Montana Decoy

This past spring turkey hunt in Missouri was a challenge to say the least. With a late season opening date the foliage was making it difficult to hunt inside the timber and creek bottoms where I prefer to hunt. Calling was uneffective without any visual aids to help bring them in. Every gobbler seemed to have a hen at his side all the time from the moment they came off the roost until one o clock when shooting hour’s end here in Missouri.

I had hunted with my Ameristep ground blind the first few days and then decided to do some stalking with my new Mathews Switchback XT. I had found out the first few days of hunting the best way to bag a tom this year was to spot and stalk. They just would not come to a call and with the grass being so tall it was even hard to set up in fields.

So what I decided to do was move slowly along the hedge rows on the conservation land I was hunting and try to spot a tom. This was a little different than my normal turkey hunting set up. My plan was to spot the turkeys and then position my Montana turkey decoys from the edge of the hedge row I was using for cover. This ended up being a deadly set up. This was the first time I used Montana Decoys and I must say these things are by far the best Turkey decoys I have ever used. They fold up small and are easy to carry unlike any decoy I have ever used and they set up in seconds. With this said I was able to slip down the hedge row’s spot the turkey and slip the decoys at the edge of the fields next to the hedge rows and get the toms attention.

On this hunt I used Prairie Ghost Camo from Montana camo they make this particular pattern for out west hunting but works well here in the Midwest around agriculture fields. I was actually able to use a drainage ditch to my advantage for cover. I slipped up the ditch 60 yards to a bend in the field edge that allowed me to set my Montana Decoys out undetected. Once I had placed them at the edge of the field I dropped back into the brush that ran along the ditch about 15-yards and started to cluck on my trusty box call. It didn’t take long to get a response. I could barely see through the brush but I could see enough to see one of the three toms was heading my way.

On this set up I only had one shooting lane and it was going to be a 20 or 30-yard shot. After setting what seemed to be forever, I finally saw a glimpse of tail feathers heading straight for my decoys. I had my new Mathews Switchback XT knocked and ready with a Gold Tip XT Hunter tipped with the new Muzzy MX-4 broad head. As the tom got closer, he was fully focused on the Montana Decoy tom and hens; after drumming and spiting endlessly he was finally moving into my shooting lane.

I pulled my Mathews to full draw and the arrow raised perfectly on my HHA drop away arrow rest. While the tom was turned I looked through my peep at my single pin sight from HHA. These are some of the toughest and most durable rest and sights I have ever tested and used; they will be a part of my bow hunting accessories for years to come. I just cannot stress enough how important it is to have good equipment because in the field if something breaks the hunt is over

I aimed at the tom when he faced toward me. I released the arrow and struck him dead center in the chest. What a hunt he dropped in his tracks! I can’t remember when I had such a exciting spring turkey hunt. He weighed 22-pounds and had an 11-inch beard. Another fine turkey hunt on public land

It just goes to show that public land can produce good results on turkey or whatever species your hunting. Public land is all I hunt because hunt leases are just not in my budget. One thing I have found, if possible hunt public land tracts in the middle of the week. The hunting pressure is not near as bad and during spring turkey season it seems that most hunters give up two to three hours before shooting hours are over.

So the next time you have problems calling that tom in the late season you might try these tactics as they worked well for me. I plan on trying this Montana Decoy setup again on Public land next year. It will definitely get your heart going.