Best Turkey Decoys For 2024

Turkeys, with their elusive nature, pose a significant challenge to hunters. To overcome this, hunters employ a range of tactics, from natural camouflage to cutting-edge calling devices and decoys, all to increase their chances of a successful hunt before the season's end. 

If you need to update your decoys for the 2024 season or are starting to expand your kit and add some new decoys to your repertoire, look at our breakdown of the best turkey decoys for 2024. 

What are the Types of Turkey Decoys?

The range of turkey decoys allows hunters to create realistic turkey scenes based on the behavior of the birds during that period in the season.

Here are some of the most common decoys used by hunters of all skill levels: 
 

• Mature Tom: These decoys are often available in full and half strut positions and are used to challenge and lure in other toms. 
   
• Hens: Perhaps the most common decoy type, hens are a popular go-to option for drawing in jakes and toms that are conflict-averse if they can't see any dominant birds nearby when mating. 
   
• Hen and Jake: This combination triggers a dominant tom into action. Seeing a younger bird (a jake) with one of his ladies can create a swift, aggressive response. 
   

Regarding the construction of decoys, you can have differing designs, including collapsible, solid, motion, or inflatable. 

When To Use Turkey Decoys

Seasonality impacts turkey habits. As you move through the season, different decoys and decoy combinations should be deployed for the greatest impact. There's no one best turkey decoy but the right combination for the right moment. 

Here are some season considerations to help you set up your decoy placement for a winning season. 

Early Season

Early-season male gobblers are combative and testosterone-driven, meaning jealousy over mating and the desire to establish dominance drives much of their interactions.

Setting up a jake near a hen to provoke jealousy or placing a single jake in an aggressive posture can both have a high response rate. 

Mid-Season

During the mid-season, mating is in full swing, and social hierarchies are being formed based on dominance.

A lone hen can draw in a tom who struggled to mate earlier in the season and is looking for a non-confrontational interaction. Similarly, a small flock of hens can draw a more confident bird closer – just remember spacing, movement, and naturalism when placing more than one decoy. 

Late Season

Late season means the birds are less combative, as hierarchies have been formed, and breeding is coming to an end.

Consider a solo hen or jake to target mature gobblers, and remember that hens will most likely be resting during this time. Less is more in the late season. 

Hunter Tips and Advice for Using Decoys

We asked our friend and HuntWise Field Team hunter Travis Hawkins about using turkey decoys successfully when he hunts. Here's what he recommends:

Turkey decoys come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and prices. Most hunters use hen decoys, but you can also toss in a jake or even a strutting tom, depending on what you observe in the field.  I've also taken note of companies making a breeding pair decoy.

While we've recommended some good decoys to consider, in my opinion, any decoy can fool a turkey if used correctly. I'm a minimalist hunter; the less bulk and weight, the better.

Personally, I love the inflatable Cherokee Sports decoys. They are reasonably priced, very realistic, fit into your cargo pants pockets, and have lasted me a good 3-4 seasons. Another favorite of mine is the Strutting Tom made by Flextime. I've combined a real Tom tail fan and wings to mine for that added realism.

Using Decoys Can Be Tricky

Using decoys can be tricky and may require a bit of skill to entice that big tom to close the distance. For relatively thick timber hunting, I never use a decoy. However, if I find myself in more open timber, I'll normally use a single hen decoy.

For fields, you can use a single hen or bring out the whole army!  If I know there is a single tom looking for some magic, then a single hen is usually my pick. If more than one Tom and several hens are there, I like to deploy the whole army. 

When setting up several decoys, a bit of skill is required. I've found that a sole tom/strutter decoy with a few hens works great; placing a few jake decoys off to the side works even better. You can also replace the tom/strutter with a Jake decoy. That has proven to make those old toms angry enough to come in looking for a fight.

Reaping turkeys is known as hiding behind a strutting tom decoy to deceive a tom into believing that you're a real bird. A person can get extremely close to turkeys if done properly, but it requires some patience and proper concealment. I have used this trick in the past to get around groups of jakes and hens that were in a field. I also harvested a mature Tom a few years ago using this technique. 

The best advice that I can give is to take these tips and put them to use. It's often about trial and error. Find out what went right and what went wrong in each situation, and use that to your advantage on your next hunt. 

The Top 5 Turkey Decoys for 2024

So, which decoys should you add to your turkey hunting gear? We've rounded up the top five turkey decoys this season to help you bag a big one. 

1. Best Overall: Montana Decoy Wiley Tom 3D

Price: $129.99

This hybrid strutter is our best overall turkey decoy for the 2024 season. With stunning realism and a collapsible design, it's both convenient and effective in the field. 

This decoy is customizable from a 2D to a 3D design, meaning quick setup on those late mornings and attention to detail in the natural tail, feathers, and eye design. You'll also have the option to attach real feathers and wings to the rear for an extra touch of realism.

2. Best For a Realistic Look: Upright Hen by Dave Smith

Price: $149.95

This posturing hen is an irresistible draw for jealous hens or gobblers when out in the field. Its upright posture makes this decoy more visible.

At only 4 lbs and built with the patented A.C.E technology, it's a durable decoy that will provide season after season of success serving a multi- or single-decoy setup. 

3. Best For Your Budget: Pursuit Foam Turkey Decoy 3-Pack

Price: $34.99

For a multi-decoy setup that won't break the bank, the pursuit foam 3-pack includes one upright hen, one lookback hen, and one relaxed jake, making it irresistible to any tom. 

The lightweight structure, lifelike design, and collapsible foam make this a simple combo for setting up a decoy flock. 

4. Best Jake: Avian-X LCD 1/2 Strut Jake Turkey Decoy

Price: 129.99

Don't let the futuristic name fool you; this jake decoy is as natural as they come. With special attention given to the coloration, posturing, head positioning, and feather detailing, it's expertly crafted to fool even the most weary of toms. 

It's collapsible and made with dura rubber, so it won't crease or bend in your vest or backpack when you're packing.

5. Best Hen: Montana Decoy MissPurrfect XS Turkey Hen

Price: 79.99

Hens are the most commonly used decoys, so you want to make sure you choose a good one!

The MissPurrfect XS is everything you want in a hen decoy. It's customizable, with strong attention to detail in the feather cuts. The stake and strap design reduces wind movement, creating a stronger sense of realism. 

Get Your Bird With HuntWise and the Right Turkey Decoys This Season

Choosing the right decoys is just one part of the turkey hunting puzzle. You'll want to ensure you're setting them in high-trafficked zones where birds are or are likely to be. 

With HuntWise, you can use mapping technology to explore, pinpoint, and target private and public hunting zones, allowing you to pre-scout potential turkey hotspots before the season starts. You can also mark turkey signs and roosts to plot the best spots for your decoys and where to post up or place your ground blind for a successful hunt.

If you don't have the app yet, it's a great time to download it and take advantage of every feature – free for a week!