Pictures of Turkey decoys Please

K

ken yacavone

Active member
I'm working on a pattern for a Turkey decoy.
Hope to use it this Spring, any input Pictures etc. would help.
Planning a white pine vertical center 2 inches thick then Balsa on either side.
thanks for any help or input
Ken
 
Ken, Oh boy, your probably gonna wish you didn't ask! LOL! Turkey hunting and Turkey decoy making is as addicting as duckin' . Bob White convinced me to take the plunge a few years back and I am glad I did. ( See pic of me and Bob with a nice Gobbler he killed over his hen)

I have made a bunch over the years and have experimented with different forms , woods etc.

Best advice I can give is to get it as LIGHT as possible. Carrying even 5 pounds for a couple miles gets old. Using Paulownia and going to 1/2" wall thickness the feeder decoy I am using now weighs in at under 3 pounds.

There is a guy in PA who make a nice shoulder bag for the decoys. It makes walking long distances a breeze and helps protect your carving.

Also insert your beak out of a hardwood like Walnut or my favorite holly. The decurved nature of the beak is prone to breakage (ask me how I know LOL!) and the hardwood will really help in this aspect.

The bottom pic is the 25 pound , double bearded goobler I shot over my current hollow feeder decoy last spring. The other pics are some of me and some of friends kills gunning over my decoys.

I have been talking to your friend Vince about this topic lately and All I can say is you will love the whole process. Feel free to email or message me if you have any specific questions. Jode























 
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Jode - Good photo's and sound advice. Mr. White's decoy is one heck of a magnum that gotta bring em runnin'. Yours are pure form, function, paint and the sheen is spot on. I was doin' just fine with my carving agenda for 2015, until Ken got me inspired to make a turkey decoy. He has a way of doing this, having me change gears and get out of a carvin' rut. I'm sure his decoy will be done long before mine. May is right around the corner...
 
Vince I think you will love making a turkey. The giant decoy is my old pterodactyl , lol, ( first one I made). Though I killed over it, I scaled down my later versions alot because that decoy weighed about 10 pounds!
 
Well holy cow, I didn't realize this was a thing. Being a true turkey junkie (I would hunt nothing else if spring turkey lasted all year) I am envious.

That said, how practical are these? Seems like it would not be easy to carry around for long.
 
Real easy Kev...........I run and gun alot and may cover 5-10 miles easy if I am in big woods. I like to travel light. My typical decoy and pack weighs less than a 20 gauge. Also the head, stick and a box call can all go inside the decoy to save space and for extra protection.

Try making one, you might like it. I have seen them made from wood to cork and even foam.

A decoy is not necesary to kill a gobbler, but in the right situation it helps and heck, its fun.


Heres a regular decoy packed and ready to go. Gun over one shoulder, decoy over the other. If it was a suitcase decoy it would be half a foot shorter packed.


 
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Ken, I have been working on a turkey. I love the turkey woods. I've seen Jode's turkeys and thought they were incredibly cool, and was inspired to try carve one, and hopefully get shot at a bird this Spring. I am pretty new at carving, and it was little bit lf a struggle to deal with such a big bird and all the wood that goes along with it. Now I am struggling with the paint. I hope I can at least make it presentable. I started mine with White Cedar the first board was 5 1/2" and I laminated a 3" board to that. I didn't think I have the skills to pull off the suitcase decoy so I laminated them back together after I hollowed the bird out. I have a second bird ready to be shaped up, but I need to get past this one first. I'm no Jode Hillman, but this is what I've got so far.
Look forward to seeing what you come up with. Jeff
Any tips on paint would be appreciated.


 
Jode and Jeff
Thanks so much for the great pics. I came home from work today and what a nice time I'm having checking out these pics.
I guess I got Vince going too after we talked earlier this week. Hope to be cutting some wood tomorrow. I can get the light weight factor especially after lugging some of my early dekes into the marsh here... gets old real fast.
Maybe by time I have this thing done I will figure out how to post some pics.
Hope this turkey doesn't make a Turkey out of me.
Ken
 
Wow some nice decoys. Frank, the hen and chicks is wonderful.

You guys inspired me to start painting on the canvas turkey I made several years ago but never got past priming it. I've never painted anything this large with oils so we will see where it ends up. A long ways to go yet.

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Tim
 
Nice work on the stretched canvas turkey. I sawed out the inside of the two and a half inch white pine center board, after I glue up the two Balsa sides it should weigh less than two pounds.
Ken
 
Tim - that's a very good canvas decoy that should serve you well for years. This post is really bringing out some good Decoys.


"I admire a good turkey hunter chiefly because such a man displays qualities that we associate with pioneer America - patience, enthusiasm, acute woodcraft, game sense and a quiet hardihood."

"Some men are mere hunters; others are turkey hunters."

Both quotes are by Archibald Rutledge
 
They all look great! Let's hope to see some nice toms killed over them this spring!

Ken your doing great getting that light. You won't be sorry!
 
I am planning on giving this a shot. They all look awesome. Having one of these carved decoys will make sitting on the cold damp ground for hours with a root or rock causing moderate discomfort without seeing or hearing a bird a bit easier to withstand:). The last few years I have been hunting with a jake fan on a jerk cord and it works quite well. Nothing gets a big tom more pissed than seeing a jake display with a hen. Last year I had a jake come in and when I dropped the string to pick up my gun he would walk away but then when I pulled the fan back up he would come running back in. It was like turning a magnet on and off. Would pair well with one of these decoys. Jerk cord probably isn't necessary but gives you something to do. Maybe it helps birds see it better from across a large open field.

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There ought to be some great pics come spring!

All this talk about Turkey season got me in the mood to make a few calls. I'm still playing with what Remarque paintings I want to do for 2015. I Cant get to crazy because they are only about 1.5" square. In case you can tell these are a Hunter sitting against a tree in the sunrise and a Gobbler displaying in a field.Calls are Redwood Bodies with (2) Birds-eye maple and (1) Mahogany Lid.

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The decoys are all very nice those box calls Jode are pretty! If I didnt have a turkey call collection problem I'd grab one of those Maple ones!
 
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