I just picked up the October/November edition of Bowhunter. They had an article about how to use decoys and how they may seem like a hassle, but the rewards are all worth it. I myself had thought about getting one to try and when I saw that article i had almost made up my mind. However first i wanted to see how many have used a decoy in the bow/rifle/muzzleloader set up. If so did they help? Thanks.

-John

Utah Dept. of Wildlife Services uses them.... to catch poachers. Apparently, it works well. Blast a hole in their decoy, out of season, and it will be the costliest shot you ever took.

John, I used one last year with great results. While I didn't take a trophy, I did harvest a decent 8 pointer. Once he spotted that decoy his eyes never left it. I think I could have danced a jig in my stand and he wouldn't have noticed. Time of year was late oct. about 2-3 weeks prior to rut. Hope that helps.
Chris

Hey John, The guys I hunt with have three decoys. One is simply a Deer drawn on a piece of corrugated box, cut out and 1"x1" legs. The other two are lifesize 3-D models and have removeable antlers, so they can resemble either a Doe or Buck.

We break in a lot of young hunters and use the Decoys a good bit to show how small Deer actualy are and where "proper" bullet placement is to be made.

And, we do hunt with them too. But it depends on the particular Stand, the time of the Season and how much comotion you are willing to make at the spot you intend to hunt. I agree with Chris' comment about the Bucks focusing on the Decoys, but I still encourage as little "slow movement" as possible in getting ready for the shot.

The biggest problem with them is you need to set them up just before you are ready to hunt a specific Stand. If it will be set up out in a "disked" corn field in front of a Stand, then it isn't as big of a problem except for your being in the wide-open to place it and the additional scent you will put on the ground. If you intend to use it inside a woods or swamp, then the walking around and extra scent on the ground has the potential to alert the Deer you are trying to draw in.

When you get through with the hunt, you need to remove the Decoy so as not to allow the Deer to become familiar with it. And then you are putting another dose of human scent on the ground. I know they make "Cover Scents", but the Deer figure them out if your Season is long enough.

Carrying the Decoy can be noisey. People who cry and whine about Synthetic Stocks being noisey when they Klutz into weeds, bushes, limbs, etc. should realize some Decoys are much worse.

So, like most anything else, there are good points and bad points to them. If you try one, try to get one that has a tail that wiggles when a breeze hits it. If you can't find one like that, attach a "Brown" 5"x10" piece of light weight cloth where the tail goes. DO NOT use a "white" cloth since "white" is a warning sign.

...

I'll share a somewhat funny story with you. I had a commitment and told my buddies I'd meet them at the Plantation the next day. And I'd just go to the Weed Field Stand which overlooked a small strip of weeds and then a HUGE Bean field. They said that would be fine and we would all meet after the hunt.

I got down there after lunch and sneaked slowly down a road to the Stand. Got in the Stand, took a general scan of the Field, saw nothing of interest and got everything situated.

After only a couple of minutes, I spotted a Hawk working the edge of a woods directly in front of me. Picked up the 10x50 Wind Rivers and I got so focused on the Hawk that I pretty much forgot I was supposed to be hunting. A few minutes passed and I came back to reality.

As I was s-l-o-w-l-y lowering the binoculars, I spotted the Antlers and a small portion of the back of a nice Buck in the Beans. It was about 150yds away to my left close to a cut-through in the field. Eased the binoculars on down and started getting the rifle ready to go. Wait just a minute, no need to get the rifle completely up and make all that movement because the Buck was "rock solid". No movement at all! Just stood there facing straight ahead!! Dawned on me my Buddies had placed the Decoy over there to FOOL ME!!!

Shaking my head, I eased the rifle back down, never had it into the shoulder. I have some VERY GOOD hunting buddies who will do things like this to get the best of you. Figured telling them which Stand I was going to the night before was all they needed. They just eased down the cut-through, walked in 20yds with the Decoy and left it to get me!!!!

Got the rifle down and then I noticed the Decoy MOVED!!!!! It was a real Buck after all. It was sleeping during the day out in the Beans, stood up to answer the call of nature, took two steps forward and before I could ease the rifle back up, it had laid back down.

Well DUUUuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh!!!!!

Needless to say, that Buck didn't get back up anytime during legal hunting hours.

So, there is one "additional" thing to be concerned about. If you hunt with some REALLY GOOD BUDDIES, don't try to second guess them.

Best of luck with your Decoy.

[ 09-06-2003, 17:30: Message edited by: Hot Core ]

I have set out turkey decoys while deer hunting. I figure they would be an object of curiosity, and they might give me a second or two longer to draw the bow back.

H. C.

Thanks for all the replies. HAHA hotcore thats a great story, sorry you didnt get him. Im gonig to give it a try this year and see if it works!

I have a friend who quit moose hunting because he got tired of carrying his decoy around.

Good luck.

John17 -
I use a decoy as much as I can. There are times when you just can't carry one but if I can carry it its going with me. This year I have had my "Ready Doe" get attacked and pushed around and only Sept. Last year Old Ready Got mounted by a nice buck who ended up breaking her hind legs .
By all means use one.

Back To The Stove
Turtle

BB

quote:

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This year I have had my "Ready Doe" get attacked and pushed around and only Sept. Last year Old Ready Got mounted by a nice buck who ended up breaking her hind legs .

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I hope PETA don't hear that. They'll be teaming up with the woman's rights organizations to fight hunting.

boilerroom -
Don't give them any ideas . Hell I had some ass call the warden because I was carrying a deer under my arm and throwing it into my truck . I used to say "how dumb can you get" well I have the answer now.

I will be going to Wyoming soon for antelope. I heard they sometimes used decoys for these guys too but a decoy and an animal look allot alike at 3 to 400 yards .

Back To The Stove
Turtle