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Using a decoy

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Adventure

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Question for anyone with experience...
I am going out for a long afternoon/ evening sit on Friday and have the opportunity to take a decoy. I will be hunting a pinch point tree stand next to a open field.
Since I have never used a decoy for deer just looking for a life advice. Is it worth using this time of the year? Should it be facing me (similar to turkey)? Should I leave the antlers on (buck) or take them off and call it a doe? How far should it be from my stand? Etc.
Any help would be great.
 
I have only used a decoy a handful of times but i have had some pretty good luck when i did. I always quarter the decoy toward me 25-30 yards out. That way if a buck does commit he will generally face the decoy giving you a quartering away shot under 25 yards. Hard to beat that!!!
 
Yes! This is the best time of year to start using a decoy. I shot one of my biggest bucks a couple of years ago using one. I face the buck right at you. This way if a buck is coming in he will turn to face the buck and you should get a broadside shot. Leave the horns on him. Bucks are starting to fight right now since there are very few does in heat yet. They are running other bucks out of there area. Good Luck!!!
 
Another key when using a decoy is to make it be visible from a distance for at least a couple of reasons. 1. A buck can come to a decoy from quite a ways, at least over a hundred yards in my experience, when they see it. 2. If a buck is "surprised" by a decoy that it cannot see until it is in tight to your setup then he will often spook and exit the scene quickly and you may well not get a shot off. This is one reason why field setups are better than timber setups when using a decoy.

So make sure they can see it at a distance and one other key point...it has been my experience that the standard soft call of "mrrrp" or "baahh" to stop a deer just prior to a shot will NOT work when a buck is just about ready to slam a decoy.

Normally they are doing the stiff legged walk at this point, perhaps even sideways, but then when they are about 6-10 feet from the decoy they will charge it violently and often scatter all of the parts in every direction! I suspect they are so focused on ramming the intruder and anticipating a fight that they do not hear the soft calls to stop them.

So, either be prepared for a moving(walking) shot, which even at a close in 10-15 yard range can really lead to hitting them "back" much further than is preferred. Or I have stopped them with a very loud whistle or yell and since they are by that time so close, about 10 yards, I have had not had a a problem with them string jumping.

I hope that made sense, it goes against most our normal routines when we are preparing for a shot at a buck. Good luck, it is an awesome and memorable way to bag a a nice buck and as others have said...the time is right now for that tactic.

Also, I have normally placed the decoy about 15 yards away from my stand, pointing towards me at a slight angle. Whether you go for a straight on or slight angle, make sure it is pointing your way. One buck will almost approach another buck face on, so if your decoy is looking at you, then a decoyed buck will give you a close in, facing away slightly or broadside shot at about 10 yards.
 
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I've used a doe decoy for a few years!! Love it!! Had a coyote stalk it from 140 yards! Had 4 bucks circling like indians on a wagon train! Had bucks run to it! And it keeps their attention off you!!! :way:
 
Thanks for ther advice guys. I just picked up a doe decoy this year and have no experience using them so this was perfect. Do you face a doe towards you as well?
 
meyeri said:
Thanks for ther advice guys. I just picked up a doe decoy this year and have no experience using them so this was perfect. Do you face a doe towards you as well?
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IMO, no, face a doe decoy away from you as bucks will most likely approach a doe decoy from the rear...for reasons that I think you can come up with on your own! :D

Another thing I thought of...I am pretty sure there are various Youtube videos of hunters with buck decoys out, watch some of those to get a better idea of what is likely to happen when you are decoy hunting.
 
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Daver said:
IMO, no, face a doe decoy away from you as bucks will most likely approach a doe decoy from the rear...for reasons that I think you can come up with on your own! :D

Another thing I thought of...I am pretty sure there are various Youtube videos of hunters with buck decoys out, watch some of those to get a better idea of what is likely to happen when you are decoy hunting.
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Yep, love the videos of decoys either being smashed/scattered, or bred. Hopefully I can do a couple decoy hunts this year too.
 
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