Using a roadkill fan for a decoy?

[SoonerMedic]

Has anybody used a fan from a turkey as a decoy? I cut one off of a bird I saw on the side of the road this morning and want to use it as the fan of a decoy. How would I go about doing this so that the little tiny bit of meat doesn't rot and stink to high heaven? I figured sitting it in salt to pull all the moisture out might work? It's in the freezer at the moment. Any suggestions?

 

[kscharlie]

You will have to spend some time with the turkey fan and a decent knife. All of the meat will have to be cut/scraped off of the tail. Turkeys do a lot of preening. Preening requires oil. All of this oil comes from glands in the tail. These oil glands also need to be removed as much as possible. The quills are completely surrounded by a yellow substance that looks like fat, but is actually the oil gland. Again, scrape out as much as possible, the more the better.

Once you have the tail as clean as you can get it, fan out the tail on a large piece of cardboard and pin the feathers down to hold the full fan shape. Completely fill the tail cavity, then cover it completely with Borax. After a day or two, dump off the Borax and repack and cover the tail again with fresh Borax. A couple days later, do this again. After about six days total, the tail should be pretty well dried out and will maintain the fan in the open position. You now have one turkey fan that you can use for a decoy or a wall hanging.

I have "cured" and mounted several dozen turkey fans using this process and it works. Just takes a bit of time and patience. Good luck.

 

[kscharlie]

To clarify a couple things I wrote. Use cardboard as in corrugated cardboard. I use either push pins or straight pins with colored plastic balls on the end. Ordinary straight pins will work, but my old eyes sometimes can't find them once I put them in.

 

[Armored farmer]

We use a 'real' fan on our decoy Tom.

I cut a piece of plywood in a basic semicircle. Then cut a piece of leather in a corresponding semicircle. I laid the fan out in strut mode on the plywood, placed the leather on top and stapled the heck out of it.then I took heavy duty shears and cut the flesh and feather quills off below the plywood .
Maybe confusing, but you get the idea.
Drilled a hole in plywood, attached to decoy with a bolt and wing nut.
Good luck.

 

[SoonerMedic]

You will have to spend some time with the turkey fan and a decent knife. All of the meat will have to be cut/scraped off of the tail. Turkeys do a lot of preening. Preening requires oil. All of this oil comes from glands in the tail. These oil glands also need to be removed as much as possible. The quills are completely surrounded by a yellow substance that looks like fat, but is actually the oil gland. Again, scrape out as much as possible, the more the better.

Once you have the tail as clean as you can get it, fan out the tail on a large piece of cardboard and pin the feathers down to hold the full fan shape. Completely fill the tail cavity, then cover it completely with Borax. After a day or two, dump off the Borax and repack and cover the tail again with fresh Borax. A couple days later, do this again. After about six days total, the tail should be pretty well dried out and will maintain the fan in the open position. You now have one turkey fan that you can use for a decoy or a wall hanging.

I have "cured" and mounted several dozen turkey fans using this process and it works. Just takes a bit of time and patience. Good luck.

you pack the entire cavity with borax? How much of the tail should be cut off? I cut off the tail with quite a bit of meat....I would say a little less than a racquet ball size base of the tail. I got the entire fan but not some of the surrounding base feathers. Would you recommend keeping some of the oil glands to preserve and rub on the feathers now and again?

 

[buck460XVR]

you pack the entire cavity with borax? How much of the tail should be cut off? I cut off the tail with quite a bit of meat....I would say a little less than a racquet ball size base of the tail. I got the entire fan but not some of the surrounding base feathers. Would you recommend keeping some of the oil glands to preserve and rub on the feathers now and again?

You won't need to save the oil glands, they will be dried with the borax anyway. I have fans I've mounted twenty years ago using the process kscharlie described and they still look good. The oil just keeps the feathers drier during rain. Just get as much meat off as you can and cover any remaining with the Borax. I suggest leaving it outside till it's dry, but keep it away from cats/dogs and other critters as they will destroy it if they find it. Don't ask me how I know.


One thing I should ask.....does your state allow you to possess parts of a game bird that were not harvested legally?

 

[Dog Soldier]

Some states do not allow using parts of game animals for bait. I would check out your states rules.

 

[SoonerMedic]

Some states do not allow using parts of game animals for bait. I would check out your states rules.

In Oklahoma it is allowed with permission from the Game Warden...which I did not have. I was unaware of this until I called a few hours after I had taken the tail, and explained to him the situation, the exact spot it was taken etc...He called me back about 8 hours later and explained that he talked to another GW and they decided to let me keep the fan for a decoy since I called them and explained the situation and was honest and upfront about it. Otherwise, he advised me that anytime in the future if I were to see fresh roadkill that I wanted to harvest anything from they would come to the scene if they were nearby OR they would have me take pictures of everything and give all the details and text it to him and he would advise me from there. He said it's an "all or nothing" situation. Take the whole carcass or none of it.

 

[RPRNY]

Pin it on a board and coat the meat and gristle in Borax. Repeat until the unwanted is no more.

