SWIABOONER
PMA Member
I've had great luck with a strutting decoy with a jake tailfan. Before getting a jake tail I had birds skirt, every once in awhile, but now that I've been using the jake fan it's been about automatic.
Decoy delima
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dedgeez
death from above
I have a buddy that hunts with a pretty boy and he always had birds hang up until he started using real wings and fan. My strutter is a mounted bird, and he is very realistc. I kid you not, if they can see him, they are coming! They instantly get pissed and come running. The only time he has not worked is at the end of the year last year we set up on a roosted bird and when he flew down with his hens, he kept them on the opposite side of the field. I have turkey hunted over almost every kind of decoy you can imagine and IMO, NOTHING works like the real thing, whether it's a mounted tom or hen, there is something about the real feathers that will bring in even the shyest birds.
Like Brian Fantana from Anchorman said "60% of the time he works everytime"
Here is a pic of Earl with one of his Rio kills from last year in Oklahoma! 
Crockett
PMA Member
I have a buddy that hunts with a pretty boy and he always had birds hang up until he started using real wings and fan. My strutter is a mounted bird, and he is very realistc. I kid you not, if they can see him, they are coming! They instantly get pissed and come running. The only time he has not worked is at the end of the year last year we set up on a roosted bird and when he flew down with his hens, he kept them on the opposite side of the field. I have turkey hunted over almost every kind of decoy you can imagine and IMO, NOTHING works like the real thing, whether it's a mounted tom or hen, there is something about the real feathers that will bring in even the shyest birds.
Like Brian Fantana from Anchorman said "60% of the time he works everytime"
Guess it's ..Look what I can do!!!" time!! Alright here we go!! First year of turk hunting!! Had a decoy , foam shaped like a Z! 12 Minutes after the season started.....27# tom on the ground!! No feathers, Nothing but a piece of foam!! And a guy that did'nt know a cluck from a yelp!
Write a book!!! :way:
Cooter
Active Member
Guess it's ..Look what I can do!!!" time!! Alright here we go!! First year of turk hunting!! Had a decoy , foam shaped like a Z! 12 Minutes after the season started.....27# tom on the ground!! No feathers, Nothing but a piece of foam!! And a guy that did'nt know a cluck from a yelp!
Yeah yeah........didn't you just buy a DSD
risto2351
Well-Known Member
Justin,
I think you are right on target.
The half strut jake is the ticket.
When I used the PB with the jake last year the tom went right to
the jake.
I was actually looking through those pictures from last year.
Hopefully you took Monday and Tuesday of first season off. :way:
THA4
A Few Steps Ahead Of You
From what I have seen and heard the half strut jake is awesome. The birds just can't stay away from it. However, I have had many birds commit to pretty boy and have found it to be nearly as effective. It more depends on the density of your bird population and the time of year....
I want my own set of DHDs tho....
I want my own set of DHDs tho....
Cooter
Active Member
OLETOM
New Member
Here, I will piss you all off then!! LOL Use the right set up and you wont need a decoy at all!! Every year birds have a certian strutting zone they use from year to year, even if you kill the dominate bird the year before one will always be back there to strut that same area. Why, becuase it is a visual point where the hens can see him strutting all the time. And yes, they will be there daily!! Where I hunt, I have about 5 or 6 of these that I can kill a bird on year to year consistancy. Just put the blind up there with in bow distance and let him do his job!!
Now, there are time I like to run and gun tho too! That is a different story but again, it all comes down to the set up I believe. I have not used a decoy in 5 years!! I hear you guys talk about it all the time and see them on TV and have thought about getting one or two but heck, I have not hada reason too yet.
One more thing, I hunt late in the season here in Wisconsin, I love 6th season, green and no hens to compete with!! Plus you get those limb hangers that always hang up early in the year with 5 or 6 hens.
Back to 5 after 6 ridge this year again!!
Good luck guys!
Now, there are time I like to run and gun tho too! That is a different story but again, it all comes down to the set up I believe. I have not used a decoy in 5 years!! I hear you guys talk about it all the time and see them on TV and have thought about getting one or two but heck, I have not hada reason too yet.
One more thing, I hunt late in the season here in Wisconsin, I love 6th season, green and no hens to compete with!! Plus you get those limb hangers that always hang up early in the year with 5 or 6 hens.
Back to 5 after 6 ridge this year again!!
Good luck guys!
Cooter
Active Member
So you have never spent money on something you didnt need......get rid of your gun or bow cause if your good you can corner a turk in a fence jump on him and choke him out:way:
THA4
A Few Steps Ahead Of You
THA4
A Few Steps Ahead Of You
you can get by without them for sure, I don't own any.... yet.... :grin:
BUT, they do make a difference. They are a bit pricey for my taste, but I have seen first hand their effectiveness when compared to other decoys.
Cooter
Active Member
And also does it take $20,000 boat to catch a stupid fish, $2000 shotgun to shoot a stupid pheasant, a $900 bow to shoot a stupid deer
I think the guys that buy that stuff get what they want out of them and I dont judge them for it but thanks for your input:way:
180class
Well-Known Member
And also does it take $20,000 boat to catch a stupid fish, $2000 shotgun to shoot a stupid pheasant, a $900 bow to shoot a stupid deer
Nope! Sure doesn't! :way:
Not judging one bit. Have at it!
risto2351
Well-Known Member
180class,
I had more than one person last year ask me that very question. I had the extra cash and thought why not. I wanted to add some realism to the decoys.
I took Justin hunting and two other individuals and one bought his own and the other person is looking into buying them now. The third only hunts
with me so he uses mine.
I seen 14 turkeys get shot over them last year in Southern and Northern IA. and S.D.
Four missed birds and jakes and hens always within 5 - 10 feet of the
blind.
Was it a coincidence I do not know. I would like to think so but it was unreal. Will it happen again I do not know. I hope so.
All I know is that for my money, I received the best entertainment package that money can buy and would do it again in a minute hands down. :way:
Cooter
Active Member
180
I wasnt attacking you just trying to make a point.
Back to the post on how DSD are part of over marketed hunting products. I see no BONE CRUSHER HEN. The only marketing Ive seen on them is on forums of hunters telling how great they were, and by going to thier web sight. To me that is how I fine stuff that works, not comercials or TV shows. They seem high priced but I dont know what it takes to make them. They are much cheaper than a stuffer and will last much longer.
They worked for me last year so I decieded to invest more money into them.
To each his own:way:
I wasnt attacking you just trying to make a point.
Back to the post on how DSD are part of over marketed hunting products. I see no BONE CRUSHER HEN. The only marketing Ive seen on them is on forums of hunters telling how great they were, and by going to thier web sight. To me that is how I fine stuff that works, not comercials or TV shows. They seem high priced but I dont know what it takes to make them. They are much cheaper than a stuffer and will last much longer.
They worked for me last year so I decieded to invest more money into them.
To each his own:way:
Limb Chicken
Active Member
I will spend extra money on something that I use everytime I go out that I know has been designed and manufactured in the US. There're are very few of these products and Dave Smith is not only a decoy maker but an artist and a damn good one. I will pay extra to support him and his company. I still get the small company feeling when I call them, much like Lone Wolf used to be. Gray Wolf falls in the same category as these decoys in my opinion. Can you find cheaper, clothes that are comparable sure, but Jeff Aulik at Gray Wolf makes the clothes you wear and Dave Smith makes the decoys you hunt over. That is a huge plus to me. Both have small marketing budgets and make a product that is superior in quality.
DoubleLung
New Member
Just bought the dsd jake and feeding hen, they look great. Cant wait to see them in action. Well worth the extra cash in my opinion.