Decoys

Well it’s about that time to try and kill another bird. After last year’s success and failure I decided I want to try and step up my decoys.
What is the go to decoy these days and decoy set up, are you running a single hen and Jake or big Tom and a couple hens or what is your ideal set up. I want to buy probably 2 decoys and get my son on a bird and my self one with my new bow. The avian x are obviously nice but man are they steep. Is there better or other options ?

I use either a single hen, or a hen and jake most of the time. I’ve never used a full strut tom.

A full strut tom can bring in other toms if they’re in the right mood but it will repel jakes and lesser toms.

If you don’t know what kind of mood the birds are in yet, I think a single hen is the safest setup.

I’ve also completely abandoned all decoys when I can tell the birds don’t like them. Pressure can do that.

I honestly don’t know what brand my decoys are. I’ve had them for 15 years and they are molded plastic. Maybe someone else here can help you with the decoy brand.

I’ve killed probably 20 or more birds over an avian x 3/4 strut Jake and a hen . I’d go DSD if I did it again .

I ran a hen 1/4 strut jake last year of some cheaper decoys and had success early in season a. I was able to get my nephew on a huge Tom and it was his first turkey.
As the season went on I ended up putting the decoys away due to the local pressure made the birds aware.
I’m hoping to get the kid and my self on birds early and be over with it. But my decoy game needs a upgrade. Those dsd look very nice but more money then I want to spend. Hoping to stay under 200 to 250 tops for 2 decoys. I assume the avian x lcd is probably my best bet ?

Bearcat89 wrote:

I ran a hen 1/4 strut jake last year of some cheaper decoys and had success early in season a. I was able to get my nephew on a huge Tom and it was his first turkey.
As the season went on I ended up putting the decoys away due to the local pressure made the birds aware.
I’m hoping to get the kid and my self on birds early and be over with it. But my decoy game needs an upgrade. Those dsd look very nice but more money then I want to spend. Hoping to stay under 200 to 250 tops for 2 decoys. I assume the avian x lcd is probably my best bet ?

I can’t really say I’m up to market standards as of lately but my avian xs are still kicking and putting birds on the ground .

Sometimes when I’m in the thick stuff with a shotgun I’ll use no decoy at all . Keep that bird searching . They will key on noise like crazy . Even if it’s light scratching . Blind on a field edge though decoy every time .

Bear i rarely use any decoys they are in my truck but 95% time they stay in the truck. I do have avian you can watch Rogers or camofire and get them on sale for $55 at times not always but it will come down in price.

If I use any decoys early season I would use jake two hens. Later the season goes I will use just hens. Most times scouting or hunting will let you know if you need to use them at all. Take their temp of what is going on. I’ve watched fields before and seen a few tom’s ruling the field for a couple days and snuck in the next morning and used just a tom decoy only no calling or anything just had on a string and moved him a little bit and once those birds entered the field they could not stand it. Doubled up on my two WI tags.

Trying to figure out what the birds want is the main battle. NE archery only we have been going for about 25 years now and I bet i’ve used decoy’s maybe 3 times there. I’ve had decoy’s mess up the hunt or hang them up too far out more then help.

They are a good tool and should always be an option but not always needed.If using in an archery setup I try and make sure they are only 5-8 yards away. If the bird hangs up they still might be in range.You do not need expensive decoys to turkey hunt. Old foam decoys or Montana flat decoys work. Primos . the Flextone thunder jake and hen are under $100. Think right now you can get the Thunder chick breeder and feeder for $70 for both and would work great for turkey hunting.

This is best time of the year coming up can’t wait leave a week from this Saturday.

One thing nice is that in the last few years the average turkey decoy has gotten a lot better. It used to be just DSD decoys were the absolute best, then Avian X came in. But now it seems like the entire industry is putting out some pretty nice dekes. I generally just use a single hen or a hen and jake. I’ve never had a problem with birds hanging up, but I have had where a tom will show some interest but not commit as he is hanging with real hens. In that case if it’s later in the season it’s just a waiting game. Get past 9:30, then hens leave the field and old tom ambles over to check out the decoy.

I normally go with a Hen and a Jake. Old cheap brand is all I have and use. I normally hunt private land and the birds have not been pressured so they respond well to decoys. I have a buddy who I often hunt with and he use to use a full strut Big Tom. He found some birds to be a little wary of it and has since switched to a Jake decoy. Think of it as being a guy who wants to fight someone. They will rush right into a fight with a guy much smaller and weaker looking than him, But will be much slower rushing into a fight with a much bigger stronger looking guy. I think calling is a far bigger factor than decoys. Most hunters way overcall. I tend to call as little as possible after a bird starts responding back to me or once the bird see’s my decoys and heading my direction. Call as little as possible if the bird seems to be moving your direction. Sometimes No decoy at all works best but that rare for me. I like the decoys because it helps position the bird for your shot and keeps the birds attention on the decoys rater than scanning all over looking for the source of the call.

I used to run decoys but public land birds never really came into them, just gobbled at them from afar. I got a Jake and hen Avian X setup, however. Perhaps if i get the chance to hunt some private land again I’ll use them, but I like the birds to come looking for me when I’m running and gunning, well, the end of my barrel to be exact.