A 1/4 strut avianx Jake has gotten several stubborn field birds killed. I don’t start out using that technique but a man has to keep all options on the table by the end of season. 😉
I’ve never had that decoy spook a bird I was aware of. Everything that has seen it died.
I’m pretty sure that’s the exact one I have. The heard bodied HDR that comes with a submissive head and a knurled aggressive head, but I lost that one.
Some folks will say theyre the only reason they kill all while someone else is telling you they scare every bird that sees them off every time … Advice on configuration or placement at different parts of the season?
bottom line - some gobblers are lovers & some are fighters … for the angry ones, a jake “guarding” a hen decoy setup is a recipe for a butt kickin’ - i’ve seen gobblers knock the jake decoy off the stake & jumped up & down on him before i’ve blasted him off the thing …
try to scout & observe their likely approach & setup the jake decoy in front of the hen decoy & in front of you where you have an easy, in range shot - place the hen decoy behind the jake decoy & off to the side, facing away from the jake decoy & the approaching gobbler(s)
like Matt said, i’ve seen this work best in fields/pastures or big open roads … in the woods, i don’t use decoys at all or if i do i only use a solo hen
Solid. Thanks man. I’m lucky enough to have a little less than 100 acres of family land to hunt with three big fields and two little ones, and that’s pretty much exclusively what I’ve done.
I think you should make it part of the fun of the hunt for you. Set out a spread like a duck hunter if you want and give it a try! As to what’s most effective, that is situational. A dominant gobbler or multiple 3 year olds traveling together will run all the way across a hundred acre field at the site of a strutting decoy sometimes. I have also hunted certain years in certain places where the gobblers were so scared of mobs of jakes that you dare not use a Jake decoy. I applaud your resolve to hunt in spite of your challenges, and I pray that you will be rewarded with an excellent season.
Thanks brother Joe, that’s exactly what I’m going for.
After my wreck I realised off the bat that I couldn’t get in a deers bedroom the way I’d like to and I was talking to a new buddy of mine about it. The way he pitched it to me was a little misleading to say the least.. but I’m thankful he did.
He said that ideally I could call, then go quiet when I struck one up, set up on some nice, flat, accessible to me ground, and then call them in, and kill their asses, on my terms. I’ll admit that I was not sold on the idea off the bat and it took a lot of contemplating on my end after he told me that, but after that 5– 10 seconds was over I was sold.
My first turkey hunt was in 2021 when a very close buddy of mine Dr. Ryan Mcwhorter took me.
When he got out in front of me on that ridge and owl hooted, two birds fired back at him and it felt just like they were gobbling into the depths of my soul and central nervous system. I’ve contemplated it over and over again and still haven’t found a set of words that’ll come anywhere close to doing that experience and feeling justice, but a switch was flipped inside me and I’ve been figuring it tf out since that day.
In 23 we had more jakes than gobbleros from a better hatch than normal and before I knew it rolled into that last yr. I figured our birds were just decoy skiddish so I miscategorized it realize it and pulled his ass early.
(Custom).JPG)
