The highly anticipated appearance of spring is quickly approaching. And with it the most wonderful sound in the world: thundering gobbles. When it comes to turkey decoys, Montana Decoy exists to give hunters a packable and lightweight decoy that takes up little room in your vest or pack and deploys quickly. Let’s break down some setups and how you might increase your encounters with gobblers come spring.
Turkey populations can be found in many areas across the country, and that gives hunters opportunities to chase gobblers in new locations; hunting somewhere new is always an adventure in itself. Decoys, too, have come a long way since the old days of bulky, cumbersome pieces of plastic that made lugging them into the woods almost as inconvenient as not having one.
Montana Decoy exists to give hunters a more packable and lightweight decoy. The best turkey decoy setups to use this spring largely depend on how gobblers are acting. So, let’s break it down into three categories based on a single hen setup, a hen and a jake, and a full-body gobbler decoy.
Montana Decoy exists to give hunters a more packable and lightweight decoy.
Hen Decoy
If you have to be selective about which decoys to buy this spring, the best bet is always a hen decoy, such as Miss Purrfect XD. Every turkey hunter should have at least one in their vest. And since Montana Decoys are so light and packable, carrying a Miss Purrfect XD decoy inside a vest adds hardly any weight, allowing you to move with agility.
Every turkey hunter ought to consider having at least one hen decoy in their vest.
Miss Purrfect XD’s versatility allows it to be staged in several positions, including feeder, breeder, and looking, each designed to elicit a reaction from a gobbler looking for action. Later in the season a gobbler’s become more wary to calling, a hen decoy becomes that much more important as it adds a visual to your setup.
Purrfect Pair XD
Purrfect Pair XD consists of Miss Purrfect XD and Jake Purrfect XD. Pair the younger-looking, less dominant jake decoy with a hen and watch out. Gobblers do not like some punk jake moving in on a potential mate. One thing to be aware of is that jakes are more aggressive in groups. Gobblers know this too. So don’t use too many in your decoy setup.
Find a field edge with good cover. Place the Purrfect Pair XD 15 yards in front of and facing you at a slight angle with Jake Purrfect slightly behind Miss Purrfect, which is in a breeding pose. An aggressive tom or group of sub-dominant toms will confront the jake decoy first, giving you the perfect shot angle. If you chase turkeys with arrows, draw back your bow as the strutter turns away from you and aim for the vitals just above the thighs.
Pairing a younger-looking, less dominant decoy with a hen can quickly turn up the action, especially early season.
Turkeys involve themselves in a form of drama not unlike what you might see on a soap opera. Using the Purrfect Pair XD hen and jake combination as example, imagine what a gobbler will think when he sees a punk jake trying to sidle up to what the old tom believes could be one of his mates. The chances of him charging straight in are pretty good, especially during peak breeding.
Needless to say, the combination of a jake and hen decoy system is pretty ideal since they can be each used in so many diverse ways together or completely separately for a less dramatic scene.
Gobbler Decoys
Gobbler decoys are perfect for luring in “hung up” toms. Sometimes a dominant bird will see your decoy setup, but not approach, expecting the hen to come to him. But, employing a large-and-in-charge, full strut decoy such as the Wiley Tom 3D can quickly alter a gobbler’s mood from romance to battle.
With a major “come at me bro” attitude, Wiley Tom 3D decoy helps draw in hung up gobblers that refuse to close the distance. Or you may encounter an old tom that’s already henned up and refuses to leave his harem.
Making the Wiley Tom 3D decoy part of your setup can cause a hung-up gobbler to charge right in.
You know how it goes: he’ll answer every call and struts in plain view, but he has the upperhand with the ladies and doesn’t feel the need to chase love any longer. But, if you pair Wiley Tom 3D with Miss Purrfect, it could change the whole playing field. One thing the dominant bird likely won’t stand for is another tom threatening to invade his territory. While they can work anytime of the season, if gobblers in your area are still sorting out dominance when your season opens a lone strutter can be too much to resist.
Bottom line, there’s plenty of room for creativity in the turkey decoy setups you might use this spring. So, knowing which decoys to deploy and when is just as important as picking your hunting spot. And from what we can tell, the key is, the more drama on the stage, the better.