Advice Anyone??

[mpbeyer9]

This morning was my opener in Wisconsin. 3 toms showed themselves about 50 yds from me with no shot. I had a feeding hen and a jake decoy out. The toms had to see the decoys, they were staring their direction for 1/2 hour. Suddenly the toms worked 10 yards deeper into the woods and walked my direction. I thought they were going to work towards the decoys. When they got in line with me and the decoys at about 40 yds, no shot, they made a 90 and walked straight away. Would the jake decoy have scared them off??

[tex3012]

Try setting up in a area like a ridge or draw that would make the toms come closer in order to see where the hen is that is making all the calls. Example: sit 20 yards from the top of a ridge so when the tom does show himself you have a shot.

[charlie elk]

hey made a 90 and walked straight away.

This has happened to me every time I have tried to use decoys. For me decoys simply don't work or worse actively scare the turkeys away. I quit using them entirely years ago and my success rate has gone way up.
You didn't remark on calling them. Did you?
Perhaps with no decoys in sight and some low volume clucks and purrs when the gobblers were not looking your way would have brought them in.
Check out the WI State section in this forum many of us WI guys have written about the behavior and killing of WI turkeys.

[grizzly]

i used decoys sometimes they work sometimes not personly i don't use them much anymore cause it was just something more to carry and if you want to move to a differant spot another thing to pick up . when i use them now i use just a hen when i feel a tom needs to see a turkey to close the deal and come closer.....wayne

[mpbeyer9]

[quote][/quote]You didn't remark on calling them. Did you?

I did call. Everytime I would purr, the strutting tom would gobble. I'm gong to try NO decoys tonight. Too bad it's raining. Thanks for the advice.

[WillowRidgeCalls]

From what I've seen and heard so far this year these WI birds are acting very strange. They don't want to respond to hen talk much at all unless it's a really raspy sounding call. The birds are acting more like it's fall than spring and your fall calls have been working better. This week they are starting to act a bit better to the hen talk. Last week we seen a lot of hens alone without Toms, they are almost acting a little call shy so far, but that will change soon enough. Keep your call series short and give them a variety of calls and volumes.

[ticklishtompro]

I have had a lot of mixed responses to decoys, both good and bad. One thing I have found is that a certain area that has a lot of jakes present, the toms will avoid the jake decoys. I can only assume that the large groups of jakes are ganging up on the toms. Usually I have the best results with a lone hen or 2 hens. I am very partial to a relaxed feeding hen.
Now to contradict what I just said. This year the birds I experienced have been more interested in chasing off the other toms or jakes than the hen decoy. Just shows it is a screwed up spring in WI!!

[mpbeyer9]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I got my gobbler this morning around 6 am. NO decoys, just good old fashioned calling. Two toms came cruisin' in and I shot the one struttin' his stuff. 24lbs, 10" beard, 1" hooks. Now the question is: I want do a cape mount. Any ideas how I can display the spurs and beard along with the cape? I don't know how to post a picture yet or I would.

[grizzly]

CONGRADS ON A SUCCESSFUL HUNT. sounds like a fine tom...wayne

[lxtagle]

mpbeyer9, FIRST - CONGRATS ON YOUR BIRD. Do not get discouraged about using decoys. All turkeys have different personalities, if you will, whether by having being beat up, close calls with hens around, or they are simply NOT interested. I've had hunts where if i would hv had a decoy out, I would hv sealed the deal. In a recent hunt in KS, I set out a hen decoy, Called in FOUR gobblers only to be spooked by it. It just didn't work this time. I put the decoy away, hunted some more and ended up taking a nice Jake. This past wkend I had my set-up of a Jake, bedded hen, & a full strut decoy. I called enough to get the gobblers attention and let the decoys work their magic. That's why you gotta love hunting. It may come down to being an art . Check out my KS & MO hunts to show you my set-ups. YouTube: lxtagle.