Turkey decoys for trad bow??

[Whip]

I had an entire flock of various cheap decoys and up until a few years ago had all but stopped even using them.  They scared more Turkeys than I could count.

Two years ago I took the plunge on good decoys.  I have an AvianX upright hen,  and a DSD Jake and DSD breeding hen.  During the past two Springs I have killed a total of 6 birds,  all with trad gear.  

I'm a believer!

[Goose smasher]

PLEASE - trad bows only!  no pics or talk of any other weaponry.

[Fritz]

Haven't used them yet, but broke down and bought me a breeder set of the avians. Man those things look real!!! I don't get to turkey hunt but a very few days in the spring and I got tired of all the birds shying from my old beat up cheap o's. I will report back after my spring trip. Hope I don't actually shoot my dekes!  

[Msbow]

Not sure who or what was said or pics that were posted about anything other than trad equipment but I intended this thread to be about what decoys a first time traditional turkey hunter would need to lure and hold a turkey in close for a shot with a traditional bow.

[Orion]

Still using an old feather flex jake, but plan to get a more realistic looking bird for this spring.  Over the years, I have found that a single jake, or a jake with a hen in a submissive position is the be sty at drawing gobblers.

[Goose smasher]

I'm sorry that I appear to have broken a rule by posting a picture of a turkey decoy that also had a non traditional bow in the same picture. I'm new to the board and to traditional bow hunting but I have been a passionate turkey hunter for many years and was only trying to show what my decoys looked like in a hunting situation and the OP had started the thread about turkey decoys. If I have over stepped the bounds here I truly apologize and did not mean to offend anyone.

  Goose smasher

[2bird]

Msbow, strutting toms work good, the reason turkeys hang up a lot is because the hunter is calling wrong. in early season you need to set up so your strutting tom's fan is facing where the real tom is roosted (he will try to sneak up on him) then you need to make happy content calls, not excited hen calls. what this does is threatens his dominance, he is less likely to leave hens he has for a mystery hen but he will leave those hens if he thinks another tom is stealing his lady’s... YOU should set up 20 ish yard BEHIND your decoys, so if he hangs up it will be right in front of you not 30-40 yards away... using this tactic I have had many toms and small jakes come out of their roost and sprint a 250 yard b-line to my decoy to whoop him...  

Now don’t make fun of my awesome computer drawling skills lol but here is a little picture of what I’m talking about, nothing is fool proof when turkey hunting but this has always worked good for me. Best of luck.


 

[2bird]

If you over call or get too excited calling that tom will expect that hen to come to him (this is a lot of the reason for hang ups) and you have a good chance of the boss hen pulling that tom away from you(another reason for hang ups or the bird that just leaves). nice clam purrs and soft yelps will get the toms attention and when he see another bread with "his" hens he almost can control him self and will storm over there to show him who's boss (most of the time anyways). once you got his attention, STOP calling but just a few little purrs here and there, remember your not trying to seduce him your trying to piss him off that another tom has his hens. Now in late season when the hens leave the toms but they are still looking more exciting yelping and such can be very productive but in the early season this is the way to go (for me anyways). For me this is also a good way to do it when your in a area where the birds have a lot of hunting pressure because most of them are use to hearing a bunch of crazy yelping and know to stay away (educated). I hope this helps...

[Guru]

Goose, not a big deal. Just the policy since day one. Trad bow kills only.

[Ray Lyon]

2bird, that's a great diagram and good advice.

[2bird]

Thanks Ray, turkey hunting is my passion lol

[Ray Lyon]

I'm kind of a fan of those birds too.        

  [/url] [/IMG]

[2bird]

[Msbow]

2bird I have never tried hunting with a strutting Tom decoy I've always used a jake and 2 hens mostly. I have always been worried that 2 year old birds would not want to mess with him but I dunno I might be missing out btw I believe your drawing is a lot better than what I could have done on the computer. Couldn't I just use a jake and stick a fan on him or does it need to be a blown up strutting Tom? ... Goose you didn't offend me I never even saw the pic I thought it was something I said or did lol. Do any of you ever mix gobbles in with your hen calls so that he thinks a Tom is already with her?? If that makes any sense

[2bird]

Sure you can use a Jake with a fan attached, a Jake fan would be better, it's bad enough to get your girl taken away and even worse when it's by some punk kid lol haha... Ya know I have had plenty of young Jakes (2" and less beards) come to the strutting tom before. sometimes in pairs and sometimes they wont strut but they will come...

Turkeys are smart, sometimes you can do everything right and they wont come in, sometimes it can be easy. Last season I tagged out(2 bird, hence the name) in the 1st 30 minutes on opening day, and next week so did my son on his first Turkey ever, the year before everything that could go wrong did...

[2bird]

I havent mixed gobbles with yelps my self but i know guys that do. the thing with calls is you have to be adaptable, not every tom will respond to the same call, to be a good turkey hunter with calls you need to have several and know how and when to use them.

[bluegrassbowhunter]

Originally posted by Guru:


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!
 

X2..

[Msbow]

2bird
So you think hens and a full strutter or a jake strutting is the way to go? What about a 1/2 or 1/4 strutting jake? What kind of decoys do you use the most realistic ones you can get or cheap diy painted ones?? I know guru is from NY and I appreciate his advice very much but I'm thinking that there's not a turkey hunter around every corner in NY like it is here, but I have never even met another traditional hunter much less one that turkey hunted so I can't just go and ask them, so I'm not so sure the me painting a turkey would work out so well lol they would wind up looking worse then when I started. The birds I hunt are very educated and they get hunted by everyone and their mama. When I was on the phone with the fellow that owns Simmons sharks I told him where I was from and he said we had the hardest to hunt birds and deer he had ever hunted. Now, I've never hunted anywhere else so I don't know any different, but I've watched those paranoid schizo turkeys come into my set see my decoys and do a 180 and leave so it's gotta have something to do with my decoys. Ide like to thank all of y'all that have taken the time to help me out with my attempt at trying to kill a bird trad style !!!

[Msbow]

Also what does it mean when my avatar is on everybody's message box ??  Or has it always been that way and I never noticed

[2bird]

ya know i just bought my decoys at wal mart, so yes they most likely are cheap ones. i like the 2-3 hens and a strutting turkey set up, it's not going to work every single time. To be a good turkey hunter you have to adapt to the turkeys you are hunting.

Give it a try and if they still do a 180 when they see your decoys then those bird are really educated, time to switch it up and maybe pattern them like deer.

I really feel the key to be getting them to you  is knowing when to call and when not to call, decoys or not if you over call your going to spook them.