Longest strut time in front of decoy??
Turkey
Just curious if anyone else has had a tom that strutted in front of a decoy for a very long time?
I had a situation last weekend where a big gobbler strutted in front of my hot mess of a foam Featherlight hen decoy for 3 1/2 hours (who says you need those fancy, expensive, realistic looking hen decoys, lol). I actually had to sneak out of the blind, circle around and move him off because it was noon and I had to leave. Reason I didn't shoot him was because I was trying to funnel any Toms past my blind and I had to place the decoy where I couldn't shoot. Of course the tom went around the long way behind me... I tried every type of call, including another gobbler, and he wasn't going anywhere except in front of his fugly foam girlfriend. I ended up going quiet for the last two hours in hopes that he would wander off and give me a shot, but no dice.
Anyway, it's been my experience that toms usually don't stick around a decoy very long after they come in, assuming of course that they don't get shot, possibly because the decoy isn't acting like a real hen?? Lets hear any stories or ideas.
Two weeks ago I had 4 jakes come in and stay within 25 yards for 3 1/2 hours. All 4 of them had their way with my lay down hen. Even after flipping her over they still stayed and put on a show.
Out of our groups 15 kills the longest a bird was struttin at the deeks was about 4 minutes until shooter got drawn and shot.. Most of the others had a "strut time" at deeks between .03-.30 seconds with a few from .30-4.00 min. The longer times were due to waiting for the correct time to draw.
Lone Wolf, were they grinning from ear to ear after....uh....molesting your hen ? :)
Wow, a tom struts for 3.5 hours I bet his head isn't the only thing that's blue!
Interesting to know the age of that tom.
writer, he was a big body with a thick beard that hung below his belly line when he was standing. I did get some glimpses of his spurs and they looked in excess of an inch with curve, but couldn't tell more. This area has only allowed archery hunting for the past three years, after gun hunting was banned, and the quality of the birds appears to have greatly improved. I took an 1 1/4 spur tom from this same spot last year with my longbow and my buddy shot a similar one on his first outing here in April. I'm hoping to give you a real-time report this weekend...
Brotsky, I said the exact thing to my buddy, LOL!!
We had one in KS a few weeks ago that came in to our dekeds, got pulled away by some real hens, and then followed them around the field strutting for about 4 hours. I do believe he got lucky once during the ordeal, but he sure was working hard for it all morning.
Nick lets them strut for about.00025 of a second. Hammer time . Hunt
I've only had one strut until interrupted by BOOM!
Usually, that's not very long.... :)
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Here is a picture of the most persistent turkey in the world. I had to squeeze against the front of the blind and take it out the side of the front window looking to the right.
Well, I got a gobbler on Sat, just not this one. The MN season is drawing to a close with just one weekend left. I was out at the spot on Sat and the big tom, which was distinctive with a gap in his tail where 2 or 3 feathers had been broken off (can see it in the previous picture), was there with 3 jakes and a hen. They all were following the hen around like puppies, with the big buy in the rear and puffed up. I called the hen down to my decoy twice hoping the big guy would follow, but he was hanging up on the hill just out of bow range. However, the jakes were hot on her heels. By the second time I had the jakes in front of me, with the big tom hanging back I decided that a turkey in the hand is better than four walking away. I sent my trusty SpongeBob Squarepants cedar arrow with a Bear Razorhead through his engine room at 15 yards and I was done. Hope Gap-Tail is still around next year for round two. I've got some turkey breasts to smoke and enjoy between now and then.
