The best turkey-decoy spreads play to a springtime gobbler’s desire to breed, fight or, better yet, do both. (Photo courtesy of Mossy Oak)
We’d hunted the pesky gobbler numerous times. He’d strut and gobble on the hillside, but never march down to meet my puny jake decoy. It seemed that tom was happy enough with his five ladies on the hilltop.
Then one day I decided to put out a whole gaggle of turkey decoys to paint a different picture. Wouldn’t you know, that gobbler walked right down the hill and into our spread.
That proved to me that realism matters, and that sometimes it isn’t only about enhancing your decoys’ appearance, but about offering the birds a different look. With that in mind, here are some simple tweaks to increase your turkey-hunting success this spring.