North Carolina hunters can improve their chances to take a tom turkey with a decoy

The proper use of decoys can give North Carolina turkey hunters a big edge, while incorrect use can doom them to blank tags.

As April arrives, North Carolina’s woods will once again fill at the crack of dawn with mysterious silhouettes enshrouded with leafy, covert attire. Success will follow for many, with tags filled on the opening day — even the opening hour — of spring turkey season.

Yet many tom turkeys follow a different path, evading even the most-seasoned fanatic hunters. From a vast collection of cackles, purrs, clucks and yelps, wild gobblers must sift through the sweet talk to make it out alive. And the dozens of life-like decoys on the market make it even more challenging for a longbeard to make it to his next birthday.

Hunters using decoys can quickly simplify their hunt drawing their quarry into range with little effort. Nevertheless, hunters must adopt a winning decoy strategy to get that trophy bird within range.

Decoys are used by hunters for a wide variety of pursuits, from large game to small game and waterfowl. Whether for attracting mates or providing security in an uncertain platform, decoys lure animals into range for a wide variety of reasons. Turkeys and waterfowl have much in common when it comes to bringing birds within shotgun range, through the combination of calling and decoying. Birds respond well when they can gain security through two of their main senses: hearing and seeing.

Few ducks and geese would ever make it to the crock pot without the use of decoys and tactical calling techniques. The use of decoys alone plays a critical role in coaxing migrant waterfowl into shotgun range and decoys have their special place in turkey hunting too. Decoying in association with calling will get that bird into range in many circumstances.

Unlike many other wild animals, turkeys are known for their keen vision. The placement of their eyes on the sides of their head allows turkeys a 180-degree field of view without moving a muscle. And with a quick turn of the head, they can easily check their entire surroundings with acute accuracy, making the use of a decoy to help fool a turkey’s eyesight a critical tool.

Used ineffectively, however, decoys can have the opposite effect, alerting that trophy bird of danger.

Skip Valentine has mixed feelings on decoys. In addition to owning Valentine Land and Timber, he guides turkey hunts on Lenoir County’s Point of Neuse Plantation in Lenoir County and has extensive experience using decoys and calling turkeys into range.

“Decoys are supposed to help you, not serve as a hindrance,” said Valentine (919-669-9176) “Not all gadgets help you turkey hunting, but if you are going to use a decoy, use a strutter.”

Even with hen, jake and gobbler decoys available, Valentine prefers to use male turkey decoys alone over any spread involving hens.

“If using hens, the gobbler may come toward you but will usually stop short to wait for the hens to come to them, just as they do in nature,” he said.

Even though calling is centered on the noises hens make, they typically should only bring the gobblers into the area, and then the hens will come to their mate as they hear the gobbling.

“You want the gobbler to come looking for you as the hen,” Valentine said.

Often, as soon as a gobbler sees a hen, he will stop and wait for his future mate to come to his side. If the hen continues to call to him, the gobbler will respond at every opportunity to let the hen know of his location.

What Valentine wants to do is bring to the forefront the dominance hierarchy that exists in the turkey world — as in any wild animal’s mating ritual — during breeding season. Dominant males leave their insecurities at the door and will come out of hiding to stop a subordinate male from mating his ladies.

“Mature gobblers will come to a strutter decoy to establish dominance quicker than a hen decoy any day, and especially a younger-looking male,” Valentine said. “But never use a jake decoy placed on top of the hen to simulate a breeding situation. Jakes don’t breed hens.”

Valentine prefers a single decoy in an immature position.

“Turkeys establish dominance on how high they can lift their fan up. An immature bird will lay its fan at 45 to 60 degrees —not 90 degrees.”

While he prefers strutting decoys, Valentine will also use just the fan of gobbler killed in a previous season. The fan by itself can provide just enough visual stimulation to bring a dominant tom from a long distance into close range.

Decoys also have the ability to improve hunting success by reducing the need for additional calling. Typically, decoys are placed in conspicuous places: fields, power line rights of way, food plots, logging roads and other places where they can be seen from great distances. But too often, hunters make the mistake, in the dark, of setting up their decoy within sight of roosting birds. Even though humans have trouble seeing in the predawn light, turkeys can see well enough to pick out a hunter walking across the field.

“Don’t get roasted on the roost!” Valentine said. “You never want the birds to see you (from) the roost, especially those old, mature toms. They will fly out the other way.”

Valentine prefers to use decoys after the birds have left the roost, during the middle of the day or in the afternoon.

“Success rate using decoys may increase by 50 percent in the afternoon,” he said.