An old technique of hiding behind a gobbler decoy to stalk wild turkeys is being revived — much to the dismay of hunter safety educators.

A decoy company’s video hyping the “scoot & shoot” technique — or “fanning” as some call it — is getting a lot of play on the Internet.

The Mojo Outdoors video clips show hunters rising from behind a gobbler decoy’s fanned tail and shooting running toms, sometimes as close as 10 feet or less.

Ethical hunters strive to be undetected so a steady, clean shot can be made at a standing gobbler’s head from a distance optimum for shot placement.

In several cases, the hunters rise from the decoy, spooking the incoming gobblers at close range and then taking running shots, with poor results.

The link for the Mojo Outdoors scoot & shoot decoy video was sent to five people, experts in the field of turkey hunting and hunter safety. Following is a summary of their reactions.

—Steve Hall, executive director of the International Hunter Education Association, said a hunter in the field must look at shooting from the offensive perspective — be sure of your target — as well as the defensive.

“Our stance has always been don’t wear anything resembling animals that are being hunted, especially on public land.”

Missouri was a leading state in compiling data on causes for turkey hunting accidents, said Hall, who’s been analyzing hunter accident stats for more than three decades.

“The safe practices we teach are usually borne from empirical data,” Hall said. “In the case of turkey fanning, I must say we haven’t collected any, yet.

“Do I have evidence against it? No. Would I promote it or do it myself? Heck no.”

—Jimmy Parman of Newman Lake, voted Washington’s hunter safety educator of the year in 2013, said he hasn’t directly addressed fanning tactics.

“It never occurred to me that anyone would be dumb enough to do this,” he said. “I’ll be talking about this with my students from now on.”

Defending the tactic as OK in a “safety zone” of private land doesn’t hold water, Parman said:

“Every landowner will tell you he’s dealt with trespassers and poachers.”

—Dave Murphy, veteran Spokane turkey hunter and former Primos pro-staffer, said, “This is new to turkey hunting and I really don’t think those who made up the safety recommendations ever saw this coming.

“I don’t like the idea at all!” said Murphy, who’s promoted safe use of gobbler decoys and calls. “I have not and will not encourage anyone to do it.

“Put your back to a tree and put your decoy out in front of you. In that way you can hopefully see anyone sneaking in on your decoy and the tree protects your back.”

—Leonard Wolf, local sportsman who hunts mostly on private land, is less judgmental.

“As a seasoned and experienced turkey hunter who regularly takes out novice hunters and spends over 20 days annually in search of long beards, mostly for others as an unpaid guide, I would compare these Mojo products to automobiles and drivers,” he said. “A souped-up sports car in the hands of a skilled driver on an appropriate course could be safe while it would be dangerous on public streets or in the hands of an amateur, he said.

“I would never suggest (scoot &shoot) be used by novice hunters and NEVER on public land!” he said.

“I can see where these decoys might appeal to an inexperienced hunter, and if that were to occur and these decoys were used incorrectly under the wrong conditions, I see no evidence of guilt on the part of the manufacturer, nor would I place any blame on them.”

—Tom Hughes, National Wild Turkey Federation assistant vice president and wildlife biologist who’s helped prepare the organization’s safety materials, condemns fanning.

“I consider it an extreme form of stalking turkeys, and we’ve already affirmed that stalking turkeys is unsafe and a bad idea.”

After years of studying data, Hughes said the NWTF had a “strong belief that the traditional method of sitting in place and calling a turkey, moving as needed to new locations, is safer and more successful than sneaking methods.”