Sanchez For US Congress


January 28, 2012

Selecting the right Decoy For Turkey Hunting

Filed under: Blogroll — genglish @ 3:07 am

With all of the distinctive types of turkey decoys available on the market, how can we know what to make use of and when. Does it definitely make a distinction if it is a male or female? Will they run the other way if the head is up and not down? Will a gobbler actually come in and attempt to kick the tail off a strutting decoy? These are just a few of the questions which you may perhaps be thinking about when trying to obtain a decoy, or maybe when you’re seeking to pick one to bring into the field the next morning.

Hopefully, this can give you a fantastic notion about what the distinctive decoy body postures mean, and how birds might act towards jake and gobbler decoys, and why decoys may be fantastic, whilst other instances absolutely mess up a hunt.

Learning the Gobbler Hen Relationship

Just before utilizing a decoy, we should recognize the relationship between the hen and also the gobbler. When a tom gobbles, he is spreading to word to all of the hen turkeys about him that he is there and ready to breed. He gobbles so the hens will come to him, not the other way around.

When we call to a gobbler and he comes in, we are playing off his urge to continue breeding when he is alone, or not active having a hen at that time. When the hen, or us as callers, do not show up for him, he comes to us. This can be not the norm, and how properly most of us know, as we have all stuck a bird that gobbles his fool head off to our every yelp, and runs the other way. It’s usually not our calling, or our setup, or that he doesn’t desire to be with us, it’s typically that he is already with a hen and she does not want the competition, so she walks the other way . and he goes with her.

This all becoming correct, no matter how valuable decoys is often on a hunt, there’s normally an opportunity for a bird to lock up on a decoy and wait for her to come to him. I have observed it within the past exactly where a bird has been coming in slowly, strutting, gobbling, looking, and getting closer every single time, till he sees the decoy. Then he locks proper as much as show, off and will not come any closer.

So, even though decoys can support a hunt, and get a bird to run proper in, you’ll find occasions when, keeping him searching, isn’t a poor idea. In the event you locate yourself in close quarters, with little rolling hills, limited visibility, as well as a bird coming towards you, you might be superior off setting up at a point exactly where he has to keep coming to find you. And when he does, it’s too late for him, and he is already inside distance.

Deciding on A Decoy For Good results

Now that we know what can go wrong, let’s focus on ways to pick a decoy for a productive day inside the field. Beginning with the hen decoy, we ought to initial comprehend the body postures, what they mean, and when may be the most effective time to use them.

Beginning out with the head up, or alert position. This can be a decoy that can mean two items. 1, it might be alert, searching out for other birds which are with her, which isn’t normally a poor thing to have for those who have out extra than one bird. It is actually natural to have one bird searching out for the other people.

Two, if alone, it could possibly be looked at as a spooked bird. When you are calling a lot, then the bird comes in to view and you quit calling, it may possibly look like the bird has seen one thing that has alerted it, and shut up. This could put an approaching tom on alert. But . for those who continue to call, it might change the entire which means of that heads up bird. By continuing to call having a heads up decoy out in front of you, it may well resemble an active hen which is yelping and in search of that gobbler that has been answering her. This is a wonderful early season decoy for when hens are actively breeding and nonetheless vocal.

The relaxed head position bird is a small less complicated on the posture for attitude. It is not at alert, so there must be no cause to have a gobbler believe that something has gone awry. But . and you realize there is usually a but . the relaxed head position is most generally indicative of a walking bird. When birds walk, and are relaxed, the head is down, so when there’s no movement involved with this position, it does not generally appear natural.

It is still not a poor decoy position to have within your arsenal, due to the fact it might be seen much better in high grass, and but nonetheless not be viewed as an alert pose. So maintain this decoy posture in thoughts should you hunt hay fields, or open lots with high grasses. It just may well be the ticket to get that massive ol’ gobbler to come in close sufficient for a shot.

The head down, or feeding position hen can be a contentment decoy. Terrific for any time of season, but very suggested later on in the season, when the hens aren’t breeding as much and are set on feeding and nesting.

This could be an excellent decoy for call shy gobblers given that a feeding bird isn’t incredibly vocal. Clucks, purrs, the occasional yelp or two, plus the accompaniment of a feeding decoy is occasionally all it takes to lure in a late season gobbler.

