Dude, we have had some amazing luck with decoys!!! I just busted a doe last week that came into the decoy. She was running across the field, I grunted, and she came straight in toward the decoy. I busted her at 20 yds. Had I not been using it she would have moved right out of the field. Last year I missed the biggest buck I've ever seen in my life...I'd say 170-180 class 12 pt. It came right in to the decoy. I was in a ground blind behind a fence corner with an 8 pt decoy at 20 yds in the field. The buck came out of the woods and walked straight up to the decoy and squared up with it nose to nose. I let my arrow fly and my arrow scraped the top of the fence and flew right over his back. So I got to watch him run off and out of my life forever. The day before that I had a shooter 8 pt moving in toward it but I wasn't paying attention and he caught my movement in the blind before I saw him. Otherwise I am 100% confident he would have walked right up to it. The best time to use them is the rut obviously. It will scare off some smaller bucks and some does but the mature bucks that are protecting their area will be PISSED its there. We have shot 2 nice 8 pts, and a 10 pt that came into the decoy. Try it out. I personally have never seen it scare a nice buck off. You will really enjoy watching how deer respond to it. Regardles if they come in or not it definitely sparks their curiosity. And sometimes their curiosity gets them into trouble. We will usually do some rattling. When the bucks come in to find the fight they see they decoy and feel it's safer to enter the field. Also as far as scent goes, I just spray it down with scent spray when I put it out then pour a little extrus urine on the ground near it. When another buck smells doe estrus near another buck it doesn't make him happy. One of the best hunting gimmics I've ever used by far. Take a camera too because the deer you don't want to shoot will put on a pretty good show trying to get it to move.