Dave Smith Decoys are no secret in the turkey hunting world, but they've now upped their game with the new Mating Motion Pair.
Google "turkey decoys" and you will find a ton of different options. Just like anything, there are often different tiers of quality to choose from. After a few hunts with the new Mating Motion Pair from Dave Smith Decoys, though, I can honestly say these are the Cadillacs of turkey decoys.
If you aren't familiar with Dave Smith Decoys, you should get on that. While you'll find these decoys to be a bit more on the pricy side, you don't see many decoys that look this realistic or move this convincingly. When you purchase a quality product, you want something with both effectiveness and longevity, and that's exactly what you get with this product.
If you take turkey hunting seriously, investing in DSD is a no-brainer in my opinion.
Here's why the new Mating Motion Pair is a great place to start:
Mating Motion Pair
The new Mating Motion Pair is extremely simple. These decoys helped me bring down my first longbeard ever with a bow on a recent hunt, and in a lot of ways, they were the only reason I even harvested a bird.
The Mating Motion Pair combo pack comes with a jake decoy, a fanned-out hen, a ground stake, a jerk chord and a handle, two ringlet screws and two camouflage carry bags with shoulder straps. Surprisingly, these bags and decoys are incredibly light and fit well in the back of your truck cab.
This groundbreaking new set of decoys accurately replicates a jake in the act of mounting a hen. After setup, you simply tug on the jerk cord to simulate the young gobbler as he gyrates on top of his receptive hen. Then, just watch one longbeard after another lose its mind in a fit of rage. Here is a short clip of the pair in action:
The hand-operated motion system is simple, effective and legal in all 50 states. Like all DSDs, these decoys are lightweight, quiet and constructed out of legendary A.C.E. Technology. They can withstand a shotgun blast or a broadhead with little to no visible wear to the surface and no effect to the decoy's shape. Completely made in the U.S., these decoys are all hand-crafted and painted by Dave himself. You almost have to see them to understand just how realistic they look.
At first, I was afraid of setup time. I often like to run and gun, and thinking of extra time getting set up wasn't something I wanted to deal with. But, it's incredibly simple to set up and not time-consuming enough to mess up a hunt. If you feel like you don't have time, simply throw the decoys up without setting up the jerk rig, but the motion is what will drive those toms absolutely nuts.
Below is a quick video of me setting up the jerk rig for the Mating Motion Pair in no time. Sorry for the sound, as it was a bit windy, but you do get a great depiction of the simplicity. First, place the screws at each end of the hen. Then, run the jerk chord through the rings and the groove on the bottom of the hen, stake the Jake on top and attach the chord to the jakes fan. Then let the magic begin.
My First Test
My season recently opened up in Illinois, and I was itching to kill a longboard with a bow because I'd never tried it before. I was getting trail camera photos of a tom alone on the edge of a field, so I figured I'd take a crack at it.
I trekked in early that morning with a ground blind, my bow and the Mating Motion Pair. I was hoping that only having a jake and not a tom decoy would be the right answer for the day. After getting set up and running the jerk rig to my ground blind, I patiently waited.
Finally, after about two hours in, I hear a bird hammer on the hill behind me. I begin to call and he cuts me off, and I just knew it was game over. But after a few gobbles, he'd moved off somewhere else. After about 20 minutes of no sign or sound of this tom, I begin to jerk the chord to hopefully catch his attention if he somehow happened to be within sight.
After a few minutes and almost giving up, out of nowhere this tom comes sprinting into my field of view without a gobble to the Mating Motion Pair. I honestly believe if I hadn't had the motion of the decoys, I wouldn't have seen that gobbler.
The moment happened in a flash and I reached up and started recording with my camera. Unfortunately, I believe the tom saw my camera lens flash from the sun hitting it, and it caused him to putt and run off as you can see in the video. But luckily enough, he stopped at 20 yards and looked back at the decoys and began to strut again. I released the arrow and connected on my first archery turkey!
It was a hunt I'll never forget as long as I live. And, I can honestly say it came down to the decoys. If you take turkey hunting seriously, save up a little more cash this month and make the purchase. I guarantee you won't regret having the Mating Motion Pair in your turkey hunting arsenal.
NEXT: HUNTERS PULL OFF CRAZY TURKEY TRIPLE
