Turkey Camo

For all your hunting related posts! If we get enough traffic here there will be other sub forums: Turkey Hunting, Deer Hunting, Duck Hunting...
Image

Moderators: bman, Chalk, Tom Keels

User avatar
bbb
Posts: 1117
Joined: May 16th, 2007, 3:31 pm
Location: Bainbridge/Tallahassee

Turkey Camo

Post by bbb »

I always put at least a hen decoy out. My calling is not good enough to bring one in without a little eye candy.

Also because I sometimes hunt public land, I do less calling and more listening. So it helps to have a decoy out to entice a quiet bird thats just walking around.

Looking back at the 8 turkey harvests I've been a part of in the last 3 years, a hen decoy was used on all but 1 of them. I used 2 hen decoys for 1 hunt because I had 2 hens walk by me the previous day.

I like the Avian X decoys for their looks. Though the 1st bird I killed was over a $15 decoy.
User avatar
onefishtwofish
Site Sponsor
Posts: 1268
Joined: February 21st, 2010, 9:39 pm
Location: Quincy

Re: Turkey Camo

Post by onefishtwofish »

If I am hunting a field, a decoy is a must have for me. I have killed them in a field without, but lost a lot of birds interest by just calling. Had a bunch of them hang up at about 75 yards waiting on the hen (me) to step out of the woods. When she did not, they moved on. I have used many different ones, but other than a stuffer, I think the best on the market is the DSD (Dave Smith Decoys). I have never had so much bird interaction with the decoy as with this one. Hens pecking it and jakes trying to breed it (gobblers don't usually get close enough before they are shot!). I use a rubber one (can't remember the brand) feeding hen and a DSD leading hen. The birds walk right by the feeding one to peck the snot out of the leading hen!

I never use jake or gobbler decoys.

I almost never use a decoy when hunting in the woods. I usually want to be more mobile and carry less stuff. Plus I want the Tom to be looking for the hen. An exception would be when I am hunting along a road or clearing. I make sure I set up so that I can see a hunter facing me before he can see the decoy though. I don't want to get shot.
Ducks, turkeys, flats fishing. Who has time for golf?
Danibeth
Posts: 367
Joined: February 25th, 2014, 9:58 pm

Re: Turkey Camo

Post by Danibeth »

Buy a good pair of hand clippers and there is no need to have a blind....though I suppose that is a convenience to be able to pick up and move it. It's just more stuff to carry around IMO and my pack is already full of other stuff.

Thermacell and LOTS and LOTS of the butane refills!!!!!! Or a whole lot of Off. Both of those are far more important than whatever camo I'm wearing. That said, I did buy a "fishing" type shirt that is camo and has a lot more greens on it than browns that is big enough I can wear it over a heavy fleece sweatshirt.

Decoys....I often take one with me, though I don't always put it out. Depends on the situation and if I've got a hot one coming at me or not. I used to use a jake....it got beat up a couple of times by some mean ole toms. I was given a couple of hen decoys over time and I never replaced the jake decoy once it died a glorious death. The hen has been very effective and then there were days where I think it was more of a detriment....the gobbler would see his "lady" and he'd get frustrated that she wouldn't come with him and he'd just wander off before getting into range. So I guess the effectiveness depends on the day and the bird. One of the things that I was told about using Tom decoys was that they have the potential to scare off other gobblers more than bring them in. There's a boss tom in an area and sometimes the lesser toms aren't willing to fight so if they see a big ole tom decoy out, they may decide to just wander off instead of get their butts whooped.

Sitting on a wheel barrow inner tube is nice too, as opposed to a chair. You can inflate it to however high you like to have to be comfy, it doesn't soak up water from the ground and it's relatively light to haul around with you.
Redbelly
Site Sponsor
Posts: 2905
Joined: June 20th, 2004, 10:05 am
Location: Thomasville

Re: Turkey Camo

Post by Redbelly »

I only use innertube seats
Work 2 fish 4 days

1988 vintage 1436 Fisher Jon
1992 vintage 15 hp Merc
Post Reply