My lifelong friend and fellow guide, Jon Paul Moody, crawled out a few yards into the field to set up a few decoys as I gave instructions to our father and son hunters sitting cross-legged on the field edge. "You boys get ready, this shouldn't take long," I said as I prepared my video camera for the action. I made a few sharp cutts as my partner scampered back from the flock of decoys. The gobbler hammered back before the last note left my mouth. 

The excitement of trying to get my gloves and mask on before the Tom came into view, reminded me of my first turkey kill in the mountains of Virginia. The excited panic usually finds us putting right-handed gloves on the left hand, or frantically searching for our face mask when its been around our neck since daylight.  

About the time I realized all I had was two right-handed camo jersey gloves, a turkey fan appeared on the other side of the corn stubble field. I knew our client had spotted him when I saw his gun barrel begin to shake violently. The majestic bird's head swapped colors from a brilliant blue, to white as a ghost.

The sound of our calls had obviously got the ol' gobbler worked up, but it wasn't until he laid eyes on the decoys that the show began. Never again did he come out of strut. He was a star, straight out of Hollywood. Our cameras rolled - he strutted. Across the field he came, spittin', drummin', and gobblin'. He gobbled so hard that at one point, I thought he was losing his voice. 

The lonely Tom had switched from audio, to visual. Our calling became soft and sweet. We'd now let the decoys do the rest. After milking the footage for all we could, we finally gave the go-ahead to our impatient hunter. At the moment of truth, another lovesick longbeard met his maker - fooled again.

Over the years turkey decoys have been a key element in the harvesting of turkeys all across the country. While some refuse to tote such gear in their vest, others say they will never leave home with one. Love 'em - or hate 'em, turkey decoys are here to stay. And there's no denying they can, and do make a huge difference when squaring off with tough toms. 

It seems with each passing year, decoys become more and more lifelike in their appearance, both in their 3-dimensional imaging, and in true-to-life movement. When I first started turkey hunting, I was impressed by the hard plastic hen turkey decoy that only the hard-core turkey hunters had. I thought I had arrived when I bought my first soft foam decoy, a decoy that I could fold up and put in the back of my vest. 

Times have changed, and with the changing of time comes realism in turkey decoys like never before. Today's decoys offer a combination of like-like appearance and motion. The result - some of the most deceptive turkey decoys ever created. Photo-realistic decoys are the rage and continue to fool even the wariest gobblers. The Montana Decoy Company has revolutionized the decoy industry with their latest offering for the turkey hunter. They're photo-realistic products no longer look like decoys, but are now lifelike impressions of the real thing. 

Montana Decoys new Strutting Tom offers ease in portability and is as lifelike as anything I've ever seen. It's a frontal view of a strutting gobbler looking for love. Longbeards - and Shortbeards for that matter - are easily lured by the strutting action of a turkey, making this decoy the ultimate fatal deception. 

Montana Decoys strive to make decoys that are easily carried in the woods and this decoy is no exception. Most turkey decoys are bulky and feel like a pillow packed in the turkey vest. The Strutting Tom folds down to the size of football and weighs next to nothing while packed in the turkey vest. I've carried mine in a zipper pocket on the side of my vest. Its absolutely the most convenient, life-like, and downright deadly of any decoy I've yet to use. 

Check out Montana Decoys at: Montana Decoys.com or call (406) 748-309

For information see your local MONTANA DECOY dealer or contact:

MONTANA DECOY
PO Box 2377
Colstrip, Montana 59323 
(406)-748-3092 
Email: jmcpherson@tgrsolution.net
on the web: www.montanadecoy.com