If decoys worked all the time, everyone would use them. They work often enough to be great entertainment, and you will get to see buck behavoirs otherwise difficult to observe. Do not ever use them if you want to harvest a doe. I've been using them for ~14 yrs, and have taken some nice bucks withtheir assistance. However, some equally nice bucks got nervous at them, and I have otherwise lost some golden opportunities (, the local whitetail known as the "mulie" is forever etched in my mind, ). There is no one tactic or technique that works all the time, but you should certainly add decoys to your repertoire. I still use mine - set up a carrylite buck "tending"a flambeau doe - a passing buck in pre-rut will find it hard not toinvestigate the pair in the pre-rut... ditto on the toilet tissue or use a feather to give some movement.
-fsh