Turkey Hunting Tip #5: Emergency Decoy

When I first started turkey hunting, I started out with foam decoys. They were light, easy to carry, and most importantly – they were cheap. They did the job fine, but eventually wore out. Since they were only foam, tears developed, and I eventually had to scrap them. I upgraded to a nicer plastic set. They are still foldable, so easy to stuff into a vest, but they look better and are sturdier than the cheaper foam decoys. I usually use two decoys. I set up one hen and one jake. I believe this is a good all-around decoy set up. Having the hen attracts gobblers, but the jake also gets them fired up. Also, the jake is less threatening to other hens. I’ve used this two-decoy set up to bring in several birds.


However, there is still some use for the foam decoys. Consider keeping a foam hen decoy as an “emergency decoy”. Although my normal set up consists of two birds, I like to keep a third foam hen decoy rolled up in the bottom of my vest. Usually, it will not be used. Since it is foam, it is light and does not take up much space. The purpose of this emergency decoy is for the times when you can’t approach your standard set up for fear of being seen. Consider this situation: You have your standard decoys set up in an open field. You see a bird, but he’s down field and not moving towards your decoys. You want to set up closer to this bird, but you fear you will be seen if you try to retrieve your decoys. This is the circumstance in which you would use your emergency decoy. Leave the two decoys you already have set up where they are, move to a down field position, and use your emergency decoy.

As stated earlier, most of the time this third decoy will just remain rolled up on the bottom of your vest. However, there are circumstances where you might want to consider carrying this emergency decoy.