Decoys

[megalomaniac]

sounds like everyone agrees the season needs to be pushed back 2 weeks to keep dominant birds alive till the hens are bred...

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Heck, i say lets ban guns and go to all archery turkey hunting, that would separate the men from the boys! No guns, no decoys, no blinds, no calls. How many here would that say they love the sport would even still hunt?


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[prstide]

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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:tu: you're so right. I never thought I would come across anyone with such an immense amount of knowledge on all things turkey. Being a professional message board turkey biologist is definitely your forté.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

sounds like everyone agrees the season needs to be pushed back 2 weeks to keep dominant birds alive till the hens are bred...

oh dear


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[Goodtimekiller]

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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:tu: you're so right. I never thought I would come across anyone with such an immense amount of knowledge on all things turkey. Being a professional message board turkey biologist is definitely your forté.[/quote]

This is so funny because my entire point has been that calls have killed as many and probably lead to more turkey kills than decoys. Then you go on a personal attack. Great job way to think things through.


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[prstide]

Not personal at all. Just observation. Your point of calls killing more turkeys than decoys is absolutely correct--you know why?? Calls have existed exponentially longer than decoys have for turkey hunting purposes. I would be willing to wager that if you take the harvest numbers from the last 7-10 years your point is probably wrong. Check some of your study data and see if you can find us an answer please sir.

 

[TDW05]

I would be fine with opening day being like the 15th of April. I think that extra time would really help out population and make a better hunting season in general. JMO though.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Not personal at all. Just observation. Your point of calls killing more turkeys than decoys is absolutely correct--you know why?? Calls have existed exponentially longer than decoys have for turkey hunting purposes. I would be willing to wager that if you take the harvest numbers from the last 7-10 years your point is probably wrong. Check some of your study data and see if you can find us an answer please sir.

Exponentially huh? Everybody carries a call and calls to turkeys. Not everyone carries decoys. Just because you put too much stock in your social media fetish of watching youngsters shoot your turkeys so you will have something to complain about daily, does not make it gospel. You are getting your facts from facebook videos, i have gotten mine from state and national biologists/sources. So yes, if that is the turkey biology knowledge you were talking about, i can see where you would think it was a wealth of knowledge. Maybe you should look up from facebook for a second and check the real world.


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[prstide]

Not trying to bust your bubble but I don't have Facebook. You must not understand what I typed.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Not trying to bust your bubble but I don't have Facebook. You must not understand what I typed.

https://www.knoxnews.com/story/life/201 ... 802123001/

You are correct, i have not understood much of what you have typed.

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[TheAirMan]

First let me say that I didn't read every post on this thread. However, a lot of you guys act like all a person has to do is go to Walmart, buy a decoy, go straight to the woods, and you'll be beating them off of you with a stick. That might actually be the case in places. It's not where I hunt. Anybody that wants to disagree can bring one and prove me wrong. I don't even own a decoy now and haven't used any in years. I bought some because in the last 12 or so years all I've had to hunt were field birds where I couldn't do much but try to call them in. Due to property lines and this and that's it's hard to really come at the from different angles and such. I thought the decoy might make the bird that came out 100 yards away come in. They didn't. To the best of my knowledge, I can't remember ever having a turkey really respond to a decoy. I know for 100% for sure I've never killed, or been with someone, that killed a turkey with a decoy out.


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[Andy S.]

....a lot of you guys act like all a person has to do is go to Walmart, buy a decoy, go straight to the woods, and you'll be beating them off of you with a stick. That might actually be the case in places. It's not where I hunt.

I don't even own a decoy now and haven't used any in years.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and each of you should know and understand your local area and population better than anyone else, except maybe those others who hunt the same general area as you do.

With that said, I have to ask how you can be SO SURE about statement #1 above, if statement #2 is true?

 

[TheAirMan]

Ok then let me says this, it was that way the 8 or so years prior to like the last 4 I haven't used them. How about that? I doubt very seriously they just up and started running in four years ago. And I stand behind what I said about proving me wrong.


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[Andy S.]

Ok then let me says this, it was that way the 8 or so years prior to like the last 4 I haven't used them. How about that?

Fair enough. You used and toted decoys around for 8 years without any success from them?

 

[woodsman04]

Ok here goes...

A mature gobbler, 2 plus years old , is plenty old and mature enough to completely fertilize a hen. I do believe there are birds that are dominant and subordinate, but the two year olds breed too when they get with hens.

Predators kill more turkeys than we do, hens, eggs, and poults. Hay cutters probably do too. Adult turkeys do not have many natural predators outside of hens during nesting season.

I've hunted along time and have a lot of experience, most of you here though probably don't care because I never talk about killing birds or how many I've killed or post kill pics. I'm on here to read and learn and also to give others advice and that is it. Don't give a rip to tell everybody in the world I killed a turkey. It's a game I play by myself.

I've killed 1-1/4" spur birds that gobbled to the gun like two year olds, and I've played with two year olds that had hens all day long that I eventually killed. I've killed two year olds that come in in 30 seconds, I've killed old birds that I've played with all day.

