Decoys can definitely be useful and are a good tool to have access to.
When is the best time to use a decoy?
Decoys can work at any time depending on the situation but most of our success is found during the rut. We typically use them in very specific situations. On the majority of our hunts we don’t use any decoys. However, they worked well on a high percentage of hunts over the past 5 years, especially in conjunction with calling.
When calling without decoys, you need to be conscious of hang-up spots for approaching deer. If you have a decoy are calling though, bucks are less likely to hang up since they are more likely to see it and commit if they’re interested. Just make sure you get the decoy in a position that is visible to the deer near your setup. We tend to be more aggressive with our calling when a decoy is involved because it reduces the risk of bucks getting downwind. The first instinct of a buck when he hears the calling is to approach downwind (as discussed earlier) unless he sees the buck before he gets there. In which case he may decide to approach it and circle downwind of the decoy instead of your location. Often this brings bucks right into the “kill zone” between you and the decoy and affixes their attention on it so you can get drawn and make a good shot. Sounds easy enough right?
Sometimes decoys help and sometimes they do the opposite. Let’s get into some scenarios and tips for using decoys.
Placement
We tend to face decoys away from us and place it in the most visible position to the deer. We also try to place it within 20 yards of our setup, but there are tons of opinions out there so find what works for you.
Best Areas for Decoy Setups
Decoys can work anywhere but we’ve had the best luck in open terrain. The wind is always the most important factor. Ideally, we’d prefer the wind to be blowing from the decoy back towards our setup. Now let’s cover a scenario.
You’re set up for an evening hunt near a food source where you expect several deer to come past your location before the end of legal light. Mature bucks often come out last after small bucks, does, and fawns exit the bedding area. If you’re waiting for a mature buck, then the best scenario for you is to get all those other deer past your stand without alerting them. We’ve used decoys in situations like this and had it backfire because does came out early and were spooked by it. This is especially risky in areas with high deer densities and in locations where most of the deer are already coming by the stand. We’ve had much better results setting up away from the high concentration of deer and calling them to the decoy.
(Here is a video example of a decoy backfiring.)
Setup Conclusions
Use decoys and calling in conjunction with one another to create realism. Identify the setups where decoys could work and where they could hurt. As you’ve seen in these examples, open areas where bucks can see the decoy and be called to appear to work best. Most of our successful hunts over a decoy have very few deer in bow range. Often the only deer in range on the hunt is the buck we called to. In contrast, feeding areas with a high concentration of deer tend to yield more negative results as many non-target deer are coming by the decoy at close range increasing odds that they’ll get nervous and alert the mature bucks following behind.