Taking a combination of these hen decoys to the field isn’t a poor concept. Having a couple feeding hens with one alert paints a very realistic picture. Adding a jake decoy to the mix can kick it up even one more notch.

Getting a jake decoy out, or adding it to the attendance of a couple hens, can really spark some jealously, or even aggression, in a gobbler that might be claiming that area as his. Getting a young male hanging out, with what could be that gobbler’s girlfriends, will quite a few instances draw that bird in and force him to guard his domain.

Now the full strut decoy on the other hand can make or break a hunt. Initially, a full strut decoy is an instant intruder into a gobbler’s property turf. Putting 1 out is ultimately hoping that a fight is going to start. By bringing an adult bird into another adult birds location, there will likely be some sort of conflict for hierarchy.

The notion is the fact that the gobbler will see the decoy, turn out to be very protective of his location, and instantly want to confront the newcomer and prove his worth to run that ground. Naturally is doesn’t work out so well for the gobbler when he tries to bully the decoy. It usually outcomes in a splitting headache.

But . and as I stated before there’s generally a but . there is a flip side to this scenario. Picture this: You haven’t taken a bird however, and it’s the last day of the season. You set out fairly boy in hopes that some dominant gobbler will come in and attempt to rough him up. Your call is instantly answered by a gobble, and the game is on. The bird is closing the distance with every call you make. Ideal on the edge of the field you see a full fan coming your way. As the bird gets into full view he stops . comes out of strut, walks away, and by no means gobbles again . What occurred???

What most likely occurred is the fact that you had a much less dominant bird coming in for your call thinking the boss was nowhere to be located. He approached to the point of seeing the decoy in full strut, and believed it was him. He turned and left instead of fighting. You just lost your likelihood at taking a bird that season.

However it is Mother Nature, and you by no means know how a bird will react. All I can give for advice is, that the most effective location to utilize a full strut decoy in is, a spot exactly where there are numerous gobblers fighting for the same piece of real estate. It really is this constant competition that will invoke the urge to battle it out, hence making you profitable.

I’m not saying a full strut decoy will not function in other areas, but try to stack the odds inside your favor. If you will find much less birds in an location, than possibly a jake decoy could be much better suited for that scenario.

Also, usually maintain in mind, whilst employing a jake or gobbler decoy, it can be a bird that we are all available hunting, so safety should normally be within the forefront of one’s thoughts. Be aware of what other hunter might be around. Be sure your setup puts you in a safe position away from the decoy, and constantly take caution while transporting a decoy that resembles a gobbler or jake.

Lastly, will be the silhouette decoy. Made in hen, jake and gobbler configurations, these can appear really genuine, and take up really small space for transporting. They’re an awesome choice should you really feel the should put out lots of birds to resemble a flock for drawing power. This is an excellent tactic for wide open spaces exactly where the birds can see a lengthy way.

Turkeys are social animals, so when the see one or two birds hanging out it is no major deal. But when they see an entire flock standing there, that is a distinct story. If your attempting to attract significant groups of birds, like the ones that could be identified out west during the early season, it’s not a bad idea to use a big group of one’s own. Make that gobbler believe he’s missing out on a superior party than his own. Or convince all of the birds that your place is the place to be. It provides a brand new which means to putting on a “killer party”.

After you are picking a decoy for good results inside the field subsequent time you head out turkey hunting, you can find a lot of issues to think about. You will need to think about what you see naturally. Do you see lots of birds together in a wide open field, or just 1 or two meandering through a modest pasture. Do you see multiple gobblers together, or just one all alone strutting by himself. Or possibly you don’t see them at all, and you realize your going to need to put some miles on your boots attempting to uncover them.

Whatever the scenario is, there is a decoy created to assist you be more prosperous. You will find a lot to chose from, plus a million approaches to utilize them. It’s as much as you to attempt and make your set up look real, and appear inviting, no matter if it’s making use of one hen, 1 jake, or 5 hens having a strutter. It may well even take leaving them within your vest. You by no means know till you attempt.

So, next time you hit the woods, hopefully this may enable you to choose the best decoy for the job, and hopefully it is going to enable you to bring home the gobbler you have been chasing all season. Very best of luck, hunt hard, and hunt secure.

Visit www.turkeyhunting247.com for more info on fall Turkey hunting tactics, and a large selection of Turkey Hunting articles.

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Powered by WordPress