RE: Which Decoy to get
I've been using a set-up of two hens and a jake for years, and it always pays off. The problem with using a dominant-looking strutting tom is if you're down to the nitty gritty and a few weeks into the season, a tom that's had it's arse kicked in by a dominant bird will want nothing to do with a full strutting, tough-looking tom and may stay out of range. A jake will always be inferior to any tom, and if that's what's holding a trophy tom or an even average tom from your dinner plate come go time with little season left to spare, I'd rather not risk it. Just my 2 cents. To me, it's not worth the risk with only 5 days to hunt here in WI. If I had a month or even a few to hunt, I'd probably give it a whirl.
I still carry a shaker-type gobbler call...either way. Last year I called for a buddy and we watched a submissive tom strut around and dismiss our set-up from straight away near a line fence and not close any tighter than 75 yards. He would only show himself and respond when I hit the shaker gobbler. This got the attention of a monster tom that we never saw come up from behind us, and he took a 28 pounder from 15 yards right in front of the blind
Smart old bird was fooled by an average set-up of old dekes, a new Double Bull blind, the gobbler call, and a good bit of being in the right place at the right time.