Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk ALTurkey Talk -- Beards and Spurs Outdoor life finally got something right

I got you Brent, but like I said, I did it too a few times but with mixed success. And I dont like doing it either. I am just too old to go crawling around on my belly with a fan in front of me. It would give me a crick in my neck trying to look up lying there.

And Ive stated I dont even use decoys much as I have had more bad luck than good with them. But heck. I dont even carry a vest most days. I just wear one of those inflatable pads around my waist. A couple mouth calls in my pocket and a slate and striker in my cargo pockets. I dont like carrying much at all.

But I am not for making anything illegal that is not already is my argument.

And that I definitely agree with. I think the baiting for deer does need to go.

I would agree with that also, but in your words, that would make me a hypocrite. Wait a second…..you’ve never hunted deer over bait? Or are you too a hypocrite? And want something outlawed because you don’t like to do it and it may have an affect on turkeys?

Well that is you and great job. But I see and hear folks all the time posting or talking about taking a gobbler at 70 and even 80 yards. Those "Hung up" gobblers that wont come any closer. My Winchester 5's arent ever shooting that far, nor would I try it. But folks are slamming gobblers at long range. And mostly dominant , careful birds that would not be killed other wise.

The bird I mentioned running from my neighbor when he used decoys in the cornfield next to me? My neighbor killed him two days later at 72 yards. I heard him shoot and later he told me the story. A big dominant gobbler with a boat load of hens. Never would come to the calls either. But hed sure strut in that field with those hens.

Well my neighbor never called. Just sat and waited and when he got where he could hit him, he did. Absolutely no skill involved. Might as well sat there with a .22 IMO.

That is what I am saying. TSS has accounted for more Dominant gobblers than a darn decoy. But guess what? I dont want it made illegal. I like people having choices. Decoys, TSS , whatever. It dont bother me and I dont want to infringe on others over what I like or dont like. Pretty simple.

And the part about making new laws is simple too. The US Govt, every state and even local Govt has people whose whole job it is is to pass more laws. So this year they use the Strawman of decoys.

Well dont be surprised when next year it is TSS. That is how things work. It is called PROGRESSIVISM. Slowly and surely the law makers pass more and more laws every year. restricting more and more rights. They do it little by little. Not in one swoop, hence PROGESSIVISM.

And hence my reference to dems.That is exactly what they do. Though IMO republicans are Progessives too. They just try to hide it better.

I personally think we have more than enough laws and rather than outlaw things they should instead reallocate some funds to hire 20 more darn wardens and start enforcing the laws ALREADY on the books. Like Early season hunting, baiting, over limit hunters ,etc.

The guys that are outlaws are killing the snot out of turkeys here. That is the real issue with turkey hunting. Its not the law abiding guys. it is the darn outlaws

“But I am not for making anything illegal that is not already is my argument.“

”And that I definitely agree with. I think the baiting for deer does need to go.“

WTH??

Yes that is the one thing I see needing to go. Especially with CWD. Does not make a lick of sense to concentrate deer on a bait pile when there is a disease that spreads like CWD.

And if you need a bag of corn to kill a deer IMO youre not much of a hunter. You are the guard of a pile of golden nuggets. Nothing more.

So that is my thought on “guarding a decoy”….. but it’s different I guess in your eyes.
The cwd thing is possibly a good argument. It just depends on the article you read. In some ways it sounds like the “Covid scare”

Johnal have you missed the part that I dont use a freaking decoy? But I dont think a decoy does much. Maybe because mine are old beat up twenty year old buck wings that are covered in dust.

I like a turkey looking around for me. Not strutting 80 yards away out of range for a plastic hen

An aldeer guy came hunting with me the last week of the season though and he had one of those Avainx decoys and that son of a gun was really realistic. Did not help us one bit though.

But I sure dont want to outlaw them because I dont use them. I am a libertarian. I am not for more laws. It is a pretty simple stance. Just like guns laws. We dont need new ones. We need the ones on the books enforced.

You're about to have to put on hip waders just to be able to walk in all the bullchit around here.......

