About two hundred years ago, the poet Lord Tennyson penned the often-repeated verse “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.” As I adjusted my binoculars last week to watch two large tom turkeys fluff up their body feathers, fan out their tail feathers and strut around a trio of hens, I thought: not just humans.
I also speculated that my college English literature professor of decades ago might be proud of my memory, and perhaps a bit offended by my current reference.
The amorous desires of male turkeys during the spring season is a major asset to a hunter’s success and the chief downfall of these otherwise smart, wary quarry. To this end, after years of personal turkey hunts and as backup shooter or interested companion on many other outings, it’s been my studied opinion that decoys are the prime tool to tagging a big Tom. Full camo clothing, the right scattergun and shells, a good blind and realistic calling are all important, but the number, style and setup of decoys is crucial to closing the deal.
Time and again you hear hunters lament about outings when a bird responds to the call, moves into the field, spots the decoys and comes running. Then, just as suddenly, the turkey stops just out of range at 60 to 75 yards and struts back and forth, calling, but coming no closer. It’s called “getting hung up” and usually ends with the tom leaving the field and no shot taken, and generally it’s because something wasn’t just right with the decoy setup.
If you can only afford one decoy to begin hunting, it needs to be a hen. Since all the male turkeys are seeking a mate, it’s the obvious choice. The next option is a two-bird setup, with either a pair of females or one female and a jake, which is a 1-year-old male turkey. When an older turkey spots a jake with a hen, usually he will investigate in hopes of chasing the younger bird away and romancing the female. This will also work with a female decoy and a tom decoy, as most real toms will still wander closer to investigate, compete by strutting or even fight for the hen’s affection.
My personal, proven go-to combo of decoys includes a jake and two hens. Pick a pair from upright, feeding lay-down or breeder position female decoys to build your own flock. On occasion I’ve seen a few hunters add a strutting tom to the trio setup, but that’s a lot of decoys to transport around.
The more realistic the decoy, the better the chance of fooling a big, old, wary, sharp-eyed tom over 20 pounds. Pick your price range. You can find collapsible foam trios of hens and a jake for as little as $35, or ante up for a single, remote-controlled motion decoy with high-end models going for $300. The selection and price range in between the two is diverse and extensive. Pick the best you can afford and you won’t be sorry. There are even motion mating pairs for a breathtaking $400 a set. Color and feather detail as well as movement are so realistic you pray someone doesn’t sneak up and shoot the decoys by mistake.
More often than you might expect, a real male turkey will come running at the decoys and peck, spur and beat a decoy with its wings before the hunter gets a shot. There have even been instances when coyotes, bobcats and occasionally a fox will attack a decoy. Modern, high-tech decoys are very realistic. And heaven forbid you shoot an expensive decoy by mistake while trying to down a live gobbler.
Another unique style of decoy is a huge turkey tail fanned out on a hand-held stake, usually twice the size of a normal set of tail feathers. This device is being used more frequently each season with surprising success by hunters who crawl and sneak behind the fan from field edge cover to within shooting range of birds often spotted feeding in the open. Occasionally the live turkey being stalked will even walk toward the approaching, moving hide-away tail to investigate, assuming it’s another live bird.
Wild turkey hunting success requires a number of components for consistent results, but realistic decoys are perhaps the most crucial element and will even overshadow rookie calling attempts and mediocre concealment. After all, novice hunters can purchase an inexpensive electronic call to efficiently draw attention to the setup of fake gobblers, then the decoys will take care of the attraction work.
Thinking back to Tennyson’s ode to spring and love, the true meaning to me has become even more evident. There are a lot of us out there who really do love to venture afield each spring in search of wild turkey.
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