyed, ambushed, and shot over corn will exceed the 50%.

Everybody on this forum acts like the entire nation is reaping turkeys but 90% of people on this forum are against it. I think everyone here is studying too much social media when they should be watching for turkeys. Most people i talk to about reaping/fanning do not know about it or use it. Corn is already outlawed so that doesn't really count for our discussion. But i think most of the turkeys that are reaped, ambushed and decoyed are also called to.


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Social media, YouTube, outdoor TV shows, reaping is everywhere you look. A lot of the hunters on this forum though aren't​ your typical kill at any cost hunters and are more traditional turkey hunters.
"Most of the turkeys that are reaped, ambushed, and decoyed are also called to".
Yes that is probably true, but called to and called in are two totally different things.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

I would say at least 50% of turkeys are killed using some type of call


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If you include the ones that "called them in" with their decoys, then I agree. If not, the birds that are reaped, decoyed, ambushed, and shot over corn will exceed the 50%.

Everybody on this forum acts like the entire nation is reaping turkeys but 90% of people on this forum are against it. I think everyone here is studying too much social media when they should be watching for turkeys. Most people i talk to about reaping/fanning do not know about it or use it. Corn is already outlawed so that doesn't really count for our discussion. But i think most of the turkeys that are reaped, ambushed and decoyed are also called to.


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Social media, YouTube, outdoor TV shows, reaping is everywhere you look.
"Most of the turkeys that are reaped, ambushed, and decoyed are also called to".
Yes that is probably true, but called to and called in are two totally different things.

It is everywhere in social media sure, but that does not mean everyone is doing it. It is highly advertised because is is fun and exhilarating and sells. It sells videos and decoys and umbrellas, everything. But i still don't believe that many people are truly doing it. I have a huge community of people that i hunt with and talk hunting with and very few have ever reaped a turkey and most of this group ate 25-40 year olds. Most have a strutter decoy they have used to try and set up to kill field birds but few have actually reaped a turkey and still many of the ones setting up have mixed success. I guarantee strutter decoys have helped kill many birds that wouldn't have normally been killed, but do has calling, that is my point. If we start this, where do we draw the line? Do we outlaw all decoys, do we outlaw calls if we really want to decrease success numbers, electronic calls are outlawed for a reason. Do we limit everyone to using archery equipment? Do we make everyone wear realtree (just had to throw that in there for personal reasons). I'm not trying to start arguments, I'm just trying to get people to see the other side of the coin, how can we justify one and not the other? And the last state biologist i talked to said the nwtf study has yet to show a loss of birds in the state, other than in 3 counties. The study is not over and maybe this year will change the numbers all together. My opinion is that there are things having a much greater effect on turkey populations than reaping. It is the "craze" but you must remember the craze is probably for the smallest percentage of the hunting population, which is also the most likely to post and brag etc etc. i have not posted a turkey i have shot in over 4 years. I think the younger generation and outdoor media posts this stuff for attention but i do not think the majority of middle to older age class turkey hunters are extreme reapers. Just my experience in my small hunting group. I took a 72 year old hinting the other day, he has 400 acres and 3 boys that hunt, they have never reaped and really didn't think it even worked, just thought it was fake tv. The man told me he was afraid to use strutting decoys because he has seen longbeards leave the field he was set up in numerous times when he used them.


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[Setterman]

Alright I've got a lot to say, haha.

1. Any notion that subordinate birds just step in when a dominant bird goes down and commence to breeding is patently false. Sure sometimes they do. But most of the time they've been whipped to where they don't gobble, they won't strut in places where the boss bird was and therefore don't have the opportunity. Therefore by decoying, reaping etc the dominant birds early lots of hens go unbred.

2. There is zero skill in sitting a blind watching a cow pasture with a decoy spread. You can't get caught moving, you don't have to call, you don't have to set up, all you do is sit and wait. Watch any one of the eight million videos on YouTube of birds running in and dying after never being called to. A lot of times these birds don't even gobble.

3. Calling with decoys is only making noise to get attention for most of the people using these tactics. It's not calling thenbird in, it's getting his attention.

4. I will stand by my opinion that modern decoys, blinds, reaping etc are directly responsible for the decline of our population. Too many breeder gobblers are getting whacked too early and therefore hens are going unfertilized. With poult mortality so high, every one counts so removing some % is always negative. The faster these tools are removed the better off the sport and population will be. The people that get so bent out of shape discussing this realize they stand no chance without them, and therefore are terrified of a world where they have to actually learn to turkey hunt.

