how many of you use deer decoys? and do they realy help if your set up on a deer trail? or is it better to use them when off a trail? just wondering.

Tried it last fall for the first time, first I used a mckenzie doe target in a food plot in early season, had some does come in and check it out. They were nervous at first but once they circled around head on they walked right up to it. Tried it in the rut one time and had an 8 point chase a doe right past it and stop to come back to check it out but he stayed about 15 yds from and stared at it for a while then went back to his doe. Ill have a better decoy this season, Im convinced thet will hild a bucks attetion for a period of time.

Same deal here. I used a Mckenzie doe target as well with mixed results. On several occasions I had deer walk right into it while on others they seemed wary and gave it a wide berth. I plan on continuing to experiment with it in the upcoming season.

i have used deer decoys for the last couple of seasons early in the bow season just to make observations. i hunt winter rye planted green fields in a makeshift branch and tree blind. what i have found out is that doe-s always circle around trying to figure out whats going on. they stamp there feet and snort sometimes to try to get a reaction. fawns will sometimes run in but always stay 30 yards out. i have tried both types of decoys. the standing and the feeding. the feeding one always brings them in closer. i think that it puts them at ease and when the deer try to get my decoys attention and my decoy seems busy feeding without picking its head up the deer seem to get use to the decoy and begin to feed themselves but always at a good distance away from it. so my set up is to put the decoy almost down at one end of a field and i set up a blind down the long side of the field 70 or 80 yards from the decoy. hunting on top of the decoy will not give you a shot . never had a buck just walk right out. i have had them come out and just look on the wood line grunt a little then leave. also i would use one of those tail wag battery powered kits or a tissue taped to it because if there is no motion the deer seem to get spooked or leave. just my experience

Someone said they were going to pour doe pee all over DavidMil and set him out there[>:] . Do you think that will work?

one guy at work told me a couple drops of doe in heat in his cup of tea in the morning worked for him because everytime he took a pee he was leaving a scent for the deer. dont try this at home!

I' ve used my Carry-Lite decoy, set up as a buck,
several times over the last few years with
mixed results. I usually put a few drops of
buck urine on the ground under the decoy and
tape a couple small strips of garbage bag to
the ears and tail, to add some realism in the
wind. Have yet to have a bruiser see my decoy,
can' t wait ' til it happens. A couple of different
times I' ve had smaller bucks chasing does, see
my decoy and hang back, avoiding any
confrontation with the ' new buck in the area' [].
Last year I had a dink approach my decoy from
a couple hundred yards, though his body was
twice the size of my decoy' s. As he approached,
I could see the hair on his back standing up. He
came in stiff legged and postured all around my
decoy[>:].....passing the downwind side, right
between my decoy and my stand at about 15
yards. It was quite a show and his total
attention was on the decoy, if there is such
a thing as a ' easy shot' in bowhunting...this
would have been it...lucky for him he wasn' t
a couple years older.

All that said.....what a pain in the butt getting
that thing out to my stand and set up[:@].
Since 90% of the time I pack my stand in,
along with my LW climbing sticks, I' m not
sure it' s worth all the trouble.


TB

I' ve heard doe decoys dont work as well as Buck decoys especially during the rut. Any buddy work with buck decoys alot?

I' ve been using deer decoys in various forms for over 15 years. I started out with McKenzie targets (too heavy to carry), to outline forms, to what I use today (Flambeau feeders). I have used toilet paper taped on to cause motion, to strings tied to a make-shift tail, to what I use today on my Flambeau - a tail-wagger.

Learning how, when and where to set them up has been an experience. Seeing the reaction of different deer can be quite interesting. My son and I watched a nice 8 pointer act crazy for about 1/2 hour last year. But, he stayed at least 60 yards away from the decoy and all the time making noises at the decoy. This happened last summer well before the season. Once the season started, we never saw him again.

One basic hint I will give is this. If you know the path of travel of the deer in your area, set it up BEYOND your stand so that the deer have to go past you to see it. Once they see it, their attention will be focused for a while and put them off-guard to your presence and movement for the shot.

Advice. Don' t expect to draw in BIG bucks with a decoy. It may happen once in a while; but, he didn' t get that BIG being dumb.

i agree its a pain to get the decoy out to the area and here in new jersey you have to cover it in orange which i agree but is also a pain. as far as set up its just like turkey hunting with a partner you want the caller a ways behind you. with the decoy you want to be on the path to it. thats why i set up 70 yards from it in an open field.in the winter bow season it overlaps with the muzzleloader season so you have to be careful.one time i hunted a field with a muzzleloader hunter in it and i used the decoy. we set up ground rules as to if the deer come out of a certain part of the field one would be givin first chance. he loved my decoy but we didnt see anything that day.