Why are you getting ready to post a book about weeds again? Maybe draw up some silly graph or chart? Or you going on another rant about Mike and his tracking dog?

I don’t think anyone has missed the 10 times you’ve posted that you don’t use decoys, don’t want any more laws, you limited out, you’re old school, etc. What’s baffling is that you seem to love turkeys and hunting, yet you don’t see that this is ONE of the things that has made a difference in hunting in the 90’s and early 2000’s and could help bring the good times back. I’m done trying. Got better things I can do besides argue with someone with blinders on.

It is a matter of opinion Johnal. No hard feelings.

I just do not think decoys have made a big difference. I think there are way more important things affecting turkeys . To me predators , out of season hunting , the use of chicken manure , over the limit illegal hunting , and other things that are having a larger effect.

Most states use decoys. And have for decades. I think it is a straw man argument. You disagree. I am fine with that.

It is America. We all get to have our own opinions.

I know personally a lot of people that don’t know how to kill one without a decoy in Alabama. I know it’s observational data but enough to say there is no way that they haven’t made a big difference. You take a person who would kill one every 2/3 years and now they are killing 3 plus a year thinking they are turkey slayers when they are in a blind over a decoy or crawl at one fanning. I killed one fanning just to try it out and after said this ain't fair/is too easy to kill one with and haven’t done it again. My buddy in montgomery did it three times in a row and hasn’t done it since due to the same. To say fanning doesn’t work in Bama is completely false as well and has made a difference along with the decoys. There would be a lot of people that couldn't kill a turkey without them…

A side note…for those that say “oh I need it for my kids or my wife” make them learn how to be still…I know it’s harsh but we all learned how to be still after spooking turkey after turkey at least I did as a kid. It helps grow better woodsmen out of them as they have to learn about when and when not to move etc…My wife killed one opening weekend without a decoy as I have been teaching her how to be still, and she did great with the turkey chair! Heck, we didn’t even use pads back when we started, and now, there isn’t an excuse with the comfy turkey chairs out there!

My two cents is all…y’all carry on! 😂

All they've done is rearranged the deck chairs on the Titanic to make themselves feel important. They haven't addressed the 2 most important factors. Loss of habitat which they can't do much about, and the abundance of predators and nest raiders, which they could do something about.
Around here and a lot of other places, the "turkey woods", hardwood bottoms and even pasture land has turned into pine thickets, my leases included. Deer are like fleas on a dog's back but the turkeys are not as plentiful as they used to be. The places that still have turkey habitat have plenty of turkeys

Yep, just like most species in the animal kingdom, the hen actually controls which male and when the breeding occurs. .

We don't have a loss of habitat in our area. There's been no significant changes in decades up here in the checkerboarded , hardwood mountains. I do realize much has changed in LA though. Now predators , that's a different story. No shortage of those.

I believe if fans and strutter decoys were outlawed and Alabama got serious with predators we'd see improved numbers . And the chicken manure thing is real , but taking on big farming at the state capital IS a step too high for even Kay Ivey. Not gonna happen!

Some people probably swear by it but I have never fanned one and only tried a decoy twice and never again in Alabama. Jokers saw that hen decoy and took off running like he had been shot at. After that second time I shot the hell out of that decoy and never tried it again

I feel like the topic of conversation here is what can we do to limit harvest of humans. Not the real issues which is animal predators and habitat. Which is why I’m confused? The state kicks back the overall limit and everyone on here cries. They move the season start back by like a week, and everyone on here cries. It may be an idiotic attempt to save the resource but by god atleast they are making moves. If you want to make it more difficult to harvest turkeys put down your shotguns and use bow and arrow. I don’t see many folks complaining about tss which has greatly increased the effective range of harvesting turkeys.

Thank you. Sometimes it takes the one with the box of chocolates to make some sense out of an issue.

I would like to fan one in just to say I've done it. But, I guess I need to carry one around to make it happen. I did try it once but I was probably too far away and the bird didn't care.

Actually want it back to the way it use to be before decoys and corn. I totally agree the predator element is big also. As 2dogs stated in our area habitat change doesn’t effect us.