 

[cowhunter71]

I pay no mind to those who use decoys to turkey hunt, and in my experience the turkeys I target don't pay much attention to them either, especially after the first week of season. The few the googans do manage to kill need to be culled anyway. The unrelenting googan pressure garantees me hooked, sharp spurred Gobblers to hunt each year here in South Cherokee. As much as they get in the way, I do thank them for that Despite mine, and a handful of others best efforts, I believe many of these older Gobblers simply end up dying of old age

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Alright I've got a lot to say, haha.

1. Any notion that subordinate birds just step in when a dominant bird goes down and commence to breeding is patently false. Sure sometimes they do. But most of the time they've been whipped to where they don't gobble, they won't strut in places where the boss bird was and therefore don't have the opportunity. Therefore by decoying, reaping etc the dominant birds early lots of hens go unbred.

2. There is zero skill in sitting a blind watching a cow pasture with a decoy spread. You can't get caught moving, you don't have to call, you don't have to set up, all you do is sit and wait. Watch any one of the eight million videos on YouTube of birds running in and dying after never being called to. A lot of times these birds don't even gobble.

3. Calling with decoys is only making noise to get attention for most of the people using these tactics. It's not calling thenbird in, it's getting his attention.

4. I will stand by my opinion that modern decoys, blinds, reaping etc are directly responsible for the decline of our population. Too many breeder gobblers are getting whacked too early and therefore hens are going unfertilized. With poult mortality so high, every one counts so removing some % is always negative. The faster these tools are removed the better off the sport and population will be. The people that get so bent out of shape discussing this realize they stand no chance without them, and therefore are terrified of a world where they have to actually learn to turkey hunt.

1. Several years in a row I have seen subordinate birds step in within 3-4 days and take over a location. When they did, they gobbled their heads off and strutted like crazy, after a few days of not being whipped, they take over. I have seen this happen multiple times in a single season. This is their nature. And if new toms did not step in the hens would go find new toms. A turkeys range is huge. When hens are covering that range they are probably running into new toms on farms where there is little to no hunting pressure.

2. There is not much skill involved in blind hunting i agree. But blind hunting is not 100%. But people were doing this a long time before all this talk about population decrease and the population was fine, some would say too many hens, how many years did i hear that. But lots of people use decoys without a blind, which is much harder. I have seen toms come running to a call from a blind, maybe we should outlaw blinds. Heck, i've had toms come running at me through a field i was standing in.

3. Calling in general is just getting the birds attention, with or without decoys. Toms come into the craziest sounds from hunters, if you have hunted with many people you have seen this. Calling is not some majestic skill. I have videos of 2 6 year olds calling in dominant toms by making horrible turkey sounds with their mouths. Yes mastering a turkey call is a great skill, but you can be far from a master and kill tons of birds with them, i know from a huge amount of experience.

4. Turkey hunting without decoys is not that difficult, did it for years, killed lots of birds. I just don't know why those so quick to want to outlaw decoys are so against outlawing calls.


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[Setterman]

Alright I've got a lot to say, haha.

1. Any notion that subordinate birds just step in when a dominant bird goes down and commence to breeding is patently false. Sure sometimes they do. But most of the time they've been whipped to where they don't gobble, they won't strut in places where the boss bird was and therefore don't have the opportunity. Therefore by decoying, reaping etc the dominant birds early lots of hens go unbred.

2. There is zero skill in sitting a blind watching a cow pasture with a decoy spread. You can't get caught moving, you don't have to call, you don't have to set up, all you do is sit and wait. Watch any one of the eight million videos on YouTube of birds running in and dying after never being called to. A lot of times these birds don't even gobble.

3. Calling with decoys is only making noise to get attention for most of the people using these tactics. It's not calling thenbird in, it's getting his attention.

4. I will stand by my opinion that modern decoys, blinds, reaping etc are directly responsible for the decline of our population. Too many breeder gobblers are getting whacked too early and therefore hens are going unfertilized. With poult mortality so high, every one counts so removing some % is always negative. The faster these tools are removed the better off the sport and population will be. The people that get so bent out of shape discussing this realize they stand no chance without them, and therefore are terrified of a world where they have to actually learn to turkey hunt.

