Turkey decoys for trad bow??

[old_goat2]

Msbow, a lot of the time I agree with how you put it, but since I bought the Avian X hens I've had way better success getting the Tom to stay around, I set the hens facing away. I did get one of those Funky Chicken Jakes last year and it seemed to work pretty well. I face the Jake towards the blind.

[mnbwhtr]

I've had a lot of decoys but after last year I must say Avianx from now on. I hunted the entire month of May and had several birds come around but none came in. I borrowed an Avainx feeder for the last day had 5 different gobblers come right in to within 10 yards. I have to believe it was the decoy that made the difference. I now own an Avain feeder.

[dhermon85]

Not discounting any of the decoys listed, because there're some great ones out there, but I think a lot depends on the bird.

[RC]

No doubt dhermon85 and the pressure put on him. RC

[SheltonCreeker]

I have a flock of the DSDs. I love them. I have a close friend and hunting partner who uses AvianX. Both are great decoys. But it has already been said it really depends upon the birds in your area. If heavily pressured as RC just stated they are gonna be tough. But to answer you question in the original post. The DSD are great decoys and in my opinion worth the money. Just an opinion tho. Good luck.

[K.S.TRAPPER]

I sure like my AvianX decoys

 

 

I have better picks but Photobucket is being slow tonight. I've had turkeys come up lay down right beside my avian's and dust and take naps on video with other Tradgangers hunting with me. Never had turkeys ever do that to any of my other decoys in many ,many years of bowhunting them. IMHO

Tracy

[monsterbuck]

Originally posted by TradBrewSC:
Avian X decoys are amazing.

I highly recommend giving them a try.

X2

[RC]

The last pic Tracy put up has made me plan on buying one of those dekes. You gotta really look to tell whats real.RC

[Msbow]

I thought that was a real hen behind a decoy for a sec in that last pic are those both avian decoys?? Is that darker decoy a avian jake? Ide like to thank all y'all for taking the time to help a new trad turkey hunter out with all y'all's advice on these decoys very much appreciated!!

[shedhunta]

In my opinion a good turkey decoy makes all the difference for bowhunting.  I have had too many bad experiences with cheap decoys and once I switched to Avian X that all changed.  My jake decoy got his butt whooped the first 2 out of 3 hunts with him and put my first 2 trad birds on my dinner table.  They are worth the money!!!

[Guru]

DSD's awesome, if you have the money and don't mind carrying full body deke's.

Avian's great as well, they will fold down some, but are still heavier than foam.

I carry enough gear, so no full bodies for me....I want light and foldability(is that even a word).

I've at the turks seriously since 2000, and at last count was at about 25 or so birds killed and my experience has been drastically diff. than what I'm reading here....more than 95% of my birds have been killed within yards of a jake decoy!!!

Most of the time, I shoot them before they get to it, but I guarantee if I didn't....they'd have knocked the snot out of it!

For me, here in NY, for the first couple weeks of our May season it's hard for me not to hunt with a jake in the flock.

And if there is a jake out there, you might as well not even have the hens out because your shot will be as the gobbler is coming to kick butt... every time!!

I have sort of a 1/4 strut jake, and full strut jake that is killer....I have the video to prove it!

Plenty of pix as well...

I like dekes that are light and foldable....and every decoy I've ever bought I've altered with paint to add detail....I believe that's made a huge difference in my success with my "cheap" decoys.

[Guru]

BTW... that is an Avian hen(darker), and a real hen in Tracy's pic....awesome!!

[Msbow]

Thanks guru for the info!!! I saw some avian hens and DSD hens at a sporting goods store today they had them on display its a lot different seeing them in person I couldn't believe how real they all looked especially those DSD's I still haven't bought any yet but ive decided it's going to be avian or DSD I would like to see a longbeard attack a decoy in real life I've only seen it on tv but it seems like it would be bitter sweet seeing a 100 dollar decoy beat up on. What decoys would be able to take a good beating without tearing up between the two??

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Stay away from the Turkey Skinz. Pieces of Junk!

My dad has a mounted bearded hen. it has accounted for more than 50 turkeys killed over it in 4 years.

I think those Avian X and DSD decoys are as close as you can come to looking like a  mounted hen.

[dbd870]

Originally posted by acolobowhunter:
I have been using the Avian for a few years now.  I have a hard time getting them set up, as the jake wants to stay at home.  Every year he gets his butt whipped.  It has really been amazing to watch.  One time the tom whipped on him for over 30 minutes - I had walked back to camp to a sandwich and watched through the bios.

LOL - my Jake got absolutely hammered once last spring - cracks me up!    

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Curt is the turkey man and I've learned a lot from him since starting tradgang many years ago! He's right about the AvianX
being a little bulky but mine came with a nice carry bag with straps and I hardly notice them.

 


Tracy

My first dekes were the fold up foam thins.  They were cheap, light , packed well, and barely looked like anything turkey.  I met a compound hunter with a dead turkey.  He told me to put white wing tips and brighter blue and brighter red heads on mine and they will work better, they did. He was trying homemade cardboard, hand painted silhouette things that joined by a piece of tape at the beaks that day. When asked how they worked, he said the tom came charging in and then walked a wide circle around them right into his lap, so he shot it.

[Iowabowhunter]

I like my MT decoy I think its called strutting tom. Super easy to transport, light as all get out, plus it moves w/the wind to give a more lifelike appearance.

[Guru]

Guys you can really transform a cheap decoy with a little paint and effort.

The new foam dekes are a lot better than the old big headed Feather Flex's.

I look for dekes with a good head, and feather texture....then detail them up with some fabric paint....I'll have to post some pix when I get the chance.  

I spent $24 bucks on a hen and jake decoy last spring and made the look pretty dang good....  this turkey though so too the first time we used them...

•  

•  

•  

•  


The next 3 gobblers we killed last spring were killed over our full strut jake deke "Floyd"...

[archer66]

I've got both Avian and DSD decoys.  Last year was my first year using the DSD and on TWO occasions I had a hen walk into my decoys and attack the DSD while leaving the Avian alone.  Two different properties miles apart so not the same hen with a bad attitude.  The avian is in the feeding posture and the DSD is upright so that might explain it.

I added a DSD jake this year and I've got an old carry lite submissive hen that I'm going to use it with.  

I like the avian's just fine but I don't see their collapsability as any kind of benefit because they look better if kept inflated and because I don't want to have to inflate them as I'm setting them out.  I'll typically carry a pop up blind and a chair or a gobbler lounger if not using a blind and two or three full body decoys along with my bow and of course my calls and such. The decoys don't weigh enough to be a problem....if I'm hunting timber I generally don't mess with a decoy or if I'm running and "gunning" I might only carry one decoy so I can be quicker and quieter.  The DSD hen is perfect for that.