Abstract:
A reflective decoy device for hunting wild turkey employs a glass mirror and strutted gobbler feathers. The turkey decoy device is attached to a hunting weapon, such as a shotgun or compound bow, with its mirror element substantially vertical to the line of fire. A partially transparent, partially reflective one-way mirror, half-silvered sight is incorporated in the mirror decoy for aiming the mirror perpendicular to the line of sight. This device create an illusion of a 3D decoy which may be used as a big game decoy for various animals such as antelope, mule deer, white tail, and elk.

Description:
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional applications Ser. No. 61/632,639 filed on Jan. 27, 2012 entitled “Portable blind-decoy with one-way mirror sight for hunters”, and No. 61/687,774 filed on May 1, 2012 entitled “Portable blind-decoy for hunting wild turkeys”, the disclosures of which are incorporated fully herein by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates generally to the field of hunting decoys and more particularly to a reflective decoy device for safe stalking and luring of wild turkeys. The device is attached to a hunting weapon and reflects the image of the turkey back to itself as well as hiding the hunter. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    Native Americans have stalked wild turkeys throughout history. During turkey mating season, male turkeys (gobblers) may court female turkeys (hens). In a courting ritual, a gobbler will often spread out and raise his tail feathers (strut), blush his head to dark red and his neck to dark blue, then stretch them forward and gobble. Gobblers are often defensive of their mating territory, and they may confront and attack an intruding gobbler, particularly if the intruder is strutting and gobbling toward them or their hens. Hunters take advantage of that aggression to lure them in. A common technique is to set-up a decoy (see U.S. Pat. No. 7,784,213 to Primos) of a strutting gobbler, sit in a blind and wait. An alternative strategy is to locate the turkeys from a distance and stalk them. But, turkeys have extraordinary eyesight, which makes stalking difficult. To enhance successful stalking, hunters can hide behind hand-held strutted turkey tail feathers. This technique enables the hunter to get to about 70 yards from the turkey/s (not close enough for shooting which for a shotgun is under 40 yards and for a bow is under 20 yards). Then the hunter hides and sits still and hopes the gobbler will come closer. Another trick some hunters use is to crawl behind a full-body 3D turkey decoy and when the turkey sees it, to lie still and wait for the gobbler to come. Unfortunately, this method can result in having the hunter shot by another hunter. 
         [0006]    Since the earliest attempts of hunting wild game, various forms of decoys and costumes have been used to help hunters stalk and lure animals. Hiding behind or inside a conventional decoy or an animal hide poses a risk to be mistakenly shot by another hunter. 
         [0007]    It is therefore desirable to have a decoy sufficiently convincing to lure the animal without risking being shot by another hunter. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0008]    The present invention is a reflective decoy device employing a mirror with turkey tail feathers around it. The mirror is attached to a weapon substantially perpendicular to the line of fire. The mirror element is adapted for reflecting back to the turkey its own image when aimed. A partially reflecting sighting aperture is incorporated in the mirror for the purpose of aiming the mirror to the turkey. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the reflective decoy on shotgun; 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  is an enlarged detailed perspective view of  FIG. 1  showing attachment details for the reflective decoy; 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  is a front view of the mirror element employed with the embodiments herein; 
           [0012]      FIG. 4  is a side section view of the mirror along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 3  the sighting elements of the invention; 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a pictorial representation of the overlay view as seen by the hunter in the sight; 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a detail of the elements of the sighting aperture; 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the reflective decoy on bow; 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a perspective view of the bow and reflective decoy supported by a bipod; 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a side view of the bow, reflective decoy and bipod of  FIG. 8 ; and, 
           [0018]      FIG. 10  is a detailed view of the bipod attachment. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  provides an example of an embodiment of a reflective decoy  100  on a shotgun  200 . While shown in the embodiment as a shotgun, alternative embodiments may employ a rifle or other hunting weapon. A glass mirror  110 , large enough to hide the hunter&#39;s head and reflect the distinctive features of a turkey (head, neck and beard), as will be described in greater detail subsequently. The mirror  110  is equipped with a half silvered sighting aperture  120  and a fan of turkey tail feathers  130  is mounted on mirror which is in turn mounted on the shotgun  200  via bracket  140 . While the embodiment described herein is adapted for hunting turkeys, the reflective decoy may be adorned with alternative supplemental elements and used to reflect the head of other game animals. 
         [0020]      FIG. 2  provides a close up detail of the attachment elements of the glass mirror to the shotgun of  FIG. 1 . In this embodiment the bracket  140  is designed to fit the Remington MODEL 11-87 12-gauge shotgun. Bracket  140  is equipped with a 1⅛″ diameter attachment hole  141  where a magazine cap  210  of the shotgun  200  is used to secure the bracket  140  to the gun. The mirror  110  is attached to the bracket  140  by hook and loop fasteners  112 . The feathers  130  may also be attached to the mirror with hook and loop fasteners  112 . The mirror  110  is substantially elliptic having minor and major axes of 9×16″ (230×400 mm) and is made from ¼″ (˜6 mm) mirror glass. A 2″ hole  150  in the mirror  110  is made for the barrel of the shotgun and a sighting aperture  120 , to be described in greater detail subsequently, is present. Rubber band  160  is employed for supplemental attachment of the mirror  120  and bracket  140  for shock absorption. 
