Tom or Jake decoy

[Marvin M.]

Gary,

I live in Scott and drive through a corner of Borubon to get to work in Harrison (Cynthiana).  The farm I hunt is in Harrison County, about twelve miles from my house.

Good luck with the farm.  Sounds like a sweet spot to hunut.

Marvin

[David M. Mathis]

Well have to disagree with the 10% calling and 90 % where the turkeys going. I would say 90% of my birds where called in and only 10% where ambush since 1976. I know a lot of the new turkey hunters see whats on TV. Set up in a blind call a little and wait for the birds to come by which they do everyday in this field. If you can't call very good you're missing 90% of the fun. Mike

[Gary Logsdon]

I don't necessarily like to assign a percentage value on specific hunting methods so I won't go there. However, based upon my approach ambushing almost always coincides with some degree of calling; it's not simply setting up in a spot and waiting for a bird to walk by. The idea is to substantially increase the odds that a call will be responded to in the manner that you want - a bird well under 15 yards!  A lot of what I do depends on when my season falls and how the stages of the "turkey rut" are progressing.  Hens call the shots a lot of the time, especially when I am hunting mature toms, or as my buddy Gene Wensel calls them "herdbulls":^)  Consistantly taking trophy longbeards takes a knowledge of their habits and habitat plus as many weapons as possible in your bag of tricks.  Sometimes you have to "hunt" the hot hens; you need to figure out where they're roosting AND most likely to head at fly-down.  There are certain times of the season when no amount of "fancy" calling will bring a big boy within bow range. If a hunter can't find a way to get between him and his sweetie or beat her to a pinch point they're likely to pass through, well, the show might be over.  I don't care if you can call like Ben Rogers Lee (For you old time veteran turkey hunters who remember:^)), he's not going to give up a sure thing to run to you. Yes, there are occasions when birds literally sprint across fielsd to decoys like love sick tweetie birds but that rarely happens in my neck of the woods - especially during the times I hunt and once again if I am targeting the biggest longbeards in the woods, my MO for the past several years. As far as calling technigues are concerned I have to say that I have had more consistant success using methods where you don't have to sound like a championship caller (Sorry Outdoor Channel fans).  For example,things like slapping your hand on your thigh to simulate flapping winds, scratching in the leaves, using your own mouth to purr or spit and drum can be very effective.  In fact, I have pulled hot hens past me by making simple scratching and feeding sounds without the aide of any commercial calls. Bottom line, I don't panic if I get out of the truck and discover that my slate or mouth call is in another pocket at home.  Somedays that may actually be a good thing;^)  

Sometime I may do a post on how to call turkeys across a field with a rod n reel and set of practice plugs.  Just like trolling. No joke, there's a time and place where it's absolutely DEADLY.

[Stone Knife]

Any one that has real turkey feathers on it, I have found that my mounted bearded hen works better than any decoy I have used in the past. even if you just glue some wings on one it will be more attractive to birds than just your run of the mill decoy. I started out in 1982 with a plywood cutout painted black with a red head then worked my way into a mounted bird, I have tried every thing in between.

[Don Stokes]

Ben Rogers Lee- Gary, you brought back some memories with that one! He was the most famous turkey hunter in the world for years, and one of the fattest until he had a heart attack and slimmed down. Saw him give a talk one time.

I'll admit to being pretty good with a call, and can call with my mouth if I have to, but nothing beats being where the turkeys want to go, and I don't mean ambushing. That's not sporting in my book.

Anyone who thinks he can call well enough to pull gobblers away from hens that are headed somewhere else will experience lots of disappointment. You might pull in a lonely jake (satellite bull?) or two-year-old, but the dominant bird will go with the hens. In that case, if you can't get around and in front of them, your best bet may be to wait until the hens go to nest, and the gobbler may come back looking for you. I rarely do that, just because I don't like to sit that long when after turkeys. It's frustrating, though, to move on and then later hear him gobbling from the spot you left.

