Decoy Question
- Thread starter Rogerskd
- Start date
You can never go wrong with a hen. This is one of those questions where the answer comes down to it all depends. Not every Tom will want to come in for a fight. Many times mature toms will fear jakes because some times they travel in fairly large groups so they don't want a ass whoop'n. but you'll also have those 4 year old birds that will kick the crap out of every jake it sees so that would be a great time to use a submissive jake deke.
Now one of the big factors will be wether you're hunting public or private. I would definitely be cautious of using jake or full strut dekes on public land. There are people out there that will shoot at anything that looks like a Tom.
I also think people rely too heavily on decoys. I have had a number of times where a Tom will see my DSD decoys and go the other way. At times it's best to not have any dekes and let the Tom search for the hen.
Now one of the big factors will be wether you're hunting public or private. I would definitely be cautious of using jake or full strut dekes on public land. There are people out there that will shoot at anything that looks like a Tom.
I also think people rely too heavily on decoys. I have had a number of times where a Tom will see my DSD decoys and go the other way. At times it's best to not have any dekes and let the Tom search for the hen.
I would go with a single hen, because you can us it all through the season. Sometimes they like decoys and other times not at all. My hunt this past weekend I had a group of young males turn away from 3 hens and come within 10-15 feet of me just from calling, no deke. Then the Tom I killed actually was very apprehensive toward my decoy. But If I were going to buy just one decoy it would be a single hen. Heck that's all I got haha. But like Matagi said it all really depends. All 3 would be nice to have. Good luck hunting.
Snake Charmer
Happiness is a warm gut pile
We've had the best results using a single hen decoy, The best looking decoys out there are made by Dave smith Decoys, they are expensive but the quality and appearance is far and away better than any other I have seen
The DSD decoys are hands down the best without buying a $500 stuffed hen from hazel creek taxidermy. Another great brand that I also use is the Zink Avian X decoys. These decoys are life like similar to the DSD but you can collapse them if you need to hike out long distances. The DSDs are pretty much full size none collapsible so you have to carry them in a bag. But I would definitely buy a DSd over the Zink, although I have had toms mount both decoys equally even my DSD jake. Price wise the DSDs go for around $114 and the Zink dekes at around $80. Go with the up right hen, can't go wrong with it.
Snake Charmer
Happiness is a warm gut pile
I'm thinking you made a good choice, I'll loan you a DSD jake decoy if you like but i don't think you'll need it.