 

[BigBore44]

In Oklahoma it is allowed with permission from the Game Warden...which I did not have. I was unaware of this until I called a few hours after I had taken the tail, and explained to him the situation, the exact spot it was taken etc...He called me back about 8 hours later and explained that he talked to another GW and they decided to let me keep the fan for a decoy since I called them and explained the situation and was honest and upfront about it. Otherwise, he advised me that anytime in the future if I were to see fresh roadkill that I wanted to harvest anything from they would come to the scene if they were nearby OR they would have me take pictures of everything and give all the details and text it to him and he would advise me from there. He said it's an "all or nothing" situation. Take the whole carcass or none of it.

I love our wardens. "Most" of them are really good guys. And they do appreciate honesty. I've made many calls similar to this one. And I always provide pictures. Not once have they ever told me "no". But it is an "all or nothing" situation.

 

[SoonerMedic]

I love our wardens. "Most" of them are really good guys. And they do appreciate honesty. I've made many calls similar to this one. And I always provide pictures. Not once have they ever told me "no". But it is an "all or nothing" situation.

They aren't all good....trust me. The one that I have had dealings with locally isn't all that lovely of a person. He actually stole an entire magazine of Critical Defense rounds from me. But it's whatever. I just want to do the right thing and not have to have any dealings with any of them.

 

[eastbank]

if you use it on privite land, it may be ok. but on public land is where the rub comes in as there will be hunters there who may be not safe to be around and will shoot at any thing that looks remotely like a turkey. fake or real decoy. i only use a hen decoy in the spring where only tom,s are legal. eastbank.

 

[buck460XVR]

if you use it on privite land, it may be ok. but on public land is where the rub comes in as there will be hunters there who may be not safe to be around and will shoot at any thing that looks remotely like a turkey. fake or real decoy. i only use a hen decoy in the spring where only tom,s are legal. eastbank.

Eastbank brings up a good point.

A few years back I was working a very vocal Tom the second morning of my season. I had worked the same Tom from the same roost the morning before before loosing him to hens. Second morning I got more vocal and aggressive myself and convinced the hens to come my way. With the hens clucking in front of me the Tom rattle off in the tree every minute or so and continued to do the same when he hit the ground behind me. He got so close I could hear him spit drumming and knew it was only a matter of time before he stepped out in front of me and joined his hens. But just like that he shut up and I never heard him again. The hens got tired of waiting and left in the direction I last heard him. A few minutes later I heard what I thought were turkeys coming back thru the dry leaves and got ready, when suddenly a hunter in camo with his gun at ready stepped out in front of me. This was in the middle of 240 acres of private land where no one but me had permission to hunt. Everytime I see those hunting shows with the guy with a fan or decoy on a stick waving them in front of their face in an attempt to fool a Tom, I think back to that day. Be careful out there and make sure if and when you do set up decoys, you will not be in the line of someone else's fire.

 

[SoonerMedic]

Eastbank brings up a good point.

A few years back I was working a very vocal Tom the second morning of my season. I had worked the same Tom from the same roost the morning before before loosing him to hens. Second morning I got more vocal and aggressive myself and convinced the hens to come my way. With the hens clucking in front of me the Tom rattle off in the tree every minute or so and continued to do the same when he hit the ground behind me. He got so close I could hear him spit drumming and knew it was only a matter of time before he stepped out in front of me and joined his hens. But just like that he shut up and I never heard him again. The hens got tired of waiting and left in the direction I last heard him. A few minutes later I heard what I thought were turkeys coming back thru the dry leaves and got ready, when suddenly a hunter in camo with his gun at ready stepped out in front of me. This was in the middle of 240 acres of private land where no one but me had permission to hunt. Everytime I see those hunting shows with the guy with a fan or decoy on a stick waving them in front of their face in an attempt to fool a Tom, I think back to that day. Be careful out there and make sure if and when you do set up decoys, you will not be in the line of someone else's fire.

I'm the only person (along with my wife) who has permission to hunt the 40 acres I'll be on this April. The decoy won't be too close to me as the area I'm hunting isn't extremely remote, but I will be very careful for sure! I'm still deciding on where i'll set my blind up, just waiting on my trail cam to point me in the right direction. Just barely more than a month before opening day!!

 

[tomturkey]

In Michigan a turkey fan, either real or fake must be staked solid in the ground. The only movement of it has to be by the wind. That goes for any decoy as well.

I have seen where hunters will hide behind a fan to crawl up on turkeys. That is illegal in Michigan. I seldom use a decoy of any sort while turkey hunting.

 

[SoonerMedic]

In Michigan a turkey fan, either real or fake must be staked solid in the ground. The only movement of it has to be by the wind. That goes for any decoy as well.

I have seen where hunters will hide behind a fan to crawl up on turkeys. That is illegal in Michigan. I seldom use a decoy of any sort while turkey hunting.

I've seen this method also, but I would never EVER get behind a fan during turkey season. Even if it's on private property, you never know who may be trespassing on your property and they could very well take an unsafe shot at what they think is a tom.