Abstract:
A decoy for turkey hunting utilizes a detachable turkey fan which reproduces the coloration of a natural male turkey fan to enhance the perception by wild turkeys that an interloper turkey is in the territory. A second decoy simulating a female is included in the kit.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Application No. 60757,111, Filed Jan. 5, 2006, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to the field of decoys and more particularly to decoys for attracting wild turkeys to a desired location. With even greater particularity, the present invention relates to decoys for attracting male wild turkeys.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003]     A primary objective in the art of decoys is that the decoy attract the desired game species to the decoy for purposes of observation, wildlife management, or for hunting. The most successful decoys are those that stimulate the senses or instincts of the desired game to evoke a response to approach within close proximity to the decoy.  
         [0004]     Generally, a decoy will depict members of the same species as the desired game animal such that the game&#39;s familiarity with and close association with other members of its species will attract them to each other. In this sense, the decoy artisan will exploit the game&#39;s communal instincts to attract the game animal, and perhaps make the animal less wary of its surroundings. Similarly, game animals may be decoyed by exploiting the animal&#39;s breeding instincts.  
         [0005]     With game animals such as birds, many of their courting rituals are highly visual with the male of the species generally having vivid colorations and other displays to attract a female mate. The male wild turkey, or tom, is known for its spectacular display fan as it extends the plumage of its tail feathers during its courting ritual where it will strut about and ruffle its feathers in order to attract a receptive female. Wild turkeys are also communal animals in which the hierarchy of the flock is established according to an established pecking order. In this regard, a tom&#39;s display fan may also serve as an indication of aggression as competing males attempt to establish their dominance within the flock. Once established, the pecking order particularly holds when it comes to breeding habits wherein the dominant male will aggressively suppress breeding activities of the subordinate toms within the flock.  
         [0006]     With wild turkeys, a female or hen, will indicate her receptiveness to breeding by assuming a submissive position in front of the male characterized by a crouch position with the neck erect and the head held perpendicular to the ground. In this regard, it is the hen that chooses the tom in response to the courting strut and display exhibited by the male.  
         [0007]     Wild turkeys are well known for their visual acuity in detecting the slightest movements, which may in part explain the ruffling and strutting that are characteristic of the tom&#39;s courtship dance and the effectiveness of its display fan when assuming an aggressive posture. As the dominant toms are often prized by avid turkey hunters, it is desirable that a decoy for attracting the same take advantage of these aforementioned characteristics. Moreover, as the intended use of the decoy is contemplated in a wilderness environment and a suitable location will likely require the operator to carry the decoy to its intended site, it is desirable that the decoy be lightweight, and readily carried by the operator.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The present invention comprises a decoy for attracting turkeys to a desired point for observation or for hunting the same. The decoy comprises a main body depicting a male turkey. The main body further comprises a slot defined transverse the main body proximal the tail end thereof. The slot is adapted to receive an insert depicting a display fan for a male turkey. The insert may be a simulated display fan, such as a sheet imprinted with a depiction of a male turkey display fan on its front and back surfaces. More preferably, the insert comprises a natural display fan harvested from a male turkey.  
         [0009]     The main body may be substantially hollow and is preferably suspended from a pivot point located near the center of gravity of the main body such that the decoy may exhibit movement in response to a disturbance, such as a breeze or mechanical stimuli, in order to enhance perception of the decoy by the targeted game. For improved performance of the decoy in attracting turkeys, and more specifically a dominant male turkey, a second main body depicting a female turkey, and more preferably a female turkey poised in its receptive breeding posture, is provided and positioned in close proximity to the main body of the male turkey decoy. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of a body portion for a decoy generally depicting a male turkey;  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  depicts a simulated tail feather display for a male turkey;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  depicts a body portion for a male turkey decoy with the simulated tail feather display inserted in the main body portion;  
         [0013]      FIG. 3  depicts an exemplary body portion for a decoy depicting a female turkey;  
         [0014]      FIG. 4  depicts a typical deployment of a male and female turkey decoy; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 5  depicts a natural display fan. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0016]     In reference to the several drawings which form part of the disclosure of the invention, the present invention comprises a decoy for attracting turkeys to a desired point for purposes of observation, wildlife management, or for hunting the same. The decoy  10  comprises a main body  11  depicting a male turkey. More preferably, the main body  11  will be shaped to simulate the posture and markings of a male turkey engaged in its characteristic courting strut, such that the neck holds the head erect and drawn towards the back and its feathers are flushed outwardly. The head  12  and wattle  13  coloration are a combination of blue, red, and white and more preferably the white will predominate to simulate a male in an increased state of excitement in anticipation of mating. The feathers should be darkly colored, with the tips having characteristic markings for the desired species or sub-species. As the feathers in the intermediate section of a tom&#39;s body have an iridescent bronze or copper tint, depending on the sub-species, the intermediate portion  14  of the main body  11  should be similarly colored, preferably with a paint applied to the surface of the main body  11 . The body markings may be matched to a particular sub-species or regional differences in sub-species markings. The beard  15  of a mature tom prominently extends below the neck and wattle  13 .  
