After a 6 year absence from turkey hunting I am giving it a go again, however this time I am going with a blind and decoys instead of stumbling around out in the woods. My question is on decoy placement, I have a jake and a hen, whats best to place them side by side, facing each other, jake behind hen, and whats a minimum distance they should be from the blind.
I like to place the hen in front with the jake looking at her back side. I place the decoys about 15-20 yards out, but there are ALOT of factors. Open terrain with almost no ground cover is probably the best for decoys so the tom has something visual to see, but not all toms are looking for a fight all the time. There is a time and place for decoys and if you can figure it out let us all know!! 
Good luck to you, glad your back!! See you in the turkey woods!!
first, i’m a little biased because i’m not a big fan of decoys…. however, i did use one last year to bring in a TOM on my opening day hunt.
if i use one, i try and stick to a Hen by itself. i don’t like to bring the confrontation of another male when useing decoys and usually have to hope that a TOM is by himself when he see’s the hen decoy. if you have a group of birds that you are hunting, i believe you are better off w/ a male/female combination. everything should be based off the area that you hunt. play things out in your head on how you would like the hunt to happen and let the birds determine the best situation. 4 of the birds out of the last 5 that i have harvested were w/o decoys.
Good luck and it’s good to see you playing the game of Chess w/ the birds again. Hopefully you will be able to say “CHECKMATE” when it’s all said and done
Quote:
first, i’m a little biased because i’m not a big fan of decoys…
I agree with Gobbler – I typically do not use like to use decoys either unless I’m hunting one of the earlier seasons. Or the morning before I saw a tom that would not come to my calling.
Guess from what direction where you think the tom is coming from. Set up the decoys where they would be the most visible to him (not you). I like to face them quartering away from him and towards your blind set up so he must head them off so to speak. 20-25 yards away is good. If you are using a jake or tom decoy, they should be about 5 – 10 yards apart.
I have seen that TOM decoys like the Pretty Boy (full strut) are better than jake decoys. Im not sure why, but you will more than likely bring in a mature bird using a strutter. 20 yards is the max distance for me in decoy placement because i archery hunt 
Turkeys are very good at picking out where sound is coming from so it’s best to have decoys close to you. If you can get by w/o moving AT ALL, put the decoys a couple feet from ya 
It is all about what you’re comfortable with and how successful you are with using decoys! I personally love using decoys and have had great success with them. I use a jake and 2 hens and it works wonders! My hunt last year took a total of 30 minutes after they flew out….he saw that jake decoy and came right in…8 yards away! Nothing special about the set up other than I put them in a line with the jake being last! My brother uses B-Mobile with a hen and that works as well….although he cut the beard down to make it look like a jake all fanned out.
Sometimes it works….sometimes it doesn’t! All depends on Mr. Tom’s mood and if he has hens or not with him! Try different sets and see what will work for you Good luck! 
I agree 100% with you dartman…sometimes they work…sometimes they dont..Ive had good luck with a lone hen..last year both birds my wife and I got were ready to jump on the decoy…mine flew from the roost right to the decoy and my wife’s came runnin in at the decoy..never used the call…I guess it depends on what has worked in the past and like stated the “mood” of the bird…my buddie who hunts numerous states for turkey uses two hens and a jake and swares by his set up…I tried it for a year and didnt have much luck…what ever set up you use good luck to ya and look forward to seein some pics…Jay
Do you guys use decoys in the woods, or mostly in the fields?
I have had as many or more birds hang up out of range with decoys than come to them. Being a duck hunter at heart though I keep trying them. 
Quote:
I have had as many or more birds hang up out of range with decoys than come to them.
That’s the number one reason why I typically don’t use them. This most likely happens because of hunting pressure. The only time I will use a decoy (in the field) is the earlier seasons or I failed to call one in the morning before.
In regard to setting up decoys in the woods – I don’t use them there either. Unless the woods is wide open, you shouldn’t need one. However, I know some guys who always use a decoy no matter what. To each their own I guess…
Grifter…you bring up another good point. There are many keys to the success or lack of success with decoys. But the most important ones are the toms mood, if he’s with hens or by himself and how much hunting pressure he’s had.
well if he’s w/ another hen good luck trying to bring him in
Quote:
Quote:
I have had as many or more birds hang up out of range with decoys than come to them.
That’s the number one reason why I typically don’t use them. This most likely happens because of hunting pressure. The only time I will use a decoy (in the field) is the earlier seasons or I failed to call one in the morning before.
In regard to setting up decoys in the woods – I don’t use them there either. Unless the woods is wide open, you shouldn’t need one. However, I know some guys who always use a decoy no matter what. To each their own I guess…
The bold part is interesting to me. I have never hunted the first season before, but I have the first season this year. I’m trying to decide how to switch up from my normal tactics (I usually take the 4th season, I’ve had 3rd and 5th too). That is probably the topic for another thread though.
MossBoss – there are many factors that go into a successful hunt. Whether or not I use a decoy, is pretty low on my list. Not trying to hijack the thread but… 
My top 4 things on the list is scouting, scounting, scouting and scouting. Did I hammer that point home? Would you ever hang a deer stand in any tree without scouting the area first? Treat your scouting like you are trying to harvest a trophy buck. You should know where the turkeys roosting areas are. You should now where they typically fly down and what direction they head. You should know where they enter the field and where they feed. You should know where toms typically strut in the later hours. You should know which tom is the boss gobbler! Get out there weeks/days ahead of your hunting time to figure this out. Bring your camera and have some fun! This morning I saw 8 toms (two came in within 20 yards of me) and I got some good video.
Next on the list is your game plan. This could be an entire separate thread. Bottom line is get one and follow it.
Next on the list is calling techniques. Master whatever call you choose. Then master the next one and then the next one etc… To be consistent, you sometimes need to throw other calls at them that sound different.
Next is your set up. Practice it so you can easily do it in the dark without making a lot of noise. Are you going to use a blind or not? How are you going to conceal yourself? Where is the tom most likely going to come from? Anticipate the hunt from every possible direction. Be prepared. Set goals.
Hope this helps…
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