[Spurs]

I love to turkey hunt.  I also love to call.  It's knowing when to, and when not to make a turkey sound.  Like Gary said, ambushing almost always a key factor even if you don't want it to be.  If you ever looked at a topo map for pinch points or possible strut zones, then you are ambushing in a sense.  There is no real right or wrong way.  Just get out there and enjoy God's beautiful creation.  What works for some may not work for others.  Turkey hunting is an unpredictable sport.  That is why it is so contagious.

[Don Stokes]

I learned turkey hunting from the daughter of the gentleman who owned the M. L Lynch turkey call company, back when Lynch box calls were the only call on the market, before mouth calls and decoys were invented. Polly was a pro, having called in her first one at the age of 12. I knew her in Forestry school at MS State. She gave me my first call, and taught me how to use it. She also instilled in me the disdain for ambushing, which she defined as just lying in wait and shooting one that didn't know you were there, or bushwhacking one along the roadside. Back then rifles were legal, and I remember her rejoicing when they were outlawed, because with a rifle there was no personal involvement with the bird when it was killed. Ever since, I've always called to them while hunting, even when hunting in a funnel, or other terrain or vegetative feature that naturally directed them my way. I have to fool them to make it worthwhile, I guess. I also resisted using decoys, until I started bowhunting for them. It didn't seem sporting to me while gun hunting. It may not make much logical sense, but it's how I feel inside.

[Gary Logsdon]

Don, one winter in the late 80s or early 90s (If memory serves)I was deer hunting with my old friend Byron Ferguson near Coffeeville, Alabama and actually ran into Ben Lee sitting in a tree near the property line. We talked quite a bit about our mutual love of bowhunting.  Ben had lost a lot of that weight but still had that sense of humor and enthusiasm he was famous for. he could sure spin a yarn! I remember him pulling a giant box call out of his pack and showing me all the notches on it, each made every time he called in a turkey with it.  Sometime later I heard about the auto accident that took the old boy way too soon.

[Gary Logsdon]

Here's another version of "ambushing" Don.  I completed one of my degrees at Murray State University in extreme west KY (Who beat Vandy in the NCAA Tourney today). located only 18 or so miles from Land Between the Lakes.  While there I belonged to a "secret" hunting club that had, shall-we-say, some pretty extreme initiation requirements.  One was that you had to touch a wild turkey or deer on the leg with at least two members witnessing.  Yes, we were all seriously demented and loved to throw away our weekends.  On my successful outing we used one of the TVA abandoned fire towers for the "witnesses" while the "hunter" lay in wait for the turkey at a nearby green field.  I managed to pull the stunt off by wearing a homemade "sniper suit" while laying face down by a "tree lap" along a field edge where turkeys came to dust themselves.  I can still remember the jake practically stepping in my outstretched hand a millisecond before I clamped down on him - talk about a rodeo!  He beat the holly crap out of me as I held on for dear life but long enough to be seen attached to the bird. Talk about the school of hard knocks. We didn't have any brains back them and I'm ashamed to say that we may have even been quilty of animal harassment:^)  I guess this explains why I'm so partial to turkey hunting in my Shaggie suit today.

FYI:  No turkeys were harmed due to our escapades:^)

[Young Buck]

Great info, tks for sharing.

[Don Stokes]

Gary, you're lucky it wasn't an old longbeard! I carried a scar in my palm for a while from the first one I killed, not knowing about the "death shudder" that they do. I picked him up too soon in my excitement, with my hand wrapped around the spurs. Turkeys are amazingly powerful, and can really flog you.

[Gary Logsdon]

You got it Don; they are so much more powerful than many guys think and when they get their RPMs up - LOOK OUT!  Many a newbie has had the you-know-what scared out of them when they picked up their first "dead" turkey, HA!  I spent a lot of time on the farm when I was a kid and learn "turkey wrestling" first hand:^) Now, what was the name of this thread?  Sorry for getting off track, but some things were said that stirred some memories.

