anyone have much luck using one early in the season?

I have tried it a few times and it seemed to make thedeer very nervous. The does more so. It did take any ill fated attention off of me though. I was using a doe decoy and a few folks have told me to try a buck decoy early in the season.

A buck decoy can instill territorial instincts in a buck.Face the decoy into the direction you expect a buck to come from,offering you a good shot. Use a small antlered decoy as a large one may cause the buck to shy away from a fight. Removing one antler sometimes works cuz the buck may think he has an advantage.

Really don't think it do that much good at the first two to three weeks of the season.
I would wait until the last week of Oct. and into the first two weeks of Nov. to use a decoy.
Alot of hunters know about the Oct. lull when deer activity is kinda slow , if you do use one try the feeding or bedded doe first.
In the first two weeks of Nov. I would try to use a buck decoy then and don't forget to keep your decoy sent free of human order.
When setting up your decoy you should place them in a open space close to trails , feeding areas or close to bedding areas.
Use sents on your decoys like doe pee , tarsel gland and deer dander , those help seal the deal.

I've had mixed results. One timemy doe decoymade a group of does and yearlings come and bed down around it, and one time it made a young 8-point nervous and eventually spooked him. He never approached it. Those are my only 2 experiences.

I have not had any luck with them personally. I was very careful regarding scent when setting them up.

I tried the flat decoys once. A buck and several doe were very nervous around it, especially when they walked around it. They couldn't see it straight on but when they got to the side they almost jumped out of their skin.

I also tried a full size doe/buck decoy. Didn't have any luck with it with or without the antlers on it. I used scent on it and even tried a strip of white cloth attached to it's butt.

I have heard of others having good results with them.

i used one last year later in the season and had a buck ride my buck decoy, just a young one but he still tried it. I'd probably use it with antlers but I'm just a lil leary about using it this early in the season.