DECOY QUESTION

[seth30]

Being a avid waterfowl hunter, and going on my first turkey next next Thursday I have what may be a stupid question to the Experienced Turkey hunters.   Why only one or a few decoys?  Would a larger spread attract more birds?  Maybe I am looking at it form a duck Hunter's perceptive, but I usually hunt over 2 dozen decoys at a time.  The Turkey decoys don't appear to be heavy and I can see bringing out a dozen or half dozen.  So you turkey hunters please school me on why you go light on the decoys.

[ghosthunter]

Most the turkeys I have seen killed are called in and killed. No decoys.
My buddy who last year hunted with Dale (Bearpaw) had both his birds called in without decoys.
I have called a few in without decoys and either scared them off or missed the shot.

In my opinion good camo, light calling and sitting still works for most hunters.

But I have never killed a bird.

I think some of it depends on if you are on public or private lands.
Public land birds after the opener are a little skittish sometimes.

[Mfowl]

Its not practical to carry a "spread" around with you while out hunting. One decoy is light and portable and adds confidence for a bird coming in looking for that hen he heard. If you were in a stationary spot, in a blind or something, more decoys might be reasonable. The most I have used at once was 3 on 2 different occasions. 1 Jake and 2 hens, both were successful hunts but I don't think it was just the decoys that did it. One of those hunts was in a field and another guy came in and set up a blind and 9 decoys across the way from me. The birds elected my 3 decoys over his 9, why, I don't know. I have called in plenty without any decoys too. Ducks are flying high overhead and can survey lots of water so its a bonus to have a visible spread, a tom only needs one hen to make him happy for a while.