1. Several years in a row I have seen subordinate birds step in within 3-4 days and take over a location. When they did, they gobbled their heads off and strutted like crazy, after a few days of not being whipped, they take over. I have seen this happen multiple times in a single season. This is their nature. And if new toms did not step in the hens would go find new toms. A turkeys range is huge. When hens are covering that range they are probably running into new toms on farms where there is little to no hunting pressure.

2. There is not much skill involved in blind hunting i agree. But blind hunting is not 100%. But people were doing this a long time before all this talk about population decrease and the population was fine, some would say too many hens, how many years did i hear that. But lots of people use decoys without a blind, which is much harder. I have seen toms come running to a call from a blind, maybe we should outlaw blinds. Heck, i've had toms come running at me through a field i was standing in.

3. Calling in general is just getting the birds attention, with or without decoys. Toms come into the craziest sounds from hunters, if you have hunted with many people you have seen this. Calling is not some majestic skill. I have videos of 2 6 year olds calling in dominant toms by making horrible turkey sounds with their mouths. Yes mastering a turkey call is a great skill, but you can be far from a master and kill tons of birds with them, i know from a huge amount of experience.

4. Turkey hunting without decoys is not that difficult, did it for years, killed lots of birds. I just don't know why those so quick to want to outlaw decoys are so against outlawing calls.


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Outlawing calls?

What's purer than using a device to mimic the animal you're hunting, and convincing that critter that you're the real thing to come to you inside of 40 yards? All the while it's you in camo against a tree with no cover other than what natures provided naturally and not modified to hide you from the best eye sight in the game animal world? Nothing, is the answer.

Putting out a plastic turkey diminishes the above to a large degree. Adding a blind removes another huge chunk until you re just shooting and no longer playing the game.

I saw earlier you've been doing this for 14 years. That's a decent career length, but some of us that are outspoken on this have been doing it for twice as long and have an appreciation for the hunt more so than the kill. Did you know I won't shoot a bird that won't answer my calls? I won't shoot a bird that I walk up on, I don't bushwhack, I don't decoy, I don't blind. I'm not trying to elitist just illustrating that for folks like me who love to kill turkeys the how we kill them is as important if not more important than the kill itself.

In addition, I got started hunted huge ag fields in Alabama before they legalized decoys. We learned to hunt and kill field turkeys without a plastic turkey. It was tough but dang rewarding

 

[prstide]

Some folks are more concerned with posting kill pics than actually hunting turkeys. They probably cut corners in other aspects of life too. Sad! Ban it all but guns and calls then we'll see how many folks are still "turkey hunting" and posting pics when the dust settles.

 

[Gwtaylor]

Sorry guys. Did not mean to start an argument.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Alright I've got a lot to say, haha.

1. Any notion that subordinate birds just step in when a dominant bird goes down and commence to breeding is patently false. Sure sometimes they do. But most of the time they've been whipped to where they don't gobble, they won't strut in places where the boss bird was and therefore don't have the opportunity. Therefore by decoying, reaping etc the dominant birds early lots of hens go unbred.

2. There is zero skill in sitting a blind watching a cow pasture with a decoy spread. You can't get caught moving, you don't have to call, you don't have to set up, all you do is sit and wait. Watch any one of the eight million videos on YouTube of birds running in and dying after never being called to. A lot of times these birds don't even gobble.

3. Calling with decoys is only making noise to get attention for most of the people using these tactics. It's not calling thenbird in, it's getting his attention.

4. I will stand by my opinion that modern decoys, blinds, reaping etc are directly responsible for the decline of our population. Too many breeder gobblers are getting whacked too early and therefore hens are going unfertilized. With poult mortality so high, every one counts so removing some % is always negative. The faster these tools are removed the better off the sport and population will be. The people that get so bent out of shape discussing this realize they stand no chance without them, and therefore are terrified of a world where they have to actually learn to turkey hunt.

1. Several years in a row I have seen subordinate birds step in within 3-4 days and take over a location. When they did, they gobbled their heads off and strutted like crazy, after a few days of not being whipped, they take over. I have seen this happen multiple times in a single season. This is their nature. And if new toms did not step in the hens would go find new toms. A turkeys range is huge. When hens are covering that range they are probably running into new toms on farms where there is little to no hunting pressure.