[wisconsinteacher]

As the starter of the post, I am not upset that the post got turned a little to the past.  I love reading about what others have done.  We have our first youth hunt in two weeks.  I hope to get the young boy I am taking a crack at one.

[ChuckC]

How about this.  Maybe someone already thunk this one up.  

Make a "sled" out of two pieces of PVC pipe,  maybe 1" dia.  The front of the sled shaped like some of Ron LaClair's snowshoes, with the upthrust points.  The rear just going straight back. Guess you gotta have a piece that holds them apart.  

Mount the decoy to the sled so it balances OK.  May even need to add some weight really low.

Tie a string to the front of the sled and leave it out maybe 80 - 100 yards away, in the field (or in the timber if relatively clear).  When gobblers apear,  slowly reel that decoy towards you, in full strut.   Then it is strutting (visual),   walking  (movement), and with you supplying the noise, maybe calling once or twice as well.

I may have to try that out this spring.
ChuckC

[ChuckC]

Course. if electronic decoys are legal.  Mount a few on top of those little remote control off road toy trucks your kids have.  Then bring them along and let them play with the decoys in the field.

At least that is looking to be a ton of fun.
ChuckC

[Gary Logsdon]

Hey, that would work.  Don't ask me where or when, but I do recall seeing a product a few years ago that used a rigging for moving decoys.  It was set up so the decoy would walk one way, stop, and then reverse direction.

I mentioned earlier about using a rod and reel while turkey hunting.  Here's how it works.  First it has to be done when things are perfect.  Ever seen turkeys feed their way across a field whenever the grasshoppers are "ripe"??  Well, sometimes those little longlegs bury themselves up and need a little push.  I rig a line up with a swivel and basically attach 2-3 leaders to it, each tipped with a practice plug.  I "cast" (lay out the first time)the whole thing out into the field in front of my blind.  With my "trolling device" rigged and ready I wait for turkeys to appear and begin working my way. Once they get close enough to see my "baits" I begin slowing reeling the plugs toward my blind.  As the plugs skim the surface of the fescue hordes of grasshoppers begin leaping into the air for all to see, and believe me, wild turkeys know what to do when they pick up on this - they come running!  It's hilarious to see them stabbing away as the grasshoppers leap out before them.  Bottom line, they will follow the leaping bugs straight to you. I doubt if anyone has heard of this technique, much less tried it.  See what too much time spent chasin turkeys does to the mind?  I had two buddies call me "hair brained" but then they hardly ever fill their tags doing whatever the heck they do.  One more technique for that bag of tricks.

[bluegrassbowhunter]

Originally posted by Gary Logsdon:
  Don't ask me where or when, but I do recall seeing a product a few years ago that used a rigging for moving decoys.  It was set up so the decoy would walk one way, stop, and then reverse direction.

 

Gary,it was called a decoy walker & was marketed by a guy in KY...was a track that the decoy was pulled along & once it hit the end of the track it would rotate & look like it was walking back & forth..

I've even got a decoy that talks...I've got a 2117 aluminum  decoy stake rigged up with a push n pull call...attach a swivel & an ultralight fishing reel to the call & your in business...it's not my idea,seen another feller do it along time ago & fixed one up myself...I'll take some pictures of it when I get a chance...

[Gary Logsdon]

See there, necessity IS the mother of invention, HA!

[Chris Shelton]

I dont use either, just for the simple fact I am afraid someone will shoot at it, and I will be in the line of fire.  I have a "shemobile".  I have found that they just want to see what is making the sound.  Without a decoy at all, they will look, and look, and eventually pick you out.  But that is just me.  I might eventually carry a bmobile, but I think that will be down the road!

[Roy Steele]

SORRY not my experience I hunt pressured gobblers alot.The stuting jake yea.You'd have to have a domant bird to changle a big struting decoy.There's just to many subdomat gobbers that will shy away.