Deer Decoys

[Buffdaddy]

I'm an amateur hunter and curious as to how effective deer decoys are, and do you leave them out or put them out the day of your hunt? My guess is bucks, are better decoys during the rut? Any information would be great thanks

[Windwalker7]

Put them out the day you hunt.

I used a McKenzie deer target (made it aDoe without the antlers attached) with doe-in-heat scent during the rut, a few times. We painted it up to make it a bit more realistic. White on belly, around tail and on ears and face. Glossy black on eyes and nose.

We drilled a large hole near the tail and inserted a 35mm film canister. Put a cotton ball in there and soaked it with the doe-in-heat scent. Snap the lid on the canister when not in use.

If you find a small field where you've observed bucks chasing does in the late afternoon, this is a good place to set up the decoy.

Bucks will approach a doe decoy from the rear but will approach a buck decoy head on. So, set up accordingly to get that angling away shot.