2. There is not much skill involved in blind hunting i agree. But blind hunting is not 100%. But people were doing this a long time before all this talk about population decrease and the population was fine, some would say too many hens, how many years did i hear that. But lots of people use decoys without a blind, which is much harder. I have seen toms come running to a call from a blind, maybe we should outlaw blinds. Heck, i've had toms come running at me through a field i was standing in.

3. Calling in general is just getting the birds attention, with or without decoys. Toms come into the craziest sounds from hunters, if you have hunted with many people you have seen this. Calling is not some majestic skill. I have videos of 2 6 year olds calling in dominant toms by making horrible turkey sounds with their mouths. Yes mastering a turkey call is a great skill, but you can be far from a master and kill tons of birds with them, i know from a huge amount of experience.

4. Turkey hunting without decoys is not that difficult, did it for years, killed lots of birds. I just don't know why those so quick to want to outlaw decoys are so against outlawing calls.


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Outlawing calls?

What's purer than using a device to mimic the animal you're hunting, and convincing that critter that you're the real thing to come to you inside of 40 yards? All the while it's you in camo against a tree with no cover other than what natures provided naturally and not modified to hide you from the best eye sight in the game animal world? Nothing, is the answer.

Putting out a plastic turkey diminishes the above to a large degree. Adding a blind removes another huge chunk until you re just shooting and no longer playing the game.

I saw earlier you've been doing this for 14 years. That's a decent career length, but some of us that are outspoken on this have been doing it for twice as long and have an appreciation for the hunt more so than the kill. Did you know I won't shoot a bird that won't answer my calls? I won't shoot a bird that I walk up on, I don't bushwhack, I don't decoy, I don't blind. I'm not trying to elitist just illustrating that for folks like me who love to kill turkeys the how we kill them is as important if not more important than the kill itself.

In addition, I got started hunted huge ag fields in Alabama before they legalized decoys. We learned to hunt and kill field turkeys without a plastic turkey. It was tough but dang rewarding

We are not talking about what's pure. But an electronic call is a device. Also, you are wearing camo some company made that helps hide your natural color and movement. The point of the thread is decoys are causing too many turkeys to die. My question is aren't calls doing the same?

There is some skill set to using decoys, you can't just set any decoy out in any position and have toms run in on you any more than you can with calls. To many people, using decoys does not diminish the game. How many kids has using decoys got into the sport. With diminishing hunter numbers doesn't that play a part too?

I have been turkey hunting for 25 years, must have mistyped the 14, shot my first bird 24 years ago. The hunt is what you make it. If someone fans a turkey with their son and have a great memory to hold on to, let them. But i have been hunting long enough to know you don't have to be a call master to kill turkeys. So you are saying you kill lots of turkeys with no decoys, great, just goes to prove my point. If all you mystical call guys have been killing turkeys so long with just calls, no decoys or blinds, you very well could be the cause of the turkey decline.

When i started hunting i was too young and poor to buy a decoy. Begged people to just drop me off at a farm i could hunt because i couldn't drive, painted a little hardware apron camo just to hold the one hs strut push pull i had. I love turkey hunting and do more for turkeys than most people around. But, to say decoys in general have led to the population decline and calls have had no part in it is absurd. As ive stated several times, there are many things on this earth that contribute to way more turkey deaths than decoys.




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[Goodtimekiller]

Some folks are more concerned with posting kill pics than actually hunting turkeys. They probably cut corners in other aspects of life too. Sad! Ban it all but guns and calls then we'll see how many folks are still "turkey hunting" and posting pics when the dust settles.

Why not ban the calls too?


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[prstide]

Sorry guys. Did not mean to start an argument.

Nothing to be sorry about! You didn't start an argument --some folks just like to think they piss further than everyone else.

 

[prstide]

Some folks are more concerned with posting kill pics than actually hunting turkeys. They probably cut corners in other aspects of life too. Sad! Ban it all but guns and calls then we'll see how many folks are still "turkey hunting" and posting pics when the dust settles.

Why not ban the calls too?


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Yeah, why not ban the calls too! That makes tons of sense.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Some folks are more concerned with posting kill pics than actually hunting turkeys. They probably cut corners in other aspects of life too. Sad! Ban it all but guns and calls then we'll see how many folks are still "turkey hunting" and posting pics when the dust settles.

Why not ban the calls too?


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Yeah, why not ban the calls too! That makes tons of sense.

As much as banning decoys


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