The NWTF Convention & Sport Show in Nashville, Tennessee is the place to be for all things turkey hunting. The annual event is a lot like a family reunion as turkey hunting friends and family gather from across the country to join in on all the festivities and see what the sport show has to offer in the latest turkey hunting gear. It was there we caught up with old friends, and met some new ones, that introduced us to some of the best of the best in turkey gear for 2019. After several days of cruising the aisles at this year’s show and digging deeper into new turkey gear on the market, we compiled our list of the best turkey gear for 2019. Here’s a closer look at what we found.
The best of the best in turkey gear can be found at the NWTF Show.
Avian-X HDR Jake
The newest decoy from Avian-X delivers Heavy Duty Realism in a really unique concept for 2019. The first of its kind, the HDR Jake features an interchangeable head design to give you two head postures allowing you to customize your setup. You can present an aggressive posture, or a more laid back submissive posture with the quick change of the heads. The decoy also has rubber molded legs with authentic spur detail. It’s a durable blow-molded design for longer life to ensure plenty of days in the field.
www.avian-x.com / $149.99
Avian-X offers a unique concept for 2019 with their new HDR Jake decoy with interchangeable heads.
Lucky Duck Lucky HD Field Strutter
Lucky Duck unleashes a strutting turkey decoy for 2019 with their new Lucky HD Collapsible Field Strutter. The decoy features an ultra-realistic look designed to push the dominant tom to make a move. It features a collapsible design for easy transport and packing. It’s built from durable EVA plastic for long life and includes a removable folding fan that can also be swapped out for a real turkey fan.
www.luckyduck.com / $79.99
Lucky Duck decoys aren’t just for waterfowl hunters anymore!
Higdon Turkey Decoys
Higdon Decoys has introduced their new lineup of turkey decoys for 2019 with their all new Higdon Hard Body Series. The line includes the Hard Body ¼ Strut Jake, Hard Body Laydown Hen, Hard Body Feeder Hen and Hard Body Upright Hen. Higdon’s goal with these new decoys is simplicity, realism, and toughness. They feature a one-piece body design with integrated stake storage. They boast XHD Hyper Feathering for incredible realism. They’re built to handle any abuse you dish out with their lightweight and durable hard body design. They also feature a universal stake motion system to bring your decoy to life.
www.higdondecoys.com / $49.99 – $79.99
Higdon’s new turkey decoys were a big hit at this year’s NWTF show.
DSD Jake Strutter
Dave Smith, co-owner of Dave Smith Decoys (DSD), says their new Jake Strutter was designed to give turkey hunters more options in the field. He’s quick to point out that its effectiveness is not necessarily because it’s a jake. They’ve had incredible success with their original strutter decoy. But the jake decoy came on the scene in an effort to present a smaller decoy option for DSD fans. “We still have people that are deathly afraid to use our full size strutter,” says Smith. “Like it’s just so massive and birds will run in terror at the very sight of it.” Regardless, DSD is making more options to keep every hunter happy. The new jake is lighter, faster, and less of a threat.
www.davesmithdecoys.com / $199.95
The new DSD Jake Strutter (right) was designed to be a smaller, less intimidating option than the original strutter decoy.
Montana Decoys Wiley Tom Decoy
The newest offering from Montana Decoy is the Wiley Tom strutting decoy. It was designed for the turkey hunter that enjoys the reaping style of decoying turkeys. The beauty of this decoy is its lightweight design, making it incredibly portable compared to other strutter decoys. The Wiley Tom allows you to use your own tail and wing feathers for added realism without sacrificing portability. The decoy can fold with or without your feathers in place for extra protection. You can use it hand-held or stake it to the ground. It truly is a versatile strutting decoy.
www.montanadecoy.com / $89.99
The Wiley Tom decoy delivers a new player for putting the sneak on turkeys this spring.
onX Hunt
onX Hunt mapping is nothing new, but they are adding more and more technology with each passing year to make the smartphone app one every turkey hunter should have in his or her phone. It’s a pretty genius system that quickly and easily tells you where you stand as you explore new ground for hunting. You can size and scale property, find landowner information and so much more.
www.onxmaps.com / $29.99-$99.99
Navigating the turkey woods is much easier with onX.
