Using turkey decoys can be a gamble. Gobblers may often be attracted, but many times hens are repelled, putting up a fuss about the newcomer and luring the old tom away. Last spring, I was really excited about trying the then-new Hunter’s Specialties Strut Jake Snood and the feeding hen, Penny Snood. Opening morning, barely an hour had passed when two longbeards attacked the jake I had posted. I downed one with my Excalibur crossbow. Was that just luck or did the decoy really work well?
Two days later, I was back at my Browning blind and had a similar experience. A longbeard (perhaps the same one as before) suddenly showed up in front of the blind, strutting defiantly in front of Jake Snood. The tom stood perfectly still and I put a bolt right through its neck, downing it instantly.
This year my work schedule prohibited me from hunting until the second full week of the season and my scouting camera showed no activity near my blind. With the jake decoy under my arm, I set up in a likely strutting zone with my back against a large sycamore tree and the Jake 15 yards in front of me. Luckily, I had gobblers thundering on both sides and my calls were answered by gobbles even closer. When I could hear that crazy drumming sound behind me, I knew a longbeard was close. It practically gobbled in my ear and then marched directly to Jake Snood. The big tom walked to the decoy, strutted, and circled a few inches from the bogus bird. I shot with the new Excalibur Micro using a “lopper” broadhead, designed to kill the bird instantly with a head neck shot. Unfortunately, the large blade struck the wing butt and kicked away, startling the gobbler, but not injuring it. The bird moved directly away with only a few feathers on the ground and new respect for immature males.
Switching the next day to NAP Spitfire mechanical broadheads, I returned to find the gobbler roosting in the same area. Setting up in a different location, I watched the big boy fly down, breed a hen, and gobble repeatedly as a small flock scratched in the leaves around it. My call made the tom gobble, yet I could not coax it close enough to see the Jake Snood. As time passed, I saw two turkeys walk down the ridge toward my location and guessed they were jakes.
Sitting in the wide open against a stout oak tree, I waited to see what the birds would do. They came directly
to the gobbler decoy, but didn’t attack it. When I raised the crossbow, one of the birds noticed the motion and began to walk away, but my arrow caught the largest one squarely in the middle. The bird moved away awkwardly about 20 yards, began to flop, and expired in seconds. Yes!
I’m always careful where I post a gobbler decoy and you must follow the safety instructions that come with the product. Does it work? I’ve used it four times with six gobblers lured in, for a total of two jakes and four longbeards. In my opinion, the realism of Jake Snood is unmatched. As the sun rises, the bird has that iridescent glow that real gobbler feathers exhibit. The feeding Penny Snood adds extra realism to the setup and a slight breeze will make both birds appear to move in the wind. Check them out at hunterspec.com.
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