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No decoys, no blind?

Started by Blong, February 25, 2015, 10:29:17 AM

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Blong

Does anybody hunt without them?  Does anyone scout for sign, listen at daylight then sneak in and sit down and try to call him to the gun?  If you haven't tried it, I strongly recommend it. It is very exciting and rewarding. I've hunted them just about every way one can but like this method better.

ShortSpurs

For the most part, no blind. Decoys ... not on my favorite place, but have found they come in handy on other places. Some scouting usually works, just to see if the birds have moved their roost. And its always exciting to go out early just to hear the gobbles  :happy0064:!

budtripp

I've found life is too short to limit yourself to just one tactic/method of turkey hunting.  I've killed birds in the timber without decoys and I've killed them in fields with decoys out of a double bull with my bow and by just about any other method you can think of in between.  I like variety.

mspaci

thats me most of the time, maybe opening day in a blind, & then I am on the move, Mike

870FaceLift

Quote from: budtripp on February 25, 2015, 10:56:46 AM
I've found life is too short to limit yourself to just one tactic/method of turkey hunting.  I've killed birds in the timber without decoys and I've killed them in fields with decoys out of a double bull with my bow and by just about any other method you can think of in between.  I like variety.

:agreed: I switch from day to day.  Sometimes I don't fully decide until I park my truck.  I actually like it that way.  If I have a bird roosted, then great.  Otherwise I just have to rely on knowledge from past seasons and scouting from pre-season.  I always use a blind when I take my son (5 years old now) and I'll use decoys from time to time.
Pass it on...

TauntoHawk

I've only shot a few birds over decoys and never out of a blind I cant stand sitting in blinds. I use decoys as a situational tactic not an essential piece of gear by any stretch.
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Spitten and drummen

nothing wrong with any of it. I started hunting turkeys in the 70s. if we sat down and wanted a blind , we would just break cane stalks and stick in the ground all around us. the calls and equipment has improved greatly since then and I have along with it , but in my method I have not. I still find a large tree to lean against to break my outline. I try to put the sun to my back and set up where when the bird comes in he is in killing range when I see him. that's how I have done it and it has worked well for me over the years.
" RANGERS LEAD THE WAY"
"QUEEN OF BATTLE FOLLOW ME " ~ INFANTRY
"DEATH FROM ABOVE " ~ AIRBORNE

J Hook Max

 Unless the weather is really bad or I am trying to take a young child, it's the only way I hunt. Been hunting that way for over forty years, don't see much reason to change now.

dejake

For me, i've never hunted out of a blind, and never will; even when bowhunting.  Nothing wrong with it, just my personal preference.  I'll use decoys if I'm sitting a field, not in the woods, though.

West Augusta

I typically hunt without decoys.  I don't own a blind but have once hung a piece of camo cloth in a bush  and hid behind.  I don't often roost birds either.  I just walk to the ridge and blind call to strike up a bird.  It works for me.
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sbraham

I generaly only use decoys when on a field. Woodland birds i dont use them

Marc

I have never used, nor do I own a blind.

I have decoys, but the majority of birds I have killed have been without decoys.

This season, I will probably put a couple decoys out right off in the morning, and then leave them behind to "run & gun."  I love hearing that gobble 1/4 mile away and going after that bird, and finally having him come in.

The area I am hunting does not have a huge turkey population...  My best ranch is 400 acres, and there are probably 3 or 4 toms on it this year.  So rather than wait patiently for a bird that is not there, I tend to seek out a bird and hunt him...

Now, I do have two young children, and my oldest at 4 years old is asking to go turkey hunting this year (she went duck hunting with me several times this past season).  I might just have to break down and purchase a blind, cause keeping a 4 year-old still while a tom is coming in gobbling and strutting might be a difficult task...
Did I do that?

Fly fishermen are born honest, but they get over it.

stinkpickle

I've done it with decoys, without decoys, with a blind, without a blind, both, and neither...and I've enjoyed them all.  ;)

Gamblinman

I enjoy hunting them anyway I can.

I use decoys...not so much for attracting the birds, but reaction I get from big toms. They can get flat out mad at a decoy.

I hunt so much out of state that I find having a blind almost necessary for adverse weather. Had I not had one 2 years ago, my Kansas hunt would have been pretty much a  wash-out as it poured pretty much the whole time. Rain, snow or cold...it's the only time I use one.

Gman
"I don't hunt turkeys because I want to. I hunt turkeys because I have to."

GSLAM95

Quote from: Blong on February 25, 2015, 10:29:17 AM
Does anybody hunt without them?  Does anyone scout for sign, listen at daylight then sneak in and sit down and try to call him to the gun?  If you haven't tried it, I strongly recommend it. It is very exciting and rewarding. I've hunted them just about every way one can but like this method better.

When bowhunting most of the time it is with a blind.  The number of birds killed with gun and no blind over the years will always be more for me although it is quite easier to kill a turkey with a gun and no bow, blind or decoys in my opinion!

The crusades against decoys, blinds and bows are full of BS in my opinion. 
It is much easier for me to take just my shotgun a few calls and go to the woods to kill a bird. 
If you want to add a degree of difficulty try packing a blind, stool, bow, calls, decoys and sometimes camera equipment to a place where you want to set up. 
I have been on hunts where I have set up and tore down on multiple occasions in a single day and when you add in putting a bird to the pack list above I guarantee when you get back to the truck it is a more demanding and rewarding hunt and your body will tell you so.   
Personally I feel it considerably more of a rush every time I send an arrow through a turkey more so than a pellet from a gun, especially knowing the physical demand it adds to the overall hunt. 

No one method is "better" for everyone.  It's all about what each person feels is a rewarding hunt to them.  Good luck chasing longbeards this spring to everyone no matter which legal method you choose...


Apologizing:  does not always mean you are wrong and the other person is right. 
It just means that you value your relationship more than your ego.