So far, I’m undecided on the question.
I used a decoy for the first time in two years during a hunt Sunday morning in New York. I was set up at the edge of a large plowed field in an area where turkeys gather to dust themselves. I think the decoy helped me bring in a tom from several hundred yards away, but the bird hung up about 100 yards out. It didn’t seem to like the look of things.
It didn’t help that a dog started barking at a nearby farmhouse.
He looked the decoy over and over, and wouldn’t come in. A hen that straggled by earlier in the morning did the same thing.
I’ve seen this before — particularly out west where the birds seem to go out of their way to avoid a decoy.
In fact, my friends and I will only use them out there to direct birds away from a certain spot, such as the backside of our blinds.
I think decoys have a role in turkey hunting, but I’m still trying to find how to make them work for me.