Originally Posted by JW

How close can you get to where they land?
Is there enough cover for you to hide.
You do need to sit comfortably as it might be a long wait.
Once down what direction do the hens go? Most times the Tom surely follows.

I have been known to go sit in the dark several hours before flydown.
When I do I wont make one call till I hear a hen. The Tom can gobble all he wants. But when he is in the tree, I refrain from calling until he is on the ground.

I'd spend the time looking for travel consistency, that is the common path traveled and then go sit that area.

Couple things to keep in mind.
On cold mornings the strut zone usually is in a sunny location (east facing) area as that warms up first as the sun comes up.
Always keep the sun to your back.
Dont sit in a Bush. Make sure you have shotgun barrel swing easily and unblocked.
Use a cushion as the longer you are sitting comfortably the longer you can be still and motionless.

Decoys,
One decoy might be too many.
If need be I'd start with 2. One feeding and one at attention.
Dont group your decoys tightly.
Grouped birds are nervous birds. Spread your decoys out a bit. Take note of what the real hens do and follow that set up.

I'm not a Jake fan. I have used them but IMO it's the Posture of the decoy that counts. Aggressive attentive looking Jake's will scare sub dominant Tom's away or stop them out of range.
I'm sure others gave tips that have worked for them.

I'm always scouting. Trick is ask yourself why was that bird there?
And in my notes I see a tom in the same general area twice , well the hunt is on.


JW