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Full strut decoys

Uncle Jesse

Uncle Jesse

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I'm sure this has been gone over multiple times, but does anyone have much success with full strut decoys? I mounted the first gobbler I killed, when I was in taxidermy school, in full strut. I've used it a few times and the gobblers seem to ignore it. Last year we called in a lone hen that was yelping like crazy. When she topped the hill and saw the decoy, she immediately flew to the next county :crazy:

Every time I've been able to use it was during the first week of season. Not sure if that has anything to do with it or not.
 
I used a pretty boy for a couple of seasons.
About the only thing it did was give me a workout carrying it in and run turkeys off when they saw him.

Stretch has a full strut decoy that is, well amazing though.

:D
 
I think alot of hunting with decoys is placement and timing of flock break ups. There is a little strategy to it, imo. I bought a "pretty boy and pretty girl" combo last year. I used it opening morning and the second opening morning. I killed a gobbler both mornings. Not to mention the number of strutters I had coming in to attack "pretty boy" :D .

This year, I probably wont see a bird all season :D
 
I tend to hunt a lot of fields and the first three weeks, I wont go huntin without it. I have had to used a lot of fans and to many holes from spurs to count. When they hit the ground and come runnin.

I always love watchin them jump over the fan and lay the smack down on "B mobile"
 
I've had better luck putting the fan of my Jake Mobil in a half strut position. Had him in full strut, with a real fan, last year in late April, and a big boss Tom came and flogged him silly though
 
Pretty Boy is deadly. Really, they should be against the law to use....they are to turkey hunting what the robo-duck was to duck hunting!!!However with that being said all the strutters dont work the same....there are some differences that may not catch the eye...the reason I only use pretty boy.
 
I use a B-Mobile and wouldnt go without it.Most of the turkeys that has been killed with it has came running.We had one bird that left his hens and ran non-stop about 100 yards to whoop him but we leveled him before he could jump on him.
 
Not a fan personally but with any decoy there is times they work and others they don't. From my experience they hurt more then help however I have a buddy that has a strutted and we use it from time to time in one spot that is a big field they fly down into. Stratagy wise we use it more for a confidence decoy in hopes they will land with the flock.

They are a pain in the A to carry around though.
 
50/50, I had one bird that stared it down but would not come closer than 70 yards to it, but I had another big bird that saw it from over 800 yarss and came at a steady walk all the way to it, then my wife missed him but thats a different story
 
Mine is very hard to carry too. That's why I don't use it much because it has to be a spot that I can drive the truck to and set it out. Ain't no carrying it a couple hundred yards.
 
I think the full strut decoy works good if you got multiple gobblers coming in, but if it's a single bird, he may or may not be intimadated by the the decoy. I think the jake works better for sure a the season progresses. Just about any jake or gobbler will challenge a jake decoy.
 
Alright guys here's the deal as explained to by David Hale who designed the Pretty Boy. If you will look at all the strutters on the market they have red heads and necks which in the turkeys world is the sign of a fighter. Pretty Boy is the only with white head and neck which, as David put it, is the sign of a "lover" in the turkey world. The reason pretty boy is more effective, in his opinion and I have also seen it myself, gobblers are not as likely to run in on a fighter especially if it is a lone gobbler. Whether all this is true or not I do not know but I know guys that tried the other strutters such as b-mobile etc without any luck and switched to Pretty Boy could not believe the difference. However just like other aspects of turkey hunting there are no constants that work all the time. I have had multiple birds come into pretty boy and killed one and the others wont have nothing to do with the decoy for the rest of the season. This is why I dont use it early so as not to educate a bunch of birds. However I can say I have had way more birds come in a dead run than I have had to ignore or run off. I do believe over time the strutter decoys will become less effective just like anything else.
 
Roost 1 -

I have never thought about the head coloration displaying personality of a bird before. But wow, that sounds VERY interesting and believable. I too know a few guys that wont use a strutter decoy anymore because their experiences with their B-mobile. They say it scares every turkey off in the woods. Your right, the coloration of B-mobile and the pretty boy is alot different. I'm glad I luckily bought the pretty boy and girl. I havent seen any flaws in it yet. I do know one guy that got a great deal on a B-mobile and he got some paint and painted the head a light color to his liking. I never asked why. I just kinda was like "ok?"

If this turns out to be somewhat true, people that threw their B-mobiles in their garage in disgust, could do a custom paint job on the head and be good to go.
 
i agree with the head color part, which is why i have always repainted my foam decs with a white/blue head.

that part goes with any decoys not just a strutter. Although the red can really cause a cool reaction with the right bird.

the theory with head color goes both ways though. Red will work for some birds and the Blue/white will work for others and sometimes either will work.

as i put before my main reason i dont personally like to use them much is the pain it is to carry them around.
 

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