Choosing Your Turkey Decoy

By Brandon Wikman

Over the years, turkey decoys have been manufactured into nearly every shape, style, and design, but the main concept still remains the same – bringing gobblers into your lap. When the timing is on the money, you can effectively utilize decoys to increase your odds of bagging a bird.

Below you will find a brief review of how you can put your decoy to work best in the forest or field this spring.

The major reason to use decoys is to keep the focus off of you and on the new guy/gal – they offer a critical advantage of deception that you cannot find anywhere else. The finest imposter to use combines both realism and ease of transportation. By far, a three-dimensional decoy provides the best level of foolery for your foe. The lifelike design will calm the nerves and ease the tension of a wary gobbler that’s been deceived one too many times. Always make your best efforts to position your decoys in view of any oncoming birds from every angle, which allows birds to spot your fake in as many directions as possible.

The optimum benefit to a decoy that’s extremely portable is that it gives you the chance to be incredibly mobile. Many times, turkey hunters run-and-gun for birds, which makes the job difficult if you have to lug around cumbersome decoys made of hard plastic. Carry-Lite offers a perfect example of a decoy that is both realistic and easy to stuff into your vest. The Pretty Boy Jr. and Pretty Mama are lightweight, quiet, and collapsible. The materials are waterproof and spot-on realistic in appearance, but an added bonus for these 3-D decoys are their ability to move with even the slightest of breezes, mimicking actual turkey behavior in the field and thereby calming any wary hens or toms in the immediate area.

Unlike waterfowl hunting, you won’t need to scatter a barrage of 50 decoys in a field in hopes to wrangle a gobbler. In the wonderful world of turkey hunting, you can test one to even a few decoys. By staking a standing or feeding hen approximately 15 to 20 yards in front of your position, you will usually drag your gobbler into range. To attract your adversary, you can simply include a lone hen in your setup or add a jake or full strut tom to entice competition. In most case scenarios, a gobbler will gravitate toward your setup after spotting your fakes.

Carry-Lite offers a diverse lineup of great turkey hunting decoys that you can use this spring. Feel free to visit their website and check them out for yourself.

With enough care and proper storage, your turkey decoys will last you a very long time and provide you a wonderful hunting experience year after year.

Comments

[Whitetail Hunter]

Wow , I never knew there were so many turkey decoys out there. I hunt deer, elk , moose, But not turkey, Yet. I do my hunting at www.peartreegameranch.com for deer. I hope to hunt turkey, now that I learned so much. Thank you for the well written story on turkey decoys.

[turkey decoy]

Nice work. Check another great turkey decoy at www.bestturkeydecoy.com

[Turkey Decoy]

Turkey Decoys seem to have helped me in the past. Usually I'll put one up pretty close to a blind then start on with the call. Great information.