Southern Sportsman
Well-Known Member
I've killed a few over decoys, but it's been a few years. I don't own one anymore and don't really plan to anytime soon. My feelings on decoys are complicated, but I'd rather not use them.
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Order of importance when it comes to killing turkeys...
#1 understanding advanced Turkey behavior 301
#2 understanding intermediate Turkey behavior 201
#3 understanding basic Turkey behavior 101
#4 woodsmanship skills
#5 calling skills
#6 type of call
#7 moon phase
#8 smell of your farts
#9 decoys
#10 taste of your farts
Decoys are quite useful if your farts taste bad. But not quite as important as the actual smell of your farts. I'd recommend on mastering #1 through #5, you will find Turkey hunting much more enjoyable and will kill 10x the number of birds than those who rely on decoys.
So if understanding Turkey behavior is by far and away the most important factor in killing turkeys, how do you learn it? Its unbelievably simple.... but takes 1000s of hours. Just watch turkeys. Listen to turkeys. Live with turkeys. Ask yourself questions like 'why did or didnt they do this?' They will teach you everything you need to know about how to kill them. And you will be SO much more satisfied when you do punch your tag than if you had belly crawled to 75 yds of a strutter in a field and popped up a fan and then had him charge in for you to body shoot him at 10yds.
I could write a book about Turkey hunting, but it would take 10 volumes and 2000 pages. And what makes it so addictive is the fact there is never a 'right' answer to how to kill an individual bird. But if you have 2000 decoy free tricks up your sleeve, I guarantee 1 of those is going to work.
So... do I use decoys? Absolutely! Probably 1 out of 5 of my birds are killed with decoys. Anytime I need a bird to focus AWAY from where I'm sitting, I like to have a decoy. Primarily in areas with very flat terrain or with fidgety kids or where there is very little natural cover. The decoy didnt kill the Turkey. I still called him into my setup, and the decoy got him close enough for an ethical clean kill. But if it's possible to draw a Turkey to within 35 yards of your calling to give just 1 look, there is no need for decoys, and they will actually hurt your chances of killing a bird (movement while setting them up, the Tom hangs up 35yds from the decoy focused on waiting for it to move, yet still out of gun range from your location, etc). There are always the outliers.... like I've had gobblers actually mount and breed hen decoys, and I've had gobblers absolutely flee from the sight of decoys. But as a general rule, use decoys when there is no natural terrain or vegetation that would prevent the incoming Tom from picking you off at 50yds.
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#1 understanding advanced Turkey behavior 301
#2 understanding intermediate Turkey behavior 201
#3 understanding basic Turkey behavior 101
#4 woodsmanship skills
#5 calling skills
#6 type of call
#7 moon phase
#8 smell of your farts
#9 decoys
#10 taste of your farts
Decoys are quite useful if your farts taste bad. But not quite as important as the actual smell of your farts. I'd recommend on mastering #1 through #5, you will find Turkey hunting much more enjoyable and will kill 10x the number of birds than those who rely on decoys.
So if understanding Turkey behavior is by far and away the most important factor in killing turkeys, how do you learn it? Its unbelievably simple.... but takes 1000s of hours. Just watch turkeys. Listen to turkeys. Live with turkeys. Ask yourself questions like 'why did or didnt they do this?' They will teach you everything you need to know about how to kill them. And you will be SO much more satisfied when you do punch your tag than if you had belly crawled to 75 yds of a strutter in a field and popped up a fan and then had him charge in for you to body shoot him at 10yds.
I could write a book about Turkey hunting, but it would take 10 volumes and 2000 pages. And what makes it so addictive is the fact there is never a 'right' answer to how to kill an individual bird. But if you have 2000 decoy free tricks up your sleeve, I guarantee 1 of those is going to work.
