Avian-X LCD Hen decoy
Turkey
I am looking to purchase one new hen decoy. I have a dakota 1/4 strut jake decoy and I am looking to pair an Avian X hen deke with it. The question is what posture is best. I am thinking either the feeder or breeder. The feeder to me is an all around versatile deke and would pair well with the jake. My only concern on the breeder with the jake is the timing of it. I want a setup to cover my entire season, and I fear the breeder my make some Toms weary if the timing is off (to early or to late.)
You're really over thinking this.
Tom sees submissive jake and thinks, "I might outta go kick his ass."
Tom sees submissive jake with any kind of hen and thinks, "I have to go kick his ass right now!"
Tom gets an arrow in the chest and dies.
That you have a jake decoy is the most important piece of that puzzle. Toms are in competition with toms 12 months of the year. I really doubt some tom is going to think, "Hey, wait a minute, hens aren't supposed to be receptive until the day after tomorrow...that's got to be a set up!"
Seriously, in the spring their balls are 10 times bigger than their brains!
Mines the other way around and I've made plenty of bad decisions when the little over-powered the big!
:-)
writer, I like the way you think. Unfortunately, the turkeys I hunt sometimes think " Why the hell should I go way over there when there are hens over here ".
That's why you give them some guy to get jealous about. Nothing is 100-percent but we've pulled big, dominant toms away from hens as far as 200 yards or a bit more with just a fan bobbing in the wind.
And other times we've had the flock pass by at the edge of range and the strutting dude wold give us that few yards we needed.
But taking advantage of the tom to tom interaction can kill you as many birds as tom to hen, especially if the breeding season isn't at its peak.
I have both. Take it for what its worth but I think I have more interest with the feeding hen.
I don't have the breeder, but do own an upright and feeder. I don't personally like the breeders as much because i think they can be hard for the Tom to see from a distance especially if the grass is a bit tall. I think the feeder is more versatile.
And as writer said, they don't know if it's time for a breeder or not. They see jake and hen and don't like it!
--Jim
I think is good to have several decoys to choose from. If one set doesn't work...try another! Sometimes early in the season where I've hunted during archery season in Nebraska the turkeys avoided decoys and especially decoys setup next to a blind.
I just bought an Avian upright hen. I wanted the most visibility.
Bill
I have the jake, upright hen, and breeder DSD put the breeder hen on the ground a few feet in front of the hen. I think the alert hen just sitting on the ground in front of the jake would work just fine.
I like the upright hen. If there are toms that are henned up I can usually get the hen mad enough to bring a tom into the upright hen more than a feeder hen.
