I hadn't planned to use any decoys but I saw some on clearance a couple weeks ago and bought a hen and jake. I knew I had to leave the woods by 8:00 am this morning so I thought I'd set them up to see if I could speed a gobblers approach.

No gobbler but I called up a hen. I was on a pine ridge. I wasn't going crazy calling but a bit more aggressive than usual. Oh yeah I should say that I heard nothing at the listening spot, not a single gobble. I knew I didn't have time to cover a lot of ground so I just set up the dekes where I knew there were turkeys around and started calling. So the hen clucks 3 times and then yelps pretty close behind me. I thought at first she saw me move because I had just shifted but figured I was ok when she followed with a couple of yelps. So she's coming up this draw and getting fairly chatty but not real excited. I've shut up and just watching her slowly make her way towards the dekes. She comes to within about 20 yds of them and starts mixing purrs with her clucks. Now I didn't know if this was true or not but had heard that if a hen starts purring with her clucks it's because she's not happy about something. Sure enough when the purrs start she slows down, looking real hard, moving sideways, all that sort of stuff. So I figure I'm about to lose her which I don't want to do because I'm hoping she will be good bait. I start throwing some clucks back at her and this seems to ease her a bit but she still won't come any closer to the dekes. It's pretty clear that she smells something is not right. She hangs around for a few minutes and then slowly moves off. Never got in a hurry just kinda moseyed back in the general direction she came.

Now here's the thing, she came within range so if she'd have been a gob I'd have shot him but she wouldn't go all the way. I placed the dekes on the ridge top so they could be seen on either side of the ridge and I was a little ways down from the ridge on the side she came from. So a gob that approached silently from the other side of the ridge might have done the same thing only without making any noise and I would have never known he was there. I could put the dekes off to one side of the ridge but doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose?

The dekes are supposed to move with the breeze I think only there was no breeze this morning, dead still. I think she couldn't figure out why they never moved and it gave her a creepy feeling but I don't know.

Maybe I just didn't set them up correctly. The object of the deke is to have the turkey come all the way and interact some way with the deke right?

For all I know I blew an opportunity this morning on a silent bird coming from the other side. Probably not but I was not impressed with how they worked with the hen. I mean she saw them and came to them and that was good but she came initially to the call and I'm thinking that if the dekes were not there she would have come anyway and probably just walked around in circles in front of me looking for the other bird?

I know some of y'all love 'em but I'm thinking maybe I won't use them. I don't know.

I don't use them much, but I've never had a hen seem to really hang around the decoys when I have a jake and a hen out. They seem to not mind a lone hen. I have avian x decoys.

I don't like to use mine in the woods. If I do use them it will be in a big field or pasture.

There is a time,and place for everything.I do not like decoys,but I will use them once in a while in a big field,but I have never thought about trying to use one in a mountain situation.I like to use the terrain to make him have to hunt me.

Had a similar experience on Wed. Had a jake a feeding hen out, 5 hens and 2 toms worked their way across a big field toward ne in the blind. One hen went past us, one out front. But 3 turned into the woods 60 yrds before the decoys and out of range. Had another Tom about 75 yrds away that saw the dekes, strutted when I called softly to him and then walked the other way to some hens. Dont think it was the dekes, just not where they wanted to be. But idk. Also had a tom come walking in to the same jake for a fight and died 3 weeks ago, so dofferent day different results. But I dont use them in the woods, just in the fields.

I hate decoys. I used em the other day and a hen walked right to em, ruffled up and started clucking hard at em. Then she quickly got the heck out of the field. That same thing has happened twice. One time it spooked a gobbler.

It doesn't help that you are toward the end of the season. Sometimes the birds have bad experiences with decoys. I rarely use one but after a couple weeks I leave them at home. Just my preference.

This is the only thing I use and only in a big field or clear cut, it has sure helped in these situations but I don't remember ever using it anywhere else

Had a strutted decoy cost me a bird last week. Set up a strutter and a hen, had a gobbler fly down into the clear cut and come within about 120 yards. Strutted his ass off and gobbled probably 30 times. He wouldn't come any closer. Pretty sure he'd had his butt kicked a time or two and was scared of the strutter. I'll be setting up on him in about 4 hours to try him again with no decoys.

Yea, i've had a whole group of 8 jakes come into a strutter setup with a hen, but the 3 longbeards wouldn't come near it. I think it works on the dominant birds, but not the submissive.

I got rid of my strutter decoy years ago. Since I went to a jake decoy, I have never had an issue running off birds.

No; I've never let birds interact w/my dekes. I use dekes to focus their attention on it vs. me so I can kill the bird THE SECOND the gobbler is in range. It's a "decoy" not a play toy for wild turkeys.

I know where you get this idea; TV & YouTube w/gobblers spinning dekes around & basically mating them. I've NEVER let a gobbler do this; as soon as that SOB is in range, he's getting lead through his head from me.

It's because of this attitude that I've rarely had bad experiences w/dekes and is why I can continue to use my ancient foamie FF dekes & they "work". I'm positive my hunts would make for chitty TV.

BGD

lol

I personally don't want gobbler gizm all over my dekes! LOL

A Strutter decoy is best at the beginning of the season when they are getting the pecking order established. After that I use a AvianX Jake and hen... and yes I let them get right in on em and love to watch the fight. Very rarely have I had a Tom hand up on my Jake only when there is a goon squad of them in the area...

To each his own, I like em especially the interaction they bring... just have to be patient...

I agree 100% with you, actually; *IF* your goal is interaction, then you better pony up the $$$ to get the most realistic dekes on the market.

To my point tho, see below -- look behind my gun & you'll see ole FF foamie Henrietta sitting proudly upside down... He came in on a string to her, IN THE WOODS, within range of my gun *ONLY* & I popped his arse... To completely spill the beans, I set my dekes up within 15 yards of me (on pastures & in the woods) & I boom-shakalaka when the gobbler steps w/in 40 yards of my gun; this requires setting your dekes up at "angles" based on your best guess of the gobblers approach...

The last bird I killed on Wednesday I actually had the hen whooping up on my upright decoy and the Tom whopping up on my Jake at the same time... best damn experience I've had! In fact they were so clued into the decoys I was able to recover from breaking rule #3 (not chambering a round) and killed the Tom... and had to shoo the hen off because she didn't even notice the shot or the flop!!

Damn!! Good stuff...

Things change in late season. Good tips here:

http://www.deeranddeerhunting.com/articles/deer-news/turkey-hunting-decoy-strategies-work-season

Says Page Not Found when I click on the link, Clem