So... do I use decoys? Absolutely! Probably 1 out of 5 of my birds are killed with decoys. Anytime I need a bird to focus AWAY from where I'm sitting, I like to have a decoy. Primarily in areas with very flat terrain or with fidgety kids or where there is very little natural cover. The decoy didnt kill the Turkey. I still called him into my setup, and the decoy got him close enough for an ethical clean kill. But if it's possible to draw a Turkey to within 35 yards of your calling to give just 1 look, there is no need for decoys, and they will actually hurt your chances of killing a bird (movement while setting them up, the Tom hangs up 35yds from the decoy focused on waiting for it to move, yet still out of gun range from your location, etc). There are always the outliers.... like I've had gobblers actually mount and breed hen decoys, and I've had gobblers absolutely flee from the sight of decoys. But as a general rule, use decoys when there is no natural terrain or vegetation that would prevent the incoming Tom from picking you off at 50yds.
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Levee Jumper
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I carry a busted up early 2000's flambeau "foam" hen that doesn't have any paint left on it. It weighs nothing, is a good back rest/extra seat cushion and doubles as a seat cover in your truck if your butt is overly dirty/wet.
Setterman
Well-Known Member
Well hibernation is over! Haha
No I don't use decoys, despise them with every ounce of my soul. No skill, no woodsmanship, no effort....just a tool for lazy hunters who don't want to learn how to actually hunt.
The day they're outlawed will be the day we get our freedom back from the googan army
No I don't use decoys, despise them with every ounce of my soul. No skill, no woodsmanship, no effort....just a tool for lazy hunters who don't want to learn how to actually hunt.
The day they're outlawed will be the day we get our freedom back from the googan army
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
We've been waiting on your arrival :rotf:Setterman":2m1rs8u4 said:
I have no dog in the fight. I like hunting with and without decoys - different situations for different hunts. What are your thoughts on using them to get kids excited about it and "into it"? I really look forward to getting my 2.5 yo daughter out there when she is old enough, and that's how I plan on getting her wanting to go.
She will start out squirrel hunting by the way - that's how I learned woodsmanship and that's how I'm going to start her. Just talking about her "graduating" to turkeys, whenever she is ready for that.
I doubt I will use decoys if/when my daughter gets into turkey hunting. Just like I will not use bait in KY for her either to hunt deer. I simply draw the line at those tactics, nothing more and no judgement passed to anyone that does .
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Southern Sportsman
Well-Known Member
I definitely wont use a tent when my kids start hunting. And I definitely wont set up a strutter decoy to trick a field bird. That's not how I hunt turkeys, so that's not how I want them to learn about turkey hunting. I won't yet rule out the idea of setting up like mega described. Normal setup to call a turkey, but have a hen decoy to distract his attention a little. The idea being that I call him in and shows up in range, then sees the decoy and focuses on it while a fidgety kid moves too much and aims too long.
woodsman04
Well-Known Member
Not necessarily a good thing to always let kids have everything easy for them. I know it's just turkey hunting, but it could teach them the lessons of not having to work hard for what they want.
Decoys were illegal when I started as a kid, and as far as I know we all turned out as fair to average turkey hunters.
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Decoys were illegal when I started as a kid, and as far as I know we all turned out as fair to average turkey hunters.
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I have only personally seen one time a decoy absolutely killed a bird. Actually two of them.
When I started I put out a jake and a hen decoy because that's what everyone on the video tapes did. (There weren't 218 hunting shows on tv at any given time back then)
I never saw a bird enter the area, or field, and see the decoys and come in on a string. They always just ignored them and went on about their business.
When I started I put out a jake and a hen decoy because that's what everyone on the video tapes did. (There weren't 218 hunting shows on tv at any given time back then)
I never saw a bird enter the area, or field, and see the decoys and come in on a string. They always just ignored them and went on about their business.
Setterman
Well-Known Member
Exactly, our culture is now about instant gratification. No one wants their kids to have to learn from mistakes, just serve it up on a silver platter. Make them learn and they'll be better off in the long runwoodsman04":3vsarmrj said:
