Question is it better to use a lot of decoys?

Not always ... sometimes a lonesome hen is best other times a strutter with a couple hens works better. All situation dependent.

Usually when I see them there groups of about 10 so I was thinking maybe it would look more realistic

Ya just gotta play with it man. Trial and error is the best way to learn with turkeys man.

Alright we'll I appreciate

You bet

I prefer no decoys at all when i hunt. keeps the gobblers lookin and have had several shy away from the dekes.

It is a chess game, i carry two hens a jake & a strutting tom, if the bird is hot I throw up a hen and the jake to piss him off, if the tom is kinda luke warm I throw up the two hens and the strutting tom it will drive the other tom crazy and bring him in no two days are the same just have one of each

I`ve had longbeards shy away from jake decoys. If you have a good group of jakes on your property they will gang up on an ole tom and whoop him down I`ve seen it happen. usually early part of the season it is good to use strutting tom decoy but as the season get`s going and they have hens with them they usually try to avoid confrontation because no need to fight if you already have a lady with ya, and then it is usually best to use a single hen to make her look dominant and try calling the hen to you instead of the gobbler, or no decoy at all. Later part of the season can be good for the strutter too when most of the hens have already been bread and the gobblers are still looking for active hens. You just have to observe what the birds are doing before you hunt them. I don`t hunt at my feeders during turkey season but I keep my trail cameras going so I can check them the night before I hunt and this tells me what the birds are doing. I used to just go out the evening before my morning hunt and watch for them without calling to see if they were with hens or not but trail cameras have changed everything.

It really depends on what part of the season you are in and how the bird you are after is acting. I usually only carry a jake and hen, and my hunting buddy usually just has a hen. We don't set decoys out every time, but if we do its probably just a hen or the hen and jake. I definitely wouldn't try to set up a herd of turkey decoys!

3 is the most I have ever used, 2 hens and one jake or 3 hen's. Lots of the time no decoys or a single hen work. Depends on the setup and sometimes things workout sometimes they don't.

If you use no decoys won't that make him alert when your calling when he's coming in close?

In my neck of the woods, the Toms really shy from decoys. It's like they know it is a decoy. It's always been best without decoys. They just keep looking for that hen.

It'll keep him scanning looking when he comes in... they can even hang up on you. Not always but it happens. Putting a decoy out gives him something to concentrate on when he shows up.

I've killed at least 20 gobblers and none were when I had a decoy out. Its not that I haven't tried using them, its just that they always seem too close before I get a chance to throw one out or they get hung-up too far out.

Another thing to remember is to be careful not to call too loud. Always start quiet and work your way up. When I get one coming in I only call when he looks like he's thinking "where is that hen?" and then I keep it barely audible. A quiet purr drives 'em wild when they get close.

All this information has been great. Not just in this thread but in the "calling patterns" and "1st turkey season" as well. Thanks to everyone for the help...beginner turkey hunter here hunting my first season on my own this spring.

Looking forward to it. Going out to do my first scouting trip this evening, mostly just to get my bearings of the WMA. So much property!

If hunting a WMA the roost if it is available very well could be big trees in standing water. I know the Eastern birds in Mississippi love that combination for roosting