I may be not interpreting the ad correctly, but I did not see where to said hide behind it and sneak up on birds. When they say close the gap on hung up birds, I think it means the birds will come to it. With common sense ad setting them up like you wold any decoy by staying off to the side, I could see them being effective. I doubt they are the size of a normal umbrella, if it folds down and fits in a pack. If they were, the bird pic on there would look gargantuan. Granted there are idiots out there, and some dummy may try it. But I have to refer back to the old rules of gun safety. Know your target and well beyond. However I must also say there are more hunting incidents during turkey season than deer. Hunter insanity. If you were hiding behind that thing trying to sneak up on a bird, it would not look anything like a bird strutting. Plus while you were trying to crawl behind it and getting scratched up and making so much noise, it would be funny to watch, but otherwise useless.