Does your tom decoy have to strut??
 

I have seen some Jake decoys that dont strut and was wondering if you have the same chance of attracting that big tom if your decoy is not in full strut? Will he still come in and pounce on him if hes not strutting? Thanks

I have gotten rid of the full strut and haven't had any problems with just using jakes. I know some people like the full strut decoys and won't use anything else.

I don't think you need to have the decoy strutting. Big old toms don't let jakes near "their" hens. I've had them come in and threaten the jake just because it was in the area. In fact, I've had them come in to threaten a hen decoy that I repainted up to look like a jake. It's just one more thing to sell to turkey hunters. We're suckers for gadgets.

just hens
 

haven't had much luck with jake and tom decoys, i just use hens, if the tom isn't a dominant bird they are less likely to come in.

I just use hen decoys

I have great luck with placing the jake decoy right behind the hen and it drives the Ol Tom's crazy!

I have good luck with a hen and strutting jake. To your question though, I don't think it matters to them that much. Just seeing turkeys where he's hearing calling gets him to commit I think. I only put them out when I'm in a big field or cutover, to keep them from hanging up to far out.......most of the time! Lol!!

I use a fullstrut decoy and hen in the breeding position placed in front. Mostly on field birds. And if I know which way the birds are coming from I face the decoyl in the opposite direction. Especially with a bow. Several of the birds we have taken,were coming in for a sucker punch. They seem to approach a deke when they can't see its head, a little faster. And I like using a decoy late in the season. After those henned up field toms lose their girlfriends. And some areas vary from season to season. I have had longbeards walk away or stay away from decoys. And some longspurred ones too. Good luck this spring.

I don't use decoys much but I did have a tom and jake come into my set up and the jake beat up my jake decoy. I had just a simple jake with no fan.

I never used a full strut Tom, but USPS should be delivering one to me today. I want to give it a shot this season to see what happens.