Okay I'm going turkey hunting in two weeks.  IT will  be my first time out.
I was told to get some decoys so I got three...two hens and a tom.
Is there a particular way to place these decoys?  I'm guessing within my shotgun range but anything else?

upright in a group.  

in all seriousness, I usually put two somewhat near each other (3-5 feet spread), with the 3rd about twice that distance away; the whole thing 20-30 yards out in front of me.

The tom may scare off jakes that feel intimidated.  If you're trying to take any turkey you can get, you might not have him out there (though with everything else, results may vary, so just experiment).  Personally, I like an alert hen, a feeding hen, and a jake, but you can get by with whatever you want.  Biggest thing is a locator call so you know there are turkeys in the area, then you need to be able to make a few turkey sounds to bring them in.

best of luck!