• Help Support TNDeer:

Is a gobbler decoy necessary?

S

Spoonbillmallard

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
1,060
Reaction score
0
Location
TN
I have had mixed feedback on this subject and would like some more input from you guys. Is it better to display a lone hen or a hen and a gobbler?

Seems when you call in the jakes and you have a gobbler decoy out they stay at a distance. Dominance factor is the reason i thought. But I was lucky enough to kill a jake last week with a hen and a gobbler decoy out, but they wasn't coming in to them. They seen the gobbler and was going to go around and got too close lol!

But I didn't know from ya'll experiance if just a hen decoy works better than a hen and a gobbler?
 
Just depends on what the ol boy has been thru. There have been more than one jake that whooped up on a gobbler. Then again, a mature ol tom might just like to look for fights. To me, it seems that earlier in the season to just about right now (mid April)a lone hen or a couple of hens is better than putting out a jake, but then later on, a jake with a hen works better.
 
I would like to hear the info on this as well. I called a gobbler in to about 70 yards this morning til he could see my gobbler and hen decoys. He strutted around at about 70 yards for 20 minutes or so, then he just turned away from them and didn't want anything to do with the decoys. He just walked around feeding for a while longer and eventually left.
 
I'm beginning to wonder about dekes at all. Last two set ups had a jake and 3 hens out. Every gobbler both jakes and toms that came by took a wide birth or gave no interest at all. Had 3 hens come in and check them out that is all.
 
I only use decoys if A) i have plenty of time and cover to put them out and B) I am doing more of a morning hunt where they will pitch down into my decoys (more of a comfort factor at this point)

I normally wont use them though and I dont like a strutting TOM decoy at all. One of the bigger reasons is i really dont like carrying one around and 2. i have seen to many times people using them and it had a reverse affect instead of a desired one.

I learned to hunt in bama growing up and decoys were illegal so now i just dont really feel the need to use them that much. if you have your set up good where the bird will be in range when he crests a hill or trail to look for you, you dont need them.
 
captain hook said:
Funny thing about decoys is, that they can cost you just as much as they will bring you.
Click to expand...


very true....i cannot tell you how many times i have heard or witnessed people mess up a hunt by trying to put out decoys instead of just sitting still.

trying to get closer to put them out on a roosted bird just to have the bird spot them or having one gobble on the ground and trying to get them out just to have the bird spot them putting them up.
 
captain hook said:
REN, my feelings and experience come from similar roots as yours. I grew up in Miss, but we hunted AL alot and they were illegal. Best thing ever IMO, and wish they were still illegal. It makes folks really have to learn how to call, and position themselves to kill birds, even field birds.

I could care less if folks use them or not, honestly, but for me I just don't need them, and am happy to not have to fight with something else or rely on something else to be successful.
Click to expand...


yeah it wouldn't hurt my feelings if there were here. It will make you learn to hunt them better and is actually MUCH safer when they are not allowed.

I will use them from time to time dont get me wrong but other then morning hunts I rarely will use them. Just leaned over alot of hunts that they can and will hurt you more then help a lot of times.
 
would be a good question.....

also agree with joined at the hip comment...i like the fact i KNOW i can hunt without them if need be and know how to adjust my set up when not using them.

it is a much different hunt/set up when you KNOW you are not going to be using them. Have to use the terrain to work in your advantage as well as calling techniques.
 
I have only hunted turkeys for about 2 years and I have killed 2 birds. A jake last year at the end of the season and a gobbler this past friday. I had a decoy out when i saw the jake but he didnt come to it he stayed about 100 yds away and I had to crawl to him. Then with the gobbler I just called him in and didn't use decoys. I have had more birds run from decoys than come to them. Only had 1 gobbler come to a decoy and he came in behind me last year and I spooked him. But im still young at this game so I dunno!
 
I can take them or leave them. I have tried all kinds over the years and currently have the ones with the bobbing heads. Two hens and one with a gobbler mounting a hen. Last year it seemed to scare them away and If I was just calling all I got in was hens. The year before I got a nice Tom and he was with 5 others and about 10 hens were walking with the toms. They put on a great show all the while I was watching and waiting. The most curious Tom came right up to the gobbler on the hen decoy and I laid him down. This was in wide open field.
This morning I didn't use decoys just a good old slate call and laid the old boy down.
I think once they have been fooled by them once or twice they wise up and stay their distance.
 
Thanks guys all great opinions in my book. I have only hunted turkeys for about 5 years now and only restricted to hunting on the weekends so I don't get to get out much during the short season. But I have had similar results as yours when using a gobbler decoy. The jake I killed wasn't coming to the decoys and the other run in with a tom he didn't want anything to do with em. both times they just stayed thier distance and tried moving around me.

I have never not hunted with decoys I have felt that I need all the help I can get. But not until recently have i felt that they may in fact be hurting me more than helping me. So I think I might go out this weekend and leave the dekes at the house and see what happens.
 
Spoonbillmallard said:
Thanks guys all great opinions in my book. I have only hunted turkeys for about 5 years now and only restricted to hunting on the weekends so I don't get to get out much during the short season. But I have had similar results as yours when using a gobbler decoy. The jake I killed wasn't coming to the decoys and the other run in with a tom he didn't want anything to do with em. both times they just stayed thier distance and tried moving around me.

I have never not hunted with decoys I have felt that I need all the help I can get. But not until recently have i felt that they may in fact be hurting me more than helping me. So I think I might go out this weekend and leave the dekes at the house and see what happens.
Click to expand...


sounds good...get after them. Just remember a ton of birds are killed in states including alabama where you are not allowed to even use them so it can be done by any.

if you are not going to use them then just use the land and your calling to intice them to come in close. Use the land to make them want to come and see if a hen is in there. I usually try to make my set up to where they will be withing 30yds in order to see down to where i am. At that point it doesnt matter if he decideds to leave because he doesnt see anything...he is dead before he makes that decision. Learn to throw the sound of your calls in different directions to make it seem you are leaving and going the opposite way as he is so he wants to keep coming to find you. Use the sounds of wing beats (can use a hat against your leg or an actual wing off a previous kill) to even assure him more that you are there an waiting for love lol.

good luck man and rest assured tons of people kill nice birds each year without using decoys, sometimes they help but sometimes having none out helps even more.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top