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 roar of the gun, 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 without 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. While most turkey decoys are bulky
and feel like a pillow packed in the turkey vest, Montana Decoy's
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) 748-3092.
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