I have two different setups I run depending on the situation I think I’m going to be in. My main setup is two hens and a jake. This is a pretty standard setup. Typically like the decoys about 20 yards from me. I like to place the jake slightly facing towards me and the hens facing away from me. I don’t think this is a huge deal, but from my experience a mature tom will approach a jake from the front and hens from behind. So I try to place my decoys in such a way that if I do get one of those nice tail fan displays right in the decoys, I can move my gun into position while his head is behind his tail fan. This strategy has only really made a difference on one bird so far – so take it for what it is.
My other setup is just the two hens minus the jake. I use this in situations where I know the birds are henned up big time -- so my only chance is going to be getting the lead hen to come to me. In this situation I will call aggressively and try to piss the hen off enough to come looking for a fight. I don’t want a jake decoy in this situation because it might make the lead hen not want to come in. I also use this setup if I see that birds are hesitant to come into the decoys, sometimes, even though it’s only a jake… I’ll have birds hang up or act cautiously towards my jake decoy. Sometimes gobblers are wusses (or must have gotten the living crap beaten out of them earlier in the season).
So either way, my main strategy is to bring my jake decoy with me and let the situation dictate on whether I set it out or not. Cautious bird seemed to not like the jake decoy? Time to pull it! Didn’t get that henned up bird in the morning? Well, time to set out the jake decoy and hope to get him jealous when the girls leave him. I also will say I have gotten birds much much closer since I made the switch from cheaper foam decoys to more realistic Avian-X’s. If you go through the effort to wear a ghillie suit, face mask, etc etc because you know turkeys have amazing eyesight, you’re doing yourself a disservice using an unrealistic decoy. I used foam decoys for years and killed birds over them, but I will say I noticed a huge difference when I made the switch. Now if I could only afford some DSD’s haha.
It's a good question and I'm curious to see what others have to say as well.