Decoy Advice
Contributors to this thread:Wisconsin
From: PSEUSER
15-May-15
Looking to stick a turkey with the bow one of these last two weeks of the season. Any advice as to what kind of decoy I should use? I've heard that as the season goes on the toms become shy of strutting tom decoy's but I've also heard differently. Or should I just put out a few hen decoys. Also what would be the best distance to have them at? Thanks for the advice and happy hunting and be safe!
From: RutNut@work
15-May-15
I would go with either a quarter strut jake or a feeding hen. IMO one decoy is best later in the season. I actually would go without as they can be decoy/call shy. Try and make your set up where they will be in bow range when you see them. Example, a bend in a road, inside corner of a field, tight to a finger etc...
From: Adam C.P.
15-May-15
Adam C.P.'s Link
Last night I hunted on private land in zone 2. I put my Dakota Extreme half strut jake decoy 16 yards in front center of the blind, the submissive hen Avian X decoy 10 yards to the left of the blind and the feeder hen Avian X decoy 10 yards to the right of the blind. I was sitting on the inside corner of a field surrounded by woods. Shot this fella at 16 yards as he was ready to beat up on my jake decoy. Ran 20 yards and tipped over. Good luck!
P.S. Excuse the poor quality of the video of the video, I haven't had a chance to edit and post the full HD video yet.
From: Adam C.P.
15-May-15
Oops, meant to post this photo so you could get a better idea of the gear I was using.
From: Naz
15-May-15
All good ideas, and none of them bad. I often go with no decoys in late seasons due to heavy hunt pressure and lots of experiences with larger groups seeing birds toppled (and excited hunters running out to grab their bird before the live ones leave). However, I know guys who are blind sitters who feel more is better, such as a jake and two or three hens. Good luck no matter what you do!
From: NWO
16-May-15
Very nice Adam, thanks for sharing. What kind of camera are you using?
From: Adam C.P.
17-May-15
NWO - I was using my Canon VIXIA HR R500 camera. The full videoing setup in the picture included the camera with Azden Shotgun Mic - SMX-10 and Campbell Cameras windscreen, wrap around mount for the shotgun mic which was all attached to a Manfrotto 128RC fluid head and Campbell Cameras Hunter tripod. I use the Muddy Outfitter camera arm and silent strap for videoing my bow hunts. It's not the highest end or most expensive setup, however I am very happy with it and it meets my needs.
From: Elkaddict
18-May-15
Turkey hunting with a bow is like cheating if you use a Heads Up Decoy system........seriously it is amazing. I've killed quite a few longbeards over the last few years and at distances of 5 yards and less on a lot of them.
