Turkey Decoys

[wadegarrett]

My most recent decoy use (and inexperience) ended up costing me a bird... The tom came in without a sound from an unsuspected direction - long story short he saw the decoy but heard the calls from elsewhere. He knew something was up and never came in the open. Without a decoy, I bet he would have came in just the same and wouldn't have stalled.

 

[SoDaky]

Terrain and personal preference as with most hunting.In the Mts I wouldn't carry any except maybe a collapsible or silhouette type.Maybe consider a bow attach type for a real up close challenge.
In some places I'd MUCH rather use a blind and decoys.That has it's own challenges and rewards.I shoot multiples annually,bow only,and enjoy assorted techniques.There is no one answer.

 

[37N23E]

Last year my buddy's decoy got shot while he was calling birds in - thankfully it was far enough away that he didn't get hit -> if you use decoys make sure they are FAR enough away and not in front of you...Long story short, he became friends with the guy that shot the decoy and now they hunt together...my advice to him was don't ever walk in front of that dude...LOL

 

[howl]

There's a lot more in the con than the pro list for turkey decoys. In the pro list, some turkeys are stupid and will fall all over themselves to get to a deke in some situations. It's really cool how those little Chinese gals kill all those gobblers by sending turkey dolls to the US for their volunteers to shoot the bird over.

On the other hand, if you set up where the bird has to come within range of you to see your position, it doesn't matter whether there is a deke there or not because the gobbler wouldn't be able to see it.

Keep in mind when you watch videos that those people are hunting footage, not gobblers. Just calling up a bird isn't the thing. They need it posing out there at close range in good light. All the birds it didn't work on don't matter because they couldn't use that footage. And they're usually trying to sell you something like a turkey doll.

 

[Walking Birds]

I've killed more birds without a decoy than I have with. But it really depends on the setup, I've used decoys with great success in fly down situations and pre-scouted blind setups to bring those birds in really tight, like sub-10yards tight. But other than that, I keep my kit streamlined and use the run and gun approach, just a couple calls and a shotgun

 

[joshn]

I bow hunt turkey almost exclusively, and unless I'm hunting the edge of a large pasture or other open field I avoid decoys. I don't know if it's my placement or technique, but I have a very difficult time getting birds to commit once they see the decoy. I can call them into shooting range all day long with a diaphragm and no decoy.