         [0021]      FIG. 3  shows a front view of the mirror  110  with the sighting aperture  120  and a partially silvered sighting element  122 . For an animal to see himself reflected in the glass mirror  110 , the mirror must be orthogonal to a line of sight between the hunter and the animal. This is not easily accomplished by merely pointing the weapon at the animal, particularly at longer ranges. The present embodiments therefore incorporate a dual reflective sighting system. In the glass mirror  110 , the coating is removed (not the glass) to expose the glass and form an optical window as the sighting aperture  120 . 
         [0022]      FIG. 4  shows a one-way mirror (partially reflective, partially transparent) is formed by, for example using a reflective film  122  such as “Gila MIRROR PR5361” bonded to the sighting aperture  120  with reflective action between the hunter and the glass mirror (thicknesses in  FIG. 4  are exaggerated for clarity). Alternatively, the glass mirror  110  may be partially silvered in the region of the sighting aperture  120  to create a one way reflective element as is known in the art. When aligned using a handle  170  (or the bracket  140  when attached to the shotgun  200  as shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ), the hunter can see both, the animal or any desired target (partially transparent) and the reflection (partially reflective) of his own eye  48 . By aligning the eye with the partially reflective aperture as represented by ray  28   a  an image of the eye then reflects back to the observer&#39;s eye  48  as ray  28   b  and the target or animal  14 , aligned as represented by the ray of a line of sight  24 , is also visible in the aperture. When the first mirror element is brought to an orthogonal orientation with the animal by aligning the eye and animal images, the animal can see itself reflected in a first direction from the glass mirror  110  as represented by ray  29 . For the example embodiment with a turkey, seeing its own reflection, complete with movement of head, ears, eyes, neck and beard, the turkey interprets the mirror element (and the hunter behind) as a second animal of his own species and, therefore, as non-threatening or during mating season as a challenger. 
         [0023]      FIG. 5  shows the self-reflected aiming eye of the hunter on the targeted turkey. 
         [0024]      FIG. 6  shows a sighting element  120  incorporating a top portion of the sighting aperture designated  120   a  which is unsilvered providing a clear unobstructed view for sighting a weapon such as a bow with the integral bow sights. A second intermediate portion of the sighting aperture is partially silvered for partial reflectance and partial transparence. This may be accomplished in example embodiments using one layer of reflective film  122   a  to provide approximately 50% transmission and 50% reflection. A lower portion of the sighting aperture is additionally silvered for greater reflectance to accommodate conditions where the animal may be in direct sunlight but the hunter may be in shade therefore requiring additional reflection from the mirror to see his eye. This may be accomplished in example embodiments by using a second layer of the reflective film  122   b  to provide approximately 25% transmission and 75% reflection. 
         [0025]      FIG. 7  shows the reflective decoy  100  attached to a compound bow  300 . 
         [0026]      FIG. 8  shows a bipod  150  having two legs  152   a  and  152   b  may also be added to the bow  300  in conjunction with the mounting of the reflective decoy  100 . The bipod allows the bow to be placed upright on the ground against the bow&#39;s cam  310 . By freeing his arms, the hunter can use box and/or slate calls to help lure the gobbler into the mirror&#39;s effective range. 
         [0027]      FIG. 9  shows hook and loop fasteners  112  attach the glass mirror  110  of the reflective decoy  100  to the bow  300  via a bracket  142 , comparable in function to the bracket  140  (see  FIGS. 1 and 2 ) employed with the shotgun. The bow&#39;s frontal standard 5/16-24 threaded hole  146  is used to connect the bracket  142  which is made of 5/16-24 threaded steel rod and aluminum plate, as will be described in greater detail subsequently, covered with a hook and loop fastener  112 . Another hook and loop fastener  112  is bonded to the front of the bow&#39;s sight  144  to provide the second attachment, preventing the glass mirror  110  from swinging. Rubber band  160  provides additional security and shock absorption. The bipod legs  152   a  (and  152   b  which is hidden in this view) are attached to the supporting bracket  142  in a manner allowing the legs to swivel to a horizontal position as represented by phantom leg  153 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 10  shows a close-up view of the bracket  142  with its bipod leg  152   a.  The bracket  142  includes a flat plate  153  and substantially square aluminum block  154  with edges oriented horizontally and vertically providing flats  156  angled at 45 degrees. Threaded bores in the flats receive bolts  158  which attach the legs ( 152   a  shown) to the bracket. Each bipod leg may be fabricated from, for example, an aluminum L beam or angle with a first surface  159   a  cut to create a relief  160  leaving a flat tab  161  on a second surface  159   b  with a hole through which the bolt  158  is inserted. The unrelieved portion of the first surface  159   a  engages a lower flat of the block  154  to limit forward travel of the bipod leg. Reward rotation about the bolt  158  allows the leg  152   a  to be rotated to the horizontal position (shown as  153  in  FIG. 9 ) and described above. Attachment of the bracket to the bow frontal standard hole (element  146  in  FIG. 9 ) is accomplished with a threaded rod  162  extending from the block  154  with appropriate jam nuts  164  and  166  for adjustment of the overall length of the bracket. As previously described, a hook and loop fastener  112  is adhered to a front surface of the flat plate  153  for engaging the glass mirror. 
         [0029]    Having now described various embodiments of the invention in detail as required by the patent statutes, those skilled in the art will recognize modifications and substitutions to the specific embodiments disclosed herein. Such modifications are within the scope and intent of the present invention as defined in the following claims.