Turkey decoy set up?

I

iccyman001

New member
Apr 30, 2014
5,489
What does everyone do for turkey decoy set ups?


I see so many recommendations out there, what works best for you?



I have a jake and a hen, I am trying to figure out what I should do. :think:
 
I have had success with many different sets. I have shot them with a full strut and submissive hen and some with just a single hen or a couple of hens. I know some people have good success with a jake and hen but it has not worked for me. I think it is kind of like the thread about calling. Depends on what they like at times.
 
i agree with francis, it all depends.
for turkey, or elk for that matter, tell em what they wanna hear and show em what they wanna see. i know that sounds simple and crazy, but what i mean is this. in certain years one thing will make em come runnin in, the next year it scares them. im convinced they learn, or at least get skittish to a pattern. so figure out what they want to see.
now, if your talkin bout kansas birds, dont worry about it, they dont see enuf pressure that it matters, do whatever ya want.
 
I\'ll start messing around and figure out what works and what doesn\'t!


Those Kansas birds just laugh at me and walk the other way. :lol:
 
I can promise all of you that you won\'t hunt an animal that is more fickle than a turkey. What works today won\'t work tommorrow. What works right now didn\'t work an hour ago. I haven\'t gun hunted turkeys in 10 years so this is how I bowhunt them. If I am using a decoy setup, which is almost always, I am using a gobbler or a jake decoy sometimes coupled with a hen in a breeding position. Once in a blue moon I will use a feeding or upright hen instead of the breeding hen. Normally, I just use my BTD jake as a lone decoy but also like Pretty Boy as I have taken quite a few gobblers off him with my bow. The only reason I use the jake is he tends to spook less gobblers than Pretty Boy. But make no mistake....you will spook birds at times with decoys. Even just hens. For a bowhunter, it is something I don\'t normally hunt without one. I will set my jake/strutter facing my blind at a distance where if I shoot in front of the decoy I use my longer pin (normally 40 yard pin) and if the bird is behind my decoy I can shoot my 20. This distance is normally about 7 yards depending on how your bow is set up. I would set them even closer but it is hard to shoot out of a blind much closer. Make sure that your blind is dark and you only have windows open that are required to shoot. I open my window on my Matrix as wide as possible but string up some black material to block off the majority of the window. The only area I leave open to shoot is a small window to the left and right of the center strap on my front window. If you do this you can pretty much do jumping jacks when a bird comes in and they won\'t see you. ALSO....set up with your blind facing west in the morning. The rising sun will light you up inside of your blind like a spotlight. I call VERY sparingly every 15-20 minutes and wait. I hunt them like deer basically. If you are in areas they frequent, this tactic is deadly if you are patient. This tactic works best if you hunt as late as possible. If I only had a few hours to hunt and could sneak in without being busted I would only hunt from 10am to 1pm. Gobblers are by far easier to kill at mid morning or mid day than they are at fly down. The will be alone at this time more often than not and with hens when they hit the ground.

Here is a bird I shot a few years ago at 2:30 pm. I had to take my kids to school and didn\'t get to my spot till almost 11am.



Here is one I shot with decoys but in reality this gobbler had no interest at all in my dekes. I knew where he was hanging out and he came through this field following 2 hens late in the morning. He paid zero attention to calling either. This is the longest shot I have made BY far on a spring gobbler, 25 yards. Most are less than 10.



Here is one I shot over Pretty Boy. I was setup near his roost. He left with hens in the morning and then came back looking for me at 10-10:30 am. He sounded off, I answered. He came right to Pretty Boy. That quick and that easy.
 
i have a DSD jake and standing hen. been doing great. i usually put the hen on the ground.

i want that AVianX breeding hen.

to be honest, i have been doing great with just the hen. my CA birds are wussies..any big tom decoy scares them..and they lock up at 50 yards.
 
oh..my biggest game changer has been to tie fishing line on my decoys. they hold up..only takes a few spins..i turn the jake to face them, and turn away. a simple pull of the line adds life to my decoys.

they come running \"usually\" with that \"oh no you didnt!!!\" run. super fun.
 
\"elky McElkerson\" said:
oh..my biggest game changer has been to tie fishing line on my decoys. they hold up..only takes a few spins..i turn the jake to face them, and turn away. a simple pull of the line adds life to my decoys.

they come running \"usually\" with that \"oh no you didnt!!!\" run. super fun.
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I have that Avian X decoy mover setup (don\'t remember the name) for my strutter. It is string that wraps around a pulley with a stake coming out the top. It has been a killer for sure.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
 
\"iccyman001\" said:
I am getting so antsy for this year!!!!!!


Im playing with my calls right now..... my wife hates it :D
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I hear you. I have to practice in the basement because my wife does not like all the racket as she calls it. :)
 
\"F M\" said:
\"iccyman001\" said:
I am getting so antsy for this year!!!!!!


Im playing with my calls right now..... my wife hates it :D
Click to expand...

I hear you. I have to practice in the basement because my wife does not like all the racket as she calls it. :)
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Gary doesn\'t need to practice. They just walk right up to him... ;)
 
Really nice birds there Mark! Thanks for showing those!

And what is it with wives! Mine does not like turkey calls in the house either! :( She can tolerate cow calls but everything else is frowned upon!
They just don\'t seem to understand the importance of practice! :eh:
 
\"iccyman001\" said:
\"F M\" said:
\"iccyman001\" said:
I am getting so antsy for this year!!!!!!


Im playing with my calls right now..... my wife hates it :D
Click to expand...

I hear you. I have to practice in the basement because my wife does not like all the racket as she calls it. :)
Click to expand...




Gary doesn\'t need to practice. They just walk right up to him... ;)
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lets hope for that again. I cant be crawling around again this year :D
tim, get that man cave up asap, then you will have a place to practice where no one will bug you :lol:
 
i think the guys hit it dead on, MOVEMENT. i had three gobblers in a field, had seen em there several days in a row, i tried everything i could think of to get them to come my directions (400 acre field and no access to where they were comin from). they would go to the middle and stay there all day. out of desperation i belly crawled out in the field about 20 yds and moved my decoy back and fourth as far as my arms would let me, then lay her down like she was goin out of site. they walked right to me, if my brother hadnt shot to far out that would have been one of my best successes while huntin.
 
\"bnsafe\" said:
i think the guys hit it dead on, MOVEMENT. i had three gobblers in a field, had seen em there several days in a row, i tried everything i could think of to get them to come my directions (400 acre field and no access to where they were comin from). they would go to the middle and stay there all day. out of desperation i belly crawled out in the field about 20 yds and moved my decoy back and fourth as far as my arms would let me, then lay her down like she was goin out of site. they walked right to me, if my brother hadnt shot to far out that would have been one of my best successes while huntin.
Click to expand...


you need to find a spot out there in Kentucky to hunt them this year.
We will miss you at camp, Scott!
 
thx dan, i am super bummed. i dunno bout ky, i need to do some research. all my stuff in in mo, but could get it.
 
\"bnsafe\" said:
thx dan, i am super bummed. i dunno bout ky, i need to do some research. all my stuff in in mo, but could get it.
Click to expand...

I missed your pm some time ago but tried to respond. Send me a pm....I can help. :)
 
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