It seems as though some good hunting friends and myself seem to get caught up with this question over and over. My perspective has somewhat changed over the years as turkey decoys have transformed into more and more realistic decoys. Ultimately, I have come to the consensus over the past few years that may favorite decoy on the market is the Dakota Jake Decoy. This undersized jake with a postured head back tilt seems to drive the most male turkey, jakes to dominant toms, crazy. I have had yet to have a bird booger out on me while using this decoy. The other decoy that is very similar to it, which I have had similar results is the Dave Smith Decoy (DSD). This particular decoy costs nearly double that of the Dakota Decoy and does not have the head tilt like the Dakota so it comes in a close second place. Let’s be clear, neither the Dakota or DSD are cheap decoys, but it all comes down to the old adage--- you get what you pay for and in this instance it certainly is true in my opinion.
One decoy that has found a permanent place in my garage is the full strutter decoy. The one that I have used over the years is a Pretty Boy. I have had some success with Pretty Boy, but have also had some very disgruntling results. There have been too many very nice birds that I have had marching straight in at my set strutting and gobbling their brains out only to make visual contact with Pretty Boy, come out of strut, about face, and take off running the way they came like they had seen a ghost. Uggggh!!! It seems that there is only a certain bird that is in a particular state of mind that will decoy straight in on a Pretty Boy decoy. Just think about it for a minute. –If you were the small or even the medium kid on the block who had his butt kicked by a big guy over time would you want to go and get in another big guy’s face? -Probably not. The pecking order is typically set fairly early in the spring whereas certain birds are always dominant and will remain dominant for the course of the spring.
To Decoy or Not to Decoy…
Some folks out there don’t believe in decoys. I cannot say that I am one of them. Personally, I hunt with the bow and like to have my shots from as close as possible. I feel like the postured jake decoy allows this to happen. Of course, if you’re hiking into an area and need to minimize the gear one could eliminate the decoy(s), but I know for a fact that I can carry my bow, decoy, blind, and chair all in one trip if so required. The only issue becomes carrying the bird as well on the way out, but this is a good issue to have.
Proximity of the Decoy…
The distance at which you put your decoy out is largely dependent on your weapon choice and your proficiency with such weapon. Typically, when I set up for spring turkeys I want to ensure that the shooting is the easiest part of the hunt. That being said, I usually like to place my decoy at a range of 12 yards, but will even bring it in closer if so required by the lay of the land. If you are using a shotgun and your perfect pattern is at 30 yards you should set the decoy up at 30 yards. The bottom line here is that you should have your decoy in such a distance where you feel 100% confident that you can put a lethal kill on a turkey if he presents himself. I am a firm believer that with the top quality decoys that I have mentioned earlier here that the birds will come in and want to confront the decoy so you need to be confident at the range where the decoy stands as that is probably where you will get the vast majority of your shots.
Good Huntin’…
Luke
