# Decoys, what to do



## bear5 (May 17, 2009)

Folks,
I pretty new to this Turkey hunting thing but totally hooked! 

I looking for advice on what decoys to buy for this season. I thinking about one of the three plans below:

1) Carry-lite Pretty Boy & Pretty Girl. I guess this approach is to motivate the real Toms by seeing another Tom, um, getting friendly with a hen. I assume this works well when the Toms are keyed-up.

2) A set that has a feeding hen, a passive jake and an aggressive jake. I assume this setup get the real Toms going after jakes that are hanging with the hen. Kinda like setting up the Toms to show their dominance.

3) Two to three feeding hens. Seems like the least intimidating setup and it would go well with the calling. This seems like a good approach as it would be easy pickings for the Toms.

Well, after that long-winded post, what do you do?

Bear


----------



## Firefighter (Feb 14, 2007)

Peep'n tom combo from www.rogerssportinggoods.com 50 bucks less than anywhere else.


----------



## Ack (Oct 3, 2004)

Keep it simple....you do not need a bunch of decoys out in front of you to bring tom into your lap. Full strut decoys can be deadly on MATURE toms, but can also tend to scare off younger and wary birds.....just depends on how the bird is feeling that day. 

My recommendation is, if you can afford it, to go with a *Dave Smith hen decoy*. Just a little more money than the strutter/hen combo, but this decoy will bring in both toms AND hens to investigate....and remember, the toms will generally follow the hens coming in to check out your deke. These decoys are the real deal......they look AND work amazing!

http://davesmithdecoys.com/shop/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=18


----------



## MPT (Oct 7, 2004)

http://www.awayhunting.com/products/cat/193

Away sells skinz that you put on your decoys to make them look more authentic. Check out their TV page for Jan. and watch the shows on decoys, calling and scouting.


----------



## Bux-n-Dux (Dec 18, 2009)

Ack said:


> Keep it simple....you do not need a bunch of decoys out in front of you to bring tom into your lap. Full strut decoys can be deadly on MATURE toms, but can also tend to scare off younger and wary birds.....just depends on how the bird is feeling that day.
> 
> My recommendation is, if you can afford it, to go with a *Dave Smith hen decoy*. Just a little more money than the strutter/hen combo, but this decoy will bring in both toms AND hens to investigate....and remember, the toms will generally follow the hens coming in to check out your deke. These decoys are the real deal......they look AND work amazing!
> 
> http://davesmithdecoys.com/shop/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=18


Hey Ack, i just checked out those Dave Smith decoys. wow, those are the most realistic decoys i've seen. if those don't fool a Tom i don't know what decoys would. you weren't jokin' about price though.


----------



## Gobblerman (Dec 19, 2004)

Firefighter said:


> Peep'n tom combo from www.rogerssportinggoods.com 50 bucks less than anywhere else.


 
Alot of it has to do with how fired up are the Gobblers and what terrain your hunting, along fields and open timber use decoys. When I'm hunting a dense woodlot I do not use decoys or if the Gobbler I'm after seems to hang up out of range.

Most of the time I use a single feeding hen, last year I purchased the peepin tom and used a real fan and we killed several birds over a set up with the peepin tom and a couple of feeding hens. I use Delta decoys (hens), I really like the new Carry-Lite Semi strut jake but $50.00 bucks is a little steep for that decoy, I'll buy it when it the price goes down.

If you have the $$ DSM decoys are the most realistic looking, however I don't think it is neccessary to have them to kill gobblers. 

Good Luck and welcome to the Awesome world of Turkey Hunting.


----------



## Mitchell Ulrich (Sep 10, 2007)

Decoys are a lot like Doe in heat, at the right time and in the right situation, they both work.

I'm a firm believer that if you just stay put, call sparingly and keep movement to a minimum, birds will come in.


----------



## Wally Gator (Sep 21, 2007)

Ack said:


> Keep it simple....you do not need a bunch of decoys out in front of you to bring tom into your lap. Full strut decoys can be deadly on MATURE toms, but can also tend to scare off younger and wary birds.....just depends on how the bird is feeling that day.
> 
> My recommendation is, if you can afford it, to go with a *Dave Smith hen decoy*. Just a little more money than the strutter/hen combo, but this decoy will bring in both toms AND hens to investigate....and remember, the toms will generally follow the hens coming in to check out your deke. These decoys are the real deal......they look AND work amazing!
> 
> http://davesmithdecoys.com/shop/index.php?act=viewCat&catId=18




Im gonna say go with Ack on this one. They are a little bit more money, but you get what you pay for. I got the hen last year, and literally had gobblers stumbling all over it. Several times while I was hunting, I had hens come up and start fighting with the decoy. Actually, theres a hole in the top of the decoy's head, from an old boss hen pecking at it. Best money I ever spent. Im picking up the jake this year, just to see what the big boys will try to do to it, cant wait for the late hunt.


----------



## Hemidan (Jul 27, 2007)

Mitchell Ulrich said:


> Decoys are a lot like Doe in heat, at the right time and in the right situation, they both work.
> 
> I'm a firm believer that if you just stay put, call sparingly and keep movement to a minimum, birds will come in.



I agree with this.I use one feeding hen


----------



## jml2 (Dec 10, 2004)

Lots of good advice given--here is my 2 cents. I still have the inflatable decoys I bought about 10 years ago and still have success using them. I also have a mounted hen that I use--sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I like to put out a hen or two when hunting. 

In my opinion you have to hunt hard and eventually you will catch the toms on the right day. Some days there is nothing you can do to bring them in, and some days you can do no wrong. 

My advice to you as a new hunter would be to put in lots of time scouting. This will kill you more birds than expensive decoys or calls. 

Good luck.


----------



## FireDoc66 (Oct 9, 2005)

Whatever you choose, Welcome to the Addiction!


----------