HS Strut Slingblade and Cookie Cutt’R Turkey Calls
HS Strut introduced two new turkey calls for 2019 with the Slingblade single-sided box call and their new Cookie Cutt’R slate call. The Slingblade is constructed of a solid billet of American Walnut with an exotic Purple Heart lid. It has just one striking side, with a simple open-close operation for easy use. It ‘s pretty much fool proof.
www.hunterspec.com / $34.99
The company’s new Cookie Cutt’R call enables beginner turkey hunters to quickly and easily mimic the sounds of a turkey with a tracer lid that guides the striker for the caller. You simply follow the cut-out lid to make realistic turkey sounds. Once you get the hang of it, you can remove the lid and use it like a standard slate call. It’s a great option for a beginner or season turkey hunter.
www.hunterspec.com / $19.99
HS Strut makes learning to call turkeys for beginners a breeze for 2019 with their new Cookie Cutt’R pot call.
Bone Collector Turkey Calls
The Bone Collector crew jumped into the turkey call business for 2019 with a variety of new options for a medley of springtime turkey sounds. They’ve got everything from slate and glass pot calls, box calls, push-pull calls, mouth calls and more. These American made calls were designed to give turkey hunters a realistic sound at an affordable price.
Bone Collector jumps into the call market for 2019 with a complete lineup of calls for the turkey hunter.
Primos Foggy Bottom Frictionite Pot Call
These slick new calls have the looks to kill with their Mossy Oak Bottomland camo design, but also sound really good too. The frictionite surface is being re-introduced for 2019, offering a very responsive and sharp calling surface that has been one of the deadliest of calls in the past for turkey hunters across the country.
www.primos.com / $24.99
The Foggy Bottom pot call with Frictionite delivers more realism as you mimic the sounds of a springtime hen turkey.
Primos Foggy Bottom Snuff Tube Call
Primos re-introduces its old school Snuff Tube Call for 2019. It’s back by popular demand! The call comes in the popular Mossy Oak Original Bottomland camo pattern. It’s one of the most versatile turkey calls you’ll ever find, with the ability to reproduce a medley of turkey sounds, including clucks, cuts, yelps, and gobbles. The call design pairs the molded tube and reed to ensure a perfect fit and reed tension for making all the sounds you want to mimic in the spring turkey woods.
www.primos.com / $15.99
The old-school snuff tube style call is back for 2019.
Banded Air Turkey Vest
Banded offers more than just killer waterfowl gear. They continue to raise the bar in their lineup of turkey gear as well. A good example is their new Air Turkey Vest. It’s a ultra-lightweight vest that’s built with quiet, brushed tricot construction. The straps are built tough, with military grade webbing that wear smooth and solid on the shoulders without slipping and sliding. The vest also features a mud-proof padded seat that flips up and down quick and easy to keep you comfortable as you wait out your bird. It’s got all pockets you’ll ever need for organizing your calls and gear, as well as a large pocket on the backside for your decoys, blind, or your dead bird on the walk out. Best yet, the blind weighs in at just 1.5 pounds.
www.banded.com / $89.99
The new Banded Air Turkey Vest is super light, yet has all the storage space you need for calls and gear.
Primos SurroundView Stakeout Blind
The thing that immediately caught our attention with this blind is its compact design. It can easily fold up in seconds and stashed down in the back of an oversized turkey vest game pocket. It’s a great option for run-n-gun style turkey hunting action where you still want coverage for drawing your bow or hiding other movement. The blind features the new SurroundView technology that delivers one-way see through walls for better visibility and no blind spots. The two-hub design keeps the blind sturdy yet easy to setup and break down in seconds.
www.primos.com / $112
The new Primos SurroundView Stakeout blind is lightweight and small enough to pack in your turkey vest for the ultimate run-n-gun blind setup.
If you haven’t checked out our walk-through of the 2019 NWTF Convention & Sport Show, give it a look in the video below…
Best Turkey Gear for 2019 – Conclusion
Be sure to give the items mentioned in our Best Turkey Gear for 2019 guide above a look this season as you prepare to hit the woods in pursuit of springtime turkeys. The season will be here before you know it! Comment below and let us know what gear you’ll be using this season.