When I was young, I'd crawl up on turkeys using ditches and creeks. I'd crawl up on them on cow pastures that had knolls and terraces. IT IS NOT HARD TO DO AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT GET SEEN, so I no longer hunt that way. I used to sit in green fields and wait on them. Again, not hard to do if your patient and be still, but it isn't fun so I quit doing it that way. I now only use a gun and call, and try to call the bird into gun range.

The original sport of turkey hunting, the right way, began with a call and a gun. The hard part of turkey hunting, and the correct game, is to call a bird up and shoot him thinking your a real hen. Most of the times they do not come to the call, that's why you have to set up just right, just close enough, without spooking him and also get a good area where he is in in range the first time you see him.


I've never ever killed a turkey with a decoy, and do not want to. Most people that use them that I know personally are duck/deer hunters that have intruded and infected the sport of turkey hunting with all the fancy blinds and decoys they use. Tv, and social media Have ruined it because everybody wants to out do each other, kill as many as possible, and a decoy.

Years ago decoys weren't a big deal, because it was just a tool that was used. Now days the ultra realistic decoy with full strut fans and blinds that you can hide in, makes it easy for anyone that can walk and shoot a gun to kill a turkey. It is a crutch, created by tv and social media, to help every jack leg in the world kill a turkey, and in turn help them and the wildlife agencies make money, while decimating the natural resource.

It is becoming a socialist sport, where everyone will only be able to have 1-2 turkey tags, because the babies that have to use decoys can't man up and learn how to hunt the hard way.

I do not know if the use of decoys have caused the decline on where I hunt, but the decoy explosion has coincided with the decline in population. So I don't know.

But hopefully, it's just a trend, and it will phase out. Just like I made myself quit bushwhacking turkeys when I was 14 years old. I matured as a sportsman, and now I enjoy it even more getting to play the game.


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[TheAirMan]

Ok then let me says this, it was that way the 8 or so years prior to like the last 4 I haven't used them. How about that?

Fair enough. You used and toted decoys around for 8 years without any success from them?

Not every single set up or hunt no. I used them enough over the years with myself and other people though to form my opinion. And I will grant you that the one time I didn't use them could have been the time I would have been flogged. However, we never had an inclining of success. We used every combination you can almost think of from a plain hen to a strutting tom with hens.


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[Mike Belt]

I found out along time ago that dekes may or may not attract birds. When hunting call shy birds or gobblers with hens as often as not I've had the hens lead the gobblers away from the dekes. They seem not to want any competition. I don't know why but I've attracted more birds using dekes without calling than I have with the combination of dekes and calling; and my calling isn't bad. If I was strictly a field hunter I'd probably use them again. For the run and gun hunters they're basically useless, and running and gunning is the best part of turkey hunting for me.

 

[prstide]

Ok here goes...

Excellent post. Thank you for taking the time to lay it all out. I agree with your sentiment 100%.

 

[Goodtimekiller]

Ok here goes...

A mature gobbler, 2 plus years old , is plenty old and mature enough to completely fertilize a hen. I do believe there are birds that are dominant and subordinate, but the two year olds breed too when they get with hens.

Predators kill more turkeys than we do, hens, eggs, and poults. Hay cutters probably do too. Adult turkeys do not have many natural predators outside of hens during nesting season.

I've hunted along time and have a lot of experience, most of you here though probably don't care because I never talk about killing birds or how many I've killed or post kill pics. I'm on here to read and learn and also to give others advice and that is it. Don't give a rip to tell everybody in the world I killed a turkey. It's a game I play by myself.

I've killed 1-1/4" spur birds that gobbled to the gun like two year olds, and I've played with two year olds that had hens all day long that I eventually killed. I've killed two year olds that come in in 30 seconds, I've killed old birds that I've played with all day.

When I was young, I'd crawl up on turkeys using ditches and creeks. I'd crawl up on them on cow pastures that had knolls and terraces. IT IS NOT HARD TO DO AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT GET SEEN, so I no longer hunt that way. I used to sit in green fields and wait on them. Again, not hard to do if your patient and be still, but it isn't fun so I quit doing it that way. I now only use a gun and call, and try to call the bird into gun range.

The original sport of turkey hunting, the right way, began with a call and a gun. The hard part of turkey hunting, and the correct game, is to call a bird up and shoot him thinking your a real hen. Most of the times they do not come to the call, that's why you have to set up just right, just close enough, without spooking him and also get a good area where he is in in range the first time you see him.


I've never ever killed a turkey with a decoy, and do not want to. Most people that use them that I know personally are duck/deer hunters that have intruded and infected the sport of turkey hunting with all the fancy blinds and decoys they use. Tv, and social media Have ruined it because everybody wants to out do each other, kill as many as possible, and a decoy.