         [0017]     As may be seen best in reference to  FIG. 2 , the main body  11  further comprises a slot  16  defined transverse the main body  11  proximal the tail end thereof. The slot  16  is adapted to receive a display fan  17  in the form of an insert depicting a display fan for a male turkey. The insert may be a simulated display fan, such as a sheet material painted or imprinted with a depiction of a male turkey display fan on its front  18  and back  19  surfaces. The inventors have found that a semi-rigid flexible plastic sheet is well suited as it is lightweight, durable, and will readily accept the imprinted display fan. More preferably, the sheet should be imprinted with a photographic image of a male turkey display fan such that the front surface  18  accurately depicts the forwardly facing display of a tom and the back surface  19  depicts the rearwardly facing display as there are typically differences between the two. It should be noted that the display fan  17  may also be removably attached to the body in a suitable manner other than by insertion into the slot.  
         [0018]     More preferably, the insert comprises a natural display fan  20  harvested from a male turkey as it will best present the coloration, markings, and textures of a turkey. The natural display fan  20  is prepared according to conventional methods. The tail feathers of a harvested mature tom are detached from the body and maintained in a spread arrangement as the residual flesh retaining the feathers in position is cured. Slot  16  in main body  11  should be of sufficient width so that it is capable of receiving the natural display fan  20 . A natural display fan  20  has the advantage in that it may be harvested locally and may be selected to correspond to the unique markings of the desired sub-species of interest and will account for regional differences between sub-species. As an added advantage, particularly for a hunter who frequents a particular locale, the markings on the natural display fan  20  will correspond with the unique markings of a tom formerly belonging to a particular flock and may even be recognized as such by the surviving members of that flock according to its established place in the pecking order, adding to the overall effectiveness of the decoy  10 .  
         [0019]     As previously described, it is preferable that the decoy  10  be light weight so that it may be readily transported by the person emplacing the decoy  10 . The decoy  10  should also be durable so that it will withstand the rigors of a wilderness environment. The inventors have also discovered that the decoy  10  should also be sufficiently durable to withstand attack by dominant male turkeys lured to the decoy  10  such that it should survive a spurring or pecking by an overly aggressive tom. The inventors have found that a suitable construction entails a molded substantially hollow main body  11 . Plastics are a preferred material for providing durability, flexibility and adhesion of the pigments for the desired markings, though any suitable material may be utilized. If the selected material is sufficiently flexible, the slot  16  may be formed such that is considerably narrower than the would be otherwise possible with a rigid construction as the flexibility of the material will permit momentarily widening of the slot  16  in order that it may receive the considerable thickness of a natural display fan  20  as opposed to the somewhat narrower simulated display fan  17 .  
         [0020]     As best seen in reference to  FIG. 3 , the main body  11  is preferably suspended from a pivot point  21 , such as a grommet or similar reinforced construction, located near the center of gravity of the main body  11 . The main body  11  of the decoy  10  may be suspended on a stake  22  which is driven into the ground at the selected decoy site. A decoy  10  mounted by this method will permit movement of the decoy in response to a disturbance, such as a breeze or mechanical stimuli, to enhance perception of the decoy by the keen eyesight of the turkey and to simulate the strutting of a tom.  
         [0021]     For improved performance of the decoy  10  in attracting turkeys, and more particularly dominant male turkeys, a second main body  23  is desirable. The second main body  23  should depict a female turkey, and more preferably a female turkey poised in its receptive breeding posture. As seen in reference to  FIG. 4 , the second main body  23  is emplaced on the ground in close proximity to the main body  11  of the male turkey, and positioned to indicate the female decoy&#39;s receptiveness to mating by the male decoy.  
         [0022]     To facilitate transportability, stake  22  may be of a collapsible variety including a driven portion  23  having a point  24  at one end and a socket  25  at a second end. A second upper portion  26  has a socket  25  at its lower end and a pivot  27  at its upper end. The portions  23  and  26  are readily joined at their respective sockets  25 . To avoid loss of the separate portions  23  and  26 , they may be joined by an elastic chord or similar material attached near each of the respective sockets  25 . To further facilitate transportability, main body  11 , second main body  23 , display fans  17  or  20  may be conveniently carried in a large bag. The bag should effectively mask the decoy  10  such that the transported decoy  10  and the person carrying the same are not mistakenly identified as a target by an unwary hunter. Alternatively, the bag should be brightly colored, such as in brightly colored hunter orange, so as to avoid inadvertent identification as live game.  
         [0023]     It should be understood that although the inventors have described an exemplary embodiment of the invention, modifications and variations might be made without departing from the sprit of our invention. Accordingly, we claims as our invention all forms thereof coming within the scope of the appended claims.