Decoys?

I hunt in Montague county and for the first time, I’m going to use a decoy. Let me know your thoughts and past experiences on using a decoy? Could a buck target work as a decoy?

that's what I use , works well ! have killed many good bucks using mine . and had some very funny entertainment watching how they react and respond to a decoy . like now with so many acorns on the ground the deer on my place just skirt around the feeders but when I put the decoy out they come in to check it out . good luck just spray his rump and legs with dominate buck sent . and watch the show.

Have wanted to try a decoy for years, I think it is time!

First time I tried one was last year. My father in law found an OLD doe bow decoy in the barn. Rats had gnawed on her. She was in pretty rough shape. He suggested I try it. So I said ok. I went to the stand that afternoon and went and set it upon edge of plot about 50 yards out. I got back to stage and sat down and looked at this hideous object in the plot. I said no way can I hunt with this decoy out there. I felt like a moron. I no sooner than climbed down going to retrieve the decoy when a young buck came charging out if woods towards decoy! I climbed back in stand but I was busted but he still was determined to come closer. He knew it wasn't right (after seeing me) but was totally wanting to check her out. I used it several more times and can say that I'm not sure that it "helped" my hunt but I never had a deer spook over it. Does and bucks both are grabbed by it. They walk up to it. Kinda like ducks and decoys. They no it's not right but they gotta check it out which can you the option of looking for shot. Good luck!

I've never seen any results in person. I had couple of does walk around it, sniffing it, and giving it plenty of room, but they stuck around. I've never seen a buck pay any attention to a decoy. I did leave it out overnight and it was on the ground with it's head and antlers knocked off, but my game camera didn't catch what happened. That only happened once.

I am using my decoy next week.

I hunted with a Flambeau Doe Decoy while bowhunting a long time ago and it worked great. I ended up giving it to my friend and just last year I bough their new Boss Babe Doe Decoy. I also bought a Tail-Wagger motion tail set up for it and it looks great. The tail wags every couple of seconds and next week I will make a scent trail and use a little spray of Team Firzgerald Deer Dander on it and that should get them to come in to the decoy in a more relaxed state of mind. I can’t believe I totally forgot about using Deer Dander. I used to use it back when I did a lot of ground hunting with my recurve and the stuff works great. My buddy has been using the stuff since the 80’s and has taken a lot of deer with his recurve on the ground. The stuff is so darn popular that they are backed up two weeks to get an order out so I ordered some from Cabela’s. Definitely try the stuff and check out the tail-wagger tail motion kit. My buddy up north also uses it and got me to order the kit. Finally going to be able to take it out Thursday. Wish I had ordered the Deer Dander earlier in the season lol.

Here is a quick video of the Come-Alive Tail-Wagger motion decoy kit that I installed on my Flambeau Boss Babe Doe Decoy. I painted the decoys tail white so it doesn’t look like it has two tails and helps the wagging tail stand out better. They suggest that you do that to the decoy in the directions. It’s really simple to install and I just take the battery pack out each time, plug it in, push the wire to the tail motor inside the cavity of the decoy and stake the decoy down. I can’t wait to get out and try it Thursday since my buddy has had good luck using it up north. Hopes this helps anybody thinking about using a decoy while hunting. Also I highly recommend putting the decoy together in the middle of the isle at Bass Pro or where ever you buy it because I had gotten two of them that didn’t fit together right. The guy at Bass Pro told me that he has seen a lot of them get exchanged for that reason.

Here is a short video of the tail connnected to the motor. It’s completely silent and I kicked something in the beginning of the video so it’s not the motor making that noise. I painted the bolt white that holds it to the body. Then there is another area where the hook comes out and connects to the tail. They give you a paper template, the measurements and size drill bits to use to install it. It’s really easy to install and seems to work perfectly. Thursday should be a fun time!