Good post!

I'm paraphrasing this just a bit, but Colonel Kelley says that you should kill your first couple dozen or so turkeys any way the law will allow. By that time, you begin to form a set of ethics that you are comfortable with and abide by them.

I really don't know any sure enough turkey killers that are still in "kill him any way you possible can" mode, because after you get a few under your belt if you kill a turkey in a way that you realize wasn't really challenging and you're honest with yourself, the only thing you really feel is remorse. I've been there and done that and killed a couple turkeys (legally) that I kinda felt sorry for and I doubt that I'll ever get real excited about shooting one that way again.

There is a small percentage of turkey hunters that never get out of the "kill them any way you possibly can" mode, whether it be over a pile of corn or off the side of the road with a .243 or whatever, mainly so they can put pictures of themselves on the internet with dead turkeys and pontificate about how hard they were to call up, but I don't really wanna concern myself with what makes that type of individual's mind work to start with.

So really if you haven't reached Colonel Kelley's 2 dozen plateau yet; just have fun and don't worry a bit about listening to someone tell you how they think you should go about killing a turkey.......and for damn sure don't go telling somebody else how you think they should go about killing a turkey and everything will work itself out just fine.

I hunt about 50% field/pasture birds. I've used the decoy setup, and had it work like magic. Hunt was over as soon as he hit the ground running to the dekes, also had them state at the decoys from over 100 yards away strutting and gobbling and never step a foot closer. Yes they work but it's still not fail proof. Field birds can be a booger and can give you nightmares at times. But there's many other ways to kill a field bird without a decoy. Yeah it'll take a while to figure out and you might get burned more than once but to me that has been the fun part of it. Where I can say the decoy might be effective lets say 50% of the time on field birds, yet I have figured out another way without the decoy that's probably better at 65-75% of the time, so to me it's a no brainer no deke. Take 2 guys and put them in a field bird situation, one has a decoy and the other doesn't. If the decoy man sonehow had his bird spook due to the decoy, guess what game over for that time. Where as the other guy still has a chance. And to me that probably says the most to why I don't use them. The man not using the decoy might not necessarily kill that field bird but at least he's still hunting him.

I agree. Except I'll add that when you are on a trip and have limited amount of time to seal the deal, then all my "ethics" go out the window, and I get in the kill em any damn way I can phase.

I could really care less if guys use decoys or fans,but I don't think they are a necessary crutch,if I fool with a bird and he just ain't gonna commit and come any closer then it's my turn and I'll go to him,if he will give me an opportunity to crawl 20 yards closer then I will, most folks are scared to move on a bird but I'm not,I enjoy putting the crawl on one as much as I do calling him in,it's a challenge to used the terrain and be quiet and stealthy enough to get into gun range on one,the way I see it is he has the advantage when I'm moving toward him,everyone has different styles but who cares?as long as we are killing birds legally and having fun

Great post Brent.
I have always been of the mindset of no decoys. Honestly it's because of who taught me to turkey hunt. He was just old school on most things and didn't like them. I have tried one a time or 2 and don't really care for them. There are situations where I could see me using one though if things presented itself correctly.

With all that said; I think it's funny that we even debate it. The entire essence of turkey hunting is going against how God intended nature to work anyway. We will spends hundreds of dollars trying to sound like the most seductive hen in the woods trying to make that gobbler think its worth leaving that limb or where he is to come to us. We may even use an old wing from a bird that we've already killed in order to sound even more realistic. If he wants to fight instead of love we may gobble and purr. I've even heard stories of before decoys were legal of using black trash bags and coke cans on limbs to resemble a gobbler through the woods. We will most definitely take advantage of a horny 2 year old that will fall for any of the above and give us a show as he spins and turns to his death. We try all of these things to try to fool and trick a bird into believing we are another turkey but showing him that we might actually be one is going too far lol. Different people draw the line in different places but most all of us have given in somewhere along the way to something that would help a little. Heck you buy clothes to blend you into a tree but looking like a turkey is wrong?? We are reversing nature and that can be difficult choose to do it how you wish as long as it's legal!!
The first time I picked my uncle up that was going to teach me a little about it...he had on blue jeans, purple t-shirt, and a green army jacket in his hand. He also had one box call and a shotgun in the other. I was blown away. He called with his mouth and used the terrain to camo him as he moved. Often he would be kneeling behind a tree when the gobbler showed himself and he killed him. The box was what he used to gobble with if he needed to. He kills a bunch of birds and taught me a ton. However I do not hunt like he does; yet he is still happy for me when I kill them! No matter which side of the debate you are on there may be somebody that thinks what you do isn't "real hunting" either. Fortunately as long as its legal we get to decide what satisfies our craving for being in The Good Lords creation. Most days in the spring; for me just seeing the woods come to life and wake up will satisfy it! Hearing OLTom sound off and getting to match wits with him is a blessing I will always be thankful for decoys or not!

Well said Randy!