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Post by sruss01 on Apr 2, 2014 14:57:01 GMT -5
Looking to bag a tom this season, probably going in KY the 14th. Here's my question...
I have a couple wal-mart specials ($10 hen and jake), but was wondering if there was a good decoy(s) in the $50 range that would be good for a semi-beginner hunter to use?
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Post by throbak on Apr 2, 2014 15:47:36 GMT -5
you have all you need IMO
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Post by sruss01 on Apr 2, 2014 16:05:07 GMT -5
throbak - Ok thanks... I figure it will work, just wanted to see if there were better options. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Post by hornzilla on Apr 2, 2014 16:09:44 GMT -5
Your decoys will work. But after your really hooked on hunting "Thunder Cickens" get a nice full strut tom decoy. I like my b-mobil.
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Post by sruss01 on Apr 2, 2014 17:23:25 GMT -5
Anyone recommend the funky chicken? Someone told me I needed one... Worth the buy or no?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Post by sruss01 on Apr 2, 2014 17:23:41 GMT -5
hornzilla Thank you, I'll check that out Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Post by featherduster on Apr 2, 2014 18:22:52 GMT -5
On the right day you could put a sock on stick in a clump of mud and a turkey will come to it out of curiosity. As hornzilla stated if you like this turkey hunting thing then maybe you might want to up grade later in life. Good luck this year.
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Post by Woody Williams on Apr 2, 2014 18:28:36 GMT -5
Anyone recommend the funky chicken? Someone told me I needed one... Worth the buy or no? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk I looked at it at Walmart just now and no I wouldn't stick that out in front of my blind. Your $10 jakes looks better.. IMHO ..
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Post by Genesis 27:3 on Apr 2, 2014 18:33:12 GMT -5
Like hornzilla, I like my B-mobile from primos. I put a real fan on mine and it pulled one in for me on day number three last spring. But any turkey hunter will tell you that decoys don't work all the time. IMO they are moody birds and their attitudes change from one day to the next. Part of why I love, and sometimes hate, hunting them!
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Post by throbak on Apr 3, 2014 9:23:23 GMT -5
also to consider is,, My last 4 birds were shot In the woods.. NO decoys, the reason I quit using them was a simple. I got tired of packing them around and the number of birds I have scared away trying to set up decoys
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Post by sruss01 on Apr 3, 2014 16:42:24 GMT -5
Appreciate the tips! Obviously, I could break the bank if I wanted to get all the accessories that look cool... gotta move slow
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Post by firelt72 on Apr 3, 2014 17:24:52 GMT -5
I have killed with decoys and I like them, but not a whole flock. I use a jake and two hens usually. I also have two nice hens- Avian X Dekes- $79 each. The jake is a store brand and I have actually re-painted his head and chest. It is about the set up. I put my two hens out front and the jake lagging a bit. I can tell you this my set up and fighting purr got me a tom two years ago. Tom walked through but never offered a shot and at 38 steps I purred and I think the jake deke caused him to stop and look back. Dead tom.
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Post by kevinhunter on Apr 4, 2014 8:22:28 GMT -5
sruss01, Decoys are a lot like anything else in hunting in general, some days they work great and other days they simply scare the game away! I have been using them for years (30+) (hens, jakes, strutting toms and flocks)and I have had great deal of mixed results, but I have found one combination of decoys that seems to work best for me in all the states I turkey hunt in! The simple feeding hen and or no decoy at all-this combination seems to be non-threating situation in all cases for the incoming birds and will bring in all birds from other hens, jakes, 2-year olds to the old boss gobbler. Plus, for me its a great deal easier to carry in and out of the woods and fields. I use the Avian feeding hen now and I have had 100% positive response from all birds coming in since going to it only about 3 years ago from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missouri, Indiana, Illinois and Texas. I think it's just like with turkey calls, some work some days and some don't work the very next day! I have had an old bird in Georgia once that would only gobble to a wing bone call only and nothing else (box, slate, mouth and locater calls) !!! He simply liked the sound of the home made wing bone hen call?? I do know that I have scared a great deal of birds off over the years that were coming directly to me using a strutting tom and alert hen or jake decoy, but I also killed some nice birds over them as well! I know that these birds were not the boss gobbler (subordinate) that negatively reacted to these past set ups, but I'm not necessarily going after the boss gobbler each and every time I'm in the turkey woods! A 2 year old or jake will do me just fine on some hunts! Good luck and try them all, see how they work for you and your turkey woods its a lot of fun to learn from and you will be hooked for life on turkey hunting for sure! But just remember decoys don't work all the time, know your turkey woods and the birds your hunting.
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Post by gwhunter on Apr 7, 2014 7:43:49 GMT -5
I'm in the same boat as throbak. I've shot more birds without a decoy than I have with one. A lot of times if you are hunting on the edge of some thicker cover and/or you are hidden in some thick cover you can convince a tom that the hen is in there with some calling and he just can't see her. However, those times that you get a Tom hung up at 100 yards and you don't have a decoy you are always second guessing yourself about whether or not you 'needed' a decoy to bring him in. Because I don't like carrying them around all day I typically only use them if I know I'm not going to be moving around a lot or if I'm only going to be hunting for a couple of hours.
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Post by gwhunter on Apr 7, 2014 7:49:39 GMT -5
As a quick caveat, I've never had the opportunity to see whether or not I could pull a henned up tom away from his girls with the "right" arrangement of decoys (I've only used the 20 year old $10 walmart set). Some of the arrangements that the others are talking about may be beneficial if you are seeing henned up toms all day long and can't pull any away.
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Post by Woody Williams on Apr 7, 2014 8:01:09 GMT -5
As a quick caveat, I've never had the opportunity to see whether or not I could pull a henned up tom away from his girls with the "right" arrangement of decoys (I've only used the 20 year old $10 walmart set). Some of the arrangements that the others are talking about may be beneficial if you are seeing henned up toms all day long and can't pull any away. I watched from across the field when a Tom left 3 hens to go whoop a jake, only that jake was my son's stuffer decoy. He and the hens were picking around the field and they got to about 100 yards of the decoy and the Tom took off after the decoy. Last year I had a group of hens come to the decoys with the Tom with them. They left, the Tom rode home with me.
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Post by dbd870 on Apr 18, 2014 20:14:32 GMT -5
I have killed with decoys and I like them, but not a whole flock. I use a jake and two hens usually. I also have two nice hens- Avian X Dekes- $79 each. The jake is a store brand and I have actually re-painted his head and chest. It is about the set up. I put my two hens out front and the jake lagging a bit. I can tell you this my set up and fighting purr got me a tom two years ago. Tom walked through but never offered a shot and at 38 steps I purred and I think the jake deke caused him to stop and look back. Dead tom. I ordered an Avian X hen, got it today; good looking deke. If their jake is anything like that I may have to pick one up as well.
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