Decoy types and placement...

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Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby dan » Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:54 am

I have never been a big fan of decoys... But a friend I know does really well in open terrain and claims its cause of the type of decoys and placment...
He uses one of those decoys where you put a real fan in it. He uses the smallest jake fan I have ever seen and claims thats a big part of his success. Then he places a hen decoy in a laying on the ground position a couple feet in front of the jake like he is coming over to breed her.
My experiance tells me that the Tom that comjes in will likely want to come in face to face with the jake deke, so, I would think you may want the dekes facing you to get the tom to circle close, and you may want to make sure of clear shooting in front of the dekes... Right?


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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby UPbowhunter » Tue Apr 26, 2011 1:44 pm

I use a hen and a Jake. We set up for archery shots, so I set the hen up at 7 yards faceing me, and put the jake 3 yards behind her faceing me. Now the thing that I do that is different than most is I made a hinged double stake that goes over the jakes tail. It naturally lays flat out of sight, but if the toms lock up I have and arm and line to the blind that pulls it up into the struting position. We have killed birds that locked up at 40 and you pull the string and they came right in. My sons bow bird saturday ran in when I pulled the string!
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby muddy » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:26 pm

Name the decoy and I've used it. With a gun I don't think they're really necessary, especially in a run and gun situation. With a bow they're almost a necessary evil.

Up until this year I always had 4-6 hen decoys and I put them no further than 5-7 yards from my blind, all around it. That way if a gobbler hung up 40 yards away from them, he was still within my range. A few years ago I started using the strutting decoy with a real fan, which I never placed more than 5-7 yards from the blind. This was when 40 yard shots turned into 20 yards and under shots. When I tied fishing line to the strutter and made it move my shots became less than 10 yards.

This year has been an eye opener. I got rid of all my crappy decoys and bought 2 Dave Smith Hens and the number one gobbler killer of all time, the stuffer strutter Big Boi.

To be honest I don't think I need the DSD hens, I've been out two times and have had 8 mature longbeards (all 9+ in beards) come into 7 yards right up to my stuffer decoy. It's been unreal as every single bird has come in ANGRY and ready for a fight and completely ignored my DSD hens.
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby huntinfool14 » Tue Apr 26, 2011 2:31 pm

i use a decoy 90% of the time, with a run and gun situation, never use them!
i use a mounted hen decoy in the breeding position with a mounted jake or a primos killer B with a real tail fan right behind her..then usually a plastic hen about 10 yds away..with a gun i set them out at 20-30 yds, and with a bow i keep them within 10 yds
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby AC Rider » Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:35 am

muddy wrote:To be honest I don't think I need the DSD hens, I've been out two times and have had 8 mature longbeards (all 9+ in beards) come into 7 yards right up to my stuffer decoy. It's been unreal as every single bird has come in ANGRY and ready for a fight and completely ignored my DSD hens.


So do you think that with hung up birds either a very realistic strutter decoy or one that moves will seal the deal more often than not?
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby muddy » Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:00 pm

AC Rider wrote:
muddy wrote:To be honest I don't think I need the DSD hens, I've been out two times and have had 8 mature longbeards (all 9+ in beards) come into 7 yards right up to my stuffer decoy. It's been unreal as every single bird has come in ANGRY and ready for a fight and completely ignored my DSD hens.


So do you think that with hung up birds either a very realistic strutter decoy or one that moves will seal the deal more often than not?


Depends on how much pressure you have in your area. If it's pretty much just you then yes I do. A strutter deek with a real tail and as much realism as you can add to it with a fishing line hooked to it to make it move is freaking awesome. It's also a pain in the to deal with, but I did it and had good success.
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby dan » Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:06 pm

I think turkeys can see a lot better than us, so the realer the set up, the better. If it looks fake to you, its going to look suspictous to them...
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby Ack » Wed Apr 27, 2011 7:45 pm

Using full strut decoys can have both good and bad results.....just depends on how tough that tom is feeling when he sees it. I've killed three birds over a strutter and they came right in, but I've also had birds pay no attention at all to it.

Dave Smith Decoys WILL improve your success....I was leery at first but have been amazed at the way they can bring in and HOLD the birds in front of you for a shot. I've added a DSD jake to my this year, and come Monday I'll see how well he works along with my hen.
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Apr 28, 2011 2:54 am

I checked out the DSD decoys. Wow, they may be good but there is no way I would ever pay those prices. 2 bills for a tom that you have to supply the tail and wings? For 2 hundred they should supply the tail/ wings and come set the decoy up for you! :lol:
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby dan » Thu Apr 28, 2011 4:14 am

You could almost get a real mounted turkey done for that price...
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:20 am

Has anyone ever tried mounting a decoy on a remote control car. you could sit in your blind and strut your tom decoy back and forth. It would make for some crazy video footage! You could chase toms that come in. Maybe I'll have to try that. If someone was hunting a field you could set it out and drive it over by them. It would be funny to watch! Then you could add a speaker on it and make the turkey say crazy things to the hunter like "don't shoot me" or "hows the hunting going?" You could hollow out the decoy and put drinks and snacks in it and drive it out to your buddies blind and bring him some refreshments!
OK, this idea is just too good. It's patent pending for magicman!
you could really mess with the road hunters with this thing too!
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby DropTyne » Thu Apr 28, 2011 6:31 am

magicman54494 wrote:Has anyone ever tried mounting a decoy on a remote control car. you could sit in your blind and strut your tom decoy back and forth. It would make for some crazy video footage! You could chase toms that come in. Maybe I'll have to try that. If someone was hunting a field you could set it out and drive it over by them. It would be funny to watch! Then you could add a speaker on it and make the turkey say crazy things to the hunter like "don't shoot me" or "hows the hunting going?" You could hollow out the decoy and put drinks and snacks in it and drive it out to your buddies blind and bring him some refreshments!
OK, this idea is just too good. It's patent pending for magicman!
you could really mess with the road hunters with this thing too!


I love this idea! :lol:
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby UPbowhunter » Thu Apr 28, 2011 7:07 am

illegal here in Jersey but I know guys that have done it with great results!
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby Ack » Thu Apr 28, 2011 5:23 pm

dan wrote:You could almost get a real mounted turkey done for that price...


True, but a stuffer will not last nearly as long as a DSD. A DSD is an investment that will pay for itself in dead birds for many, many years.

Now let me just add this.....if you primarily run and gun with a shotgun I honestly wouldn't spend the money on these....you do not need them for that style of hunting. If you are hunting fields a lot or are bowhunting birds, then it would be money well spent.
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Re: Decoy types and placement...

Unread postby Spysar » Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:57 pm

I've always had luck using one jake, that's all. Check out this placement.

Image
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