Years ago decoys weren't a big deal, because it was just a tool that was used. Now days the ultra realistic decoy with full strut fans and blinds that you can hide in, makes it easy for anyone that can walk and shoot a gun to kill a turkey. It is a crutch, created by tv and social media, to help every jack leg in the world kill a turkey, and in turn help them and the wildlife agencies make money, while decimating the natural resource.

It is becoming a socialist sport, where everyone will only be able to have 1-2 turkey tags, because the babies that have to use decoys can't man up and learn how to hunt the hard way.

I do not know if the use of decoys have caused the decline on where I hunt, but the decoy explosion has coincided with the decline in population. So I don't know.

But hopefully, it's just a trend, and it will phase out. Just like I made myself quit bushwhacking turkeys when I was 14 years old. I matured as a sportsman, and now I enjoy it even more getting to play the game.


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To you, the correct way to hunt a turkey is to call him in. If someone else gets excited to watch them run into a decoy how can you and why would you call that incorrect? And you posting on here that others are babies because they use decoys is promoting yourself and skills over others, just what you are saying is the problem. And i can think of many more mature outdoorsmen than you that use decoys. As ive posted before, if 1/2 the hunters that shot a turkey last year each saved 1 nest and each hen had 8 eggs and 1/2 of those birds survived to adulthood, we could help roughly the same number of extra birds survive each year that we harvest. These are EXTRA birds.


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[woodsman04]

Ok here goes...

A mature gobbler, 2 plus years old , is plenty old and mature enough to completely fertilize a hen. I do believe there are birds that are dominant and subordinate, but the two year olds breed too when they get with hens.

Predators kill more turkeys than we do, hens, eggs, and poults. Hay cutters probably do too. Adult turkeys do not have many natural predators outside of hens during nesting season.

I've hunted along time and have a lot of experience, most of you here though probably don't care because I never talk about killing birds or how many I've killed or post kill pics. I'm on here to read and learn and also to give others advice and that is it. Don't give a rip to tell everybody in the world I killed a turkey. It's a game I play by myself.

I've killed 1-1/4" spur birds that gobbled to the gun like two year olds, and I've played with two year olds that had hens all day long that I eventually killed. I've killed two year olds that come in in 30 seconds, I've killed old birds that I've played with all day.

When I was young, I'd crawl up on turkeys using ditches and creeks. I'd crawl up on them on cow pastures that had knolls and terraces. IT IS NOT HARD TO DO AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT GET SEEN, so I no longer hunt that way. I used to sit in green fields and wait on them. Again, not hard to do if your patient and be still, but it isn't fun so I quit doing it that way. I now only use a gun and call, and try to call the bird into gun range.

The original sport of turkey hunting, the right way, began with a call and a gun. The hard part of turkey hunting, and the correct game, is to call a bird up and shoot him thinking your a real hen. Most of the times they do not come to the call, that's why you have to set up just right, just close enough, without spooking him and also get a good area where he is in in range the first time you see him.


I've never ever killed a turkey with a decoy, and do not want to. Most people that use them that I know personally are duck/deer hunters that have intruded and infected the sport of turkey hunting with all the fancy blinds and decoys they use. Tv, and social media Have ruined it because everybody wants to out do each other, kill as many as possible, and a decoy.

Years ago decoys weren't a big deal, because it was just a tool that was used. Now days the ultra realistic decoy with full strut fans and blinds that you can hide in, makes it easy for anyone that can walk and shoot a gun to kill a turkey. It is a crutch, created by tv and social media, to help every jack leg in the world kill a turkey, and in turn help them and the wildlife agencies make money, while decimating the natural resource.

It is becoming a socialist sport, where everyone will only be able to have 1-2 turkey tags, because the babies that have to use decoys can't man up and learn how to hunt the hard way.

I do not know if the use of decoys have caused the decline on where I hunt, but the decoy explosion has coincided with the decline in population. So I don't know.

But hopefully, it's just a trend, and it will phase out. Just like I made myself quit bushwhacking turkeys when I was 14 years old. I matured as a sportsman, and now I enjoy it even more getting to play the game.


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To you, the correct way to hunt a turkey is to call him in. If someone else gets excited to watch them run into a decoy how can you and why would you call that incorrect? And you posting on here that others are babies because they use decoys is promoting yourself and skills over others, just what you are saying is the problem. And i can think of many more mature outdoorsmen than you that use decoys. As ive posted before, if 1/2 the hunters that shot a turkey last year each saved 1 nest and each hen had 8 eggs and 1/2 of those birds survived to adulthood, we could help roughly the same number of extra birds survive each year that we harvest. This are EXTRA birds.

I think you sir, get on here just to argue with folks. I was stating my opinion on the matter, don't care what you do or how you kill or don't kill turkeys. If you don't like it, don't read it or tough luck.

I've noticed your post this spring season, you seek to like to argue and stir the pot with whatever is going on.

You are correct in saving hens and nest. I wish everyone that could would try and help do that, and also try to create nesting habitat if they have their own land to do so.

And yes, my skills are pretty dang good...


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