Decoy types and placement...

[muddy]

If you want a stuffed decoy your best bet is to try and find a taxidermist who will cut you a deal somehow and get it for cost and be happy with a "decent" mount job. My buddies did some research and mounted their own decoy, it cost them very very little after they bought the foam form. There are nuts and bolts holding the wings and tails on but turkeys don't care at all. My stuffer is about 10 years old I've been told and he's very beat up but he's also still pulling them in.

For bowhunting I've never had a better decoy. He even got a nice rain bath and the hair dryer fluffed him right back up and he looks almost new!

[Casper]

Bow hunting, I have a DSD Jake and Upright hen that I place the hen at 5 yards and the jake at 7-10 yards for a close shot. Its incredible how turkeys react to them, I've had hens, jakes, and toms kick the crap out of them this year in the first three seasons. Gun hunting, I think the optimal yardage is at about 20-25 yards, so I place both out to that range.

[dan]

bump

[Brad]

I have a Best Turkey decoy that I hope to kill a tom with a bow over in a few weeks.

[BigHunt]

[glow=red]Name the decoy and I've used it.[/glow]

same here ... and i agree about the strutter decoy.....i use one ALOT and have similar results! birds running right in not paying in attention the the hen decs and going right for the strutter to show dominance. works well in early season.

[BigHunt]

I have a Best Turkey decoy that I hope to kill a tom with a bow over in a few weeks.

whats this decoy brad

[Stanley]

One hen, one jake and one tom. I sometimes use another hen.

[Uncle Lou]

Stanley, that blind set up looks well concealed. Is this an annual honey hole, or a one time wonder.

And that hen looks a little high (not second guessing, just wondering), is there a reason for that?

[gogebicbuckslayer]

I use that thunder chicken decoy that micheal waddel put out a few years ago with a real tom fan and a hen. I think a strutter is key in decoys. I've killed them with no decoys as well just dependent on the situation. Last year at camp I forgot my strutter decoy. I had killed a tom that morning so I cut off his fan and cut a slit in a hen Decoy and attached the fan it worked wonders and helped my buddy bag his first tom that evening. The decoy looked weird but maybe that's why it worked so well.

[ Post made via Android ]

[trdtnlbwhntr]

In my experience using a strutting decoy birds try to circle in behind them. They DO NOT come face to face. They try to sneak out of line of sight and surprise attack the decoy. Ive had birds jump over the fan to spur the decoy.

When I run a strutter decoy I put a hen fan in it. The smaller the fan the better. It shows less dominance. I also try to put the strutter closer to the blind then the hen. This forces the tom in closer to the blind for the shot. If hunting with the gun it doesn't make much difference.

As for the decoys I run, I have used quite a few of them over the years, but I have recently found Zink Avian X line of decoys. They look a little round at first, but the heads are pretty awesome looking on these decoys. You can pick up the hens on sale at times for around 40 bucks and the jakes and toms are in the 100-120 range.

Ive had great success using these decoys the last 3 years, including a double, a very very large tom, and last year I had my best year to date being a part of 10 turkey kills.

IF there are a large number of hens available and competition between toms is at a minimum then strutters wont work and I generally go with a single decoy set out in the open.

[Bigbuck28]

I also use the same decoy placement that your friend uses...To me its about seeming beatable.....I mean that in you wouldn't want to go into a bar fight taking on some 7ft ultimate fighter.. but you would the little computer geek in the corner. I use the smallest full body strutting decoy i can find and cut extra out of his fan to make sure he knows im a wimpy jake thats about to get lucky... And the angle isnt that important they circle them and go nuts when there really fired up.. I typically ange the hen towards me, but i place the strutter on a motion stake that i can control with my strings... I spin that strutter all around!!

[Brad]

I just ordered a DSD feeding hen, hopefully it works as well as what everyone says. I wanted the submissive hen but maybe next year, they were sold out.

[dirt nap giver]

I use "the runt" and 1 hen. Even on run and gun.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[keb]

Allot depends on the pressure, if it lightly hunted decoys work better, Mid west hard hunted Easterns are hard to decoy.

[ Post made via iPad ]

[Brandon]

I carry a infaltable hen decoy in my vest... but never use it.

I dont hunt any fields... not many around. All my turkey hunts are in hardwoods and/or pines 9 out of 10 times.

I hunt mostly public land... wouldnt dare use a strutter or any decoy.

I mainly dont use decoys because I learned to hunt without them... and dont have a problem with killing turkeys.

I run and gun a LOT... not checking fields, actually walking miles of powerlines, hardwoods, dirt roads, etc.

12 days and counting....