It's human nature for us to view a decoy from our perspective and think it looks great or looks more realistic to us than another. I agree that turkeys just aren't that smart. I think it's more likely that posture and/or movement are more effective than color or contour of the feathers, etc.

I swore off decoys for years because I believed, and still have a nagging feeling, that in areas with decent populations they make more toms nervous than those they entice. When I stopped using them my success rate increased significantly.

Now on to being the hypocrite that I am...

A couple of years ago I started using them sparingly and shot one of my biggest birds over them so now I'm getting back on the bandwagon. I am a gadget guy like the next, so I keep looking for that golden decoy and buying more, even though I can't say that to date I have found anything that performs any better than the cheap foam ones I started out with. My 2 purchases this winter were:

- "The best turkey decoy ever" Dakota Extreme Jake http://bestturkeydecoy.com/. I know a couple of others personally that have sworn by it, and its supposed claim to fame is its posture. There may be something to it.

- Zink Avian X Feeder https://www.avian-x.com/index.php?op...how&Itemid=331. Admittedly I got it because I think it just looks like a lifelike turkey...I know, I just said it probably doesn't make much of a difference to the turkey!