To Decoy or Not To Decoy?

[AlabamaDave]

I got to hunt A piece of property this past weekend that I dont get to hunt much.So Saturday I was able to get on A bird gobblin at first light on the roost,he cut my tree yelps off and gobbled at me and everything else that made A noise. Well after flydown time his gobbles seemed to be gettin farther away,sounded like he was on the ground and gettin farther away from me, so I belly crawled thru A thicket and was able to get to 40 yds from his roost tree, to A big oak tree.Once there, I yelped and clucked to him and he answered me...I didnt call anymore and the next time he gobbled it sounded very close.I took the safety off and went to lookin hard under the umbrella oak limbs...I heard him spit and drum,which is hard for me to hear....A couple of minutes later, he sails out of his roost tree southward in the direction of some hens I had heard earlier...Its about 8:30 E.S.T. I had no idea he was still in the tree!
Sunday morning daylight finds me south of him in A real pretty head with A lot of scratching sign.In the dim light I have A half dozen deer come to within 10 yds of me...they all look at me but none spook...until the last one,which stops and looks hard at me...Im in A gilley suit and havent moved... She turns and runs back across the field and runs directly under his roost tree...Dog on it man!
Its about 15 minutes before I hear him gobble for the first time.The wind is howling something fierce...30 minutes and 8 gobbles later, I see A hen fly down to the north and lites directly under his roost tree.He flys down and gobbles A couple more times as they get farther away from me.
I wait another hour before leaving the area,not wanting to spook them.
My question is...Should I try to decoy this gobbler.I have A mounted strutter that I have used in the past, and A Dave Smith hen?...This will be our last weekend to hunt in Alabama...I dont want to spook him off...I think he is an old bird,and has been hunted,maybe even shot at before...He roost's 60 ft. up in A great big pine that you cant reach around, and doesnt fly down until after the sun is well up...I can put the decoys out in the dark and in the open,so he can see them when it breaks daylight...But afraid it might spook him! He has his head stuck right up the hens behind and follows her around like A zombie!
This bird has gotten under my skin this week,hard to sleep,hard to concentrate at work...I would like to get your opinions...What would you do?

[GR8CALLS]

Dave

It's really difficult competing w/ the real thing (hens). As long as he has them coming to him, a decoy will be hit and miss. Unless you can roost him the evening before and then get set up (with decoy) w/in 50 yds of him well before his first gobble, you are going to have a difficult time until the hens are sitting.

Bill

[AlabamaDave]

Thanks for responding man...I have A love, hate relationship with decoys, Ive had great success with them, and awful experience's with them.
Ive only hunted this bird twice,but he was in the same tree both days,Sat. and Sun....And the hen was in the same tree both days also...They roost about 80 yds apart,and I am sure they can see each other in the tree...Thats why I was thinking that the mounted,strutting gobbler,might work on his fightin side,so to speak...Not his romantic side....Im mean,can you imagine him lookin down there in his hens direction at daylight,and see this struttin gobbler...I would think it would piss him off,and he would lite right next to,if not on top of the decoy!LOL

[GR8CALLS]

Dave

There are times when I pull out all the stops. I have been known to run off a hen that roosts that far from the gobbler, while she is still on the roost. This requires getting there in the dark and flushing her off long before day light. Another option is to wait till she flies down and get her attention. This requires being close to her roost site so the gobbler doesn't see your movement.

Bill

[TheCallDr]

I agree with Bill. On birds like that it's get there close in the DARK and close as you can. Be the first one to call. It's not a bad idea to to not only switch calling from another place..... but callers too. Give him something new.

Good Luck!

[AlabamaDave]

I got to go before work this morning...Slipped in before light, got between him and the hen...She feed all around me and even called A little,then finally she moved on off away from him and me...He stayed on the roost and never gobbled...not the first time, and there was plenty of noise for him to gobble at too,crows,hawks,airplane,even another gobbler that answered me A few times!...I finally saw him pitch down...But never came my way...I slipped out undetected...Going back in the morning.
I may have to start hunting another bird. Its hard to sit there while there gobbling good all around you!

[TheCallDr]

Playing arm chair hunter....lol. I would hunt another bird if you can OR you are going to figure out Where or what direction he is going ( get there first ) . If he is in fact not really not going anywhere or far, don't call to him till after he gobbles on the ground, then call once no matter what and wait him out. That is why the debate for 100 years has been to call or Not call a turkey still on the roost. ( But I do...lol )

Some turkeys get in their own groove and go by sight and not sound. I think at the beginning of the mating cycle all he has to do is stay in one place while dinner comes to him...lol. Yet there are birds for what ever reason just don't respond to calling ( by hens). That is why some gobble and jake yelp-gobble about 150 yards away.

Now I have stopped hunting that kind of bird in the mornings and got to his roost area early in the afternoon and tried then. If you can't hunt all day in your state then I go to his area an hour before quitting time.

[AlabamaDave]

I actually thought he wasnt there this morning.After the hen came by me,another gobbler(i thought might be him)Started gobblin to my left...I ony gave one series of yelps at that time,and the turkey to my left gobbles at me...I looked back out in front of me,and seen the turkey I set up on fly down. I waited another 30 minutes,but he never showed.
Ive hunted him 3 mornings,and he has roosted in the same tree every morning...I dont know why,but I think he's an old bird.He acts different from most I have hunted.
Im gonna slip in closer to him in the morning...and Im not gonna call at all.
Oh yea, I had to stop the truck this morning while 3 strutters and A few hens crossed the dirt road in front of the truck! LOL And they were headin into the area I had just left out of!!!It was hard to leave this morning...Ive got three days left to get it done,and Im gonna give it Heck!

[jobugg]

Keep trying, sounds like you have an old smart bird, I hope you get him and show us the pictures!  Good luck!

[AlabamaDave]

Im not gonna hunt this turkey any more...The old cuss can live to be 100, and it dont bother me no more!
I couldnt stand it this morning...I had A bunch of birds gobblin,and I left The old cuss on the limb,and went after another one gobblin and got him!
Ive got 2 more days and 1 more turkey for A Bama limit,and im gonna try to get it too! So that old cuss can live on!

Thanks for the response's to this thread...It done me good to talk about it!

[jobugg]

I did the same thing you did last year and left the bird alone to kill another gobblin bird.  I took my brother on the last day of the season and finally got a chance at the ole bird and my brother missed! That bird is still in my brain!

[professorwingbone]

I've got one that I've hunted the last five years. Haven't hunted him a single day this year. He is still there. We've seen him several times since the beginning of the year. There is no mistaking him. Super thick beard and hooked spurs. We think we have him figured out and he changes the plans every time. Last year I thought my partner would get him and he had a scout gobbler come in to check us out. I could have killed this gobbler several times but I knew it wasn't the old bird. Some birds are just unkillable.That being said, I plan to try for the first time this year on Monday morning.

Fred

[jobugg]

Good luck Fred, hope you get him......

[callmakerman]

I think we all have played with a bird like yours and the old fart really gets under your skin. I still try them even when I know I shouldn't and have won the battle enough times that I will always try him feeling that when it's said and done it will be worth it. That being said like Kenny Rogers sang you have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them. I like to play but like to fill tags too!

[TheCallDr]

Fred..... I think all Turkeys are killable. I just know more than I want to count that I could not