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What is your turkey decoy setup like?
Posted on 12/29/14 at 9:57 am
Posted on 12/29/14 at 9:57 am
I am already looking forward to this spring and killing a gobbler.
What decoy setup have you had the most success with? jake/hen? gobbler/hen? single hen?
This will be my second year of chasing the birds and I'm pretty excited about it.
What decoy setup have you had the most success with? jake/hen? gobbler/hen? single hen?
This will be my second year of chasing the birds and I'm pretty excited about it.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 10:00 am to eyepooted
I never use decoys...
I move around entirely too much and the woods I hunt are too thick
maybe if I hunted open fields...
I move around entirely too much and the woods I hunt are too thick
maybe if I hunted open fields...
Posted on 12/29/14 at 10:02 am to Salmon
I hear ya. In Texas I'll be hunting open fields and in LA I'll be hunting stands of Longleaf Pines that have been thinned.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 11:24 am to eyepooted
Pink yard flamingo,
Turkeys are very courious & territorial
Turkeys are very courious & territorial
Posted on 12/29/14 at 11:48 am to eyepooted
quote:
What decoy setup have you had the most success with?
I don't use them unless there is a reason (turkey in a field is about the only reason I ever come up with).
You'll kill more turkeys with your call and decoy in your bag, and watching what turkeys do rather than "chasing" them. Sit still, be quiet, wait for a turkey to gobble on his own, get as close as possible without calling, and only then try to call. A novice turkey hunter has a very slim chance of striking up and calling up a gobbler that hasn't been gobbling. If he's gobbling, the closer you get to him before making a sound, the more likely he is to come take a look. Get in a spot where he'll have to be in shooting range before he could see you. Use the terrain. If you are dead-set on using decoys in fields/open areas, put out a hen and a jake and sit back and wait. You'll be better off this way.
Disclaimer: Every year more people are in the woods calling and running all over the place trying to kill turkeys and it pisses me off. It's the wrong way for me to think, but I can't help it. I'm an arsehole when it comes to turkeys.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 12:01 pm to tenfoe
quote:
tenfoe
In Texas I'm on private property, public in LA.
In La there is a big gobbler with a bunch of hens and when I try to get close all the hens bust me or I don't get close enough and he doesn't want to leave the hens.
There are 2-4 "Satellite" gobblers in the area and busted me when I was trying to move around. I will definitely be taking the "sit quite and wait" approach this year.
I feel like if the gobbler doesn't see anything where they heard the calling coming from, they are more apt to leaving that to continuing to search. The birds where I hunt in La are very wary.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 12:12 pm to eyepooted
quote:
In La there is a big gobbler with a bunch of hens and when I try to get close all the hens bust me or I don't get close enough and he doesn't want to leave the hens
Sit and wait until the hens leave. You can have a real hen tied on a string tied to a stump as a decoy and he's not gonna leave 4 other ones to come to you until he's done breeding them.
quote:
There are 2-4 "Satellite" gobblers in the area and busted me when I was trying to move around
Kill them, then they won't bust you, then kill the other one.
quote:
I feel like if the gobbler doesn't see anything where they heard the calling coming from, they are more apt to leaving that to continuing to search. The birds where I hunt in La are very wary.
That's why you need to use the terrain to make him come look for you. He's not gonna go far out of his way on most days, but if he's strutting in a road you'd want to get just around a curve where he'd have to come look to see you. Get on top of a hill above him, where he's got to stick his head up (which you shoot immediately) to see you. When I first started turkey hunting I killed most of my turkeys after 11am on most days. I still think if he gobbles after 11am I should kill him every time. Turkeys are different everywhere. On one place I hunt they don't gobble well but 3-4 mornings out of the season. Another place they sing like roosters every morning. Think like a turkey. They are just doing turkey things. They aren't sitting around thinking of ways to outsmart you.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 12:20 pm to tenfoe
Some of the best advice I have received
Thank you
Thank you
This post was edited on 12/29/14 at 12:22 pm
Posted on 12/29/14 at 12:34 pm to eyepooted
quote:
I feel like if the gobbler doesn't see anything where they heard the calling coming from, they are more apt to leaving that to continuing to search. The birds where I hunt in La are very wary.
They are like that just about everywhere, so the key is don't choose a setup where he should be able to see the hen from a long way.
I only use decoys on one particular place I hunt (hen/jake) because it is a small private field and I don't have access to the surrounding timber nor the big fields behind it, and even then I use them as a last resort. I've hunted the place for about 15 years and have set decoys maybe 7-8 times, and killed 2 birds.
I normally don't use them because the wariness you mention makes the hunt much more exciting/rewarding when one wrong move or hesitation can blow the whole thing. I don't have a problem with people using them, but the turkey normally just loses their mind when they see one.
I wouldn't use them on public land or a club with other hunters under any circumstances. I've seen too many yahoos do too many stupid things.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 12:40 pm to tenfoe
quote:
They aren't sitting around thinking of ways to outsmart you.
Great post on this subject from you as usual, but this stands out. Some people say they are really smart, then some will say "well I saw one do this, or that, so they're pretty stupid".
I don't think they're smart, but they're extremely cautious, paranoid, and alert so it is easy to f*ck up a hunt or setup. The best way I've heard it described "Something has been trying to eat it or kill it since it was an egg, you would be crazy too".
Posted on 12/29/14 at 12:51 pm to eyepooted
Game warden/buddy of mine told me he just gets off the back of the green field that all the public land hunters hunt and waits for those dumbasses to push the turkey to him. Limits out in two weeks
Posted on 12/29/14 at 1:10 pm to MOT
quote:
"Something has been trying to eat it or kill it since it was an egg, you would be crazy too".
Well put.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 1:13 pm to MOT
quote:
I don't think they're smart, but they're extremely cautious, paranoid, and alert so it is easy to f*ck up a hunt or setup
I can agree with this.
Posted on 12/29/14 at 8:57 pm to MOT
quote:
but the turkey normally just loses their mind when they see one.
I thought that's what you wanted to happen? I haven't killed enough of them to enjoy the challenge yet.
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