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Decoy
Nov 2, 2020 14:09:51 GMT -6
Post by terrifictom on Nov 2, 2020 14:09:51 GMT -6
Anyone use a deer decoy yet this year ?
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Decoy
Nov 2, 2020 14:38:46 GMT -6
Post by Catscratch on Nov 2, 2020 14:38:46 GMT -6
Nope, but it's close to time for me.
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Decoy
Nov 2, 2020 15:28:54 GMT -6
Post by Bwoods11 on Nov 2, 2020 15:28:54 GMT -6
I probably will in Iowa next weekend. There are 2 spots that I think it would work well. The bucks have to get more active. Too warm and not really rutting much yet.
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Decoy
Nov 2, 2020 18:05:38 GMT -6
Post by jbird on Nov 2, 2020 18:05:38 GMT -6
Not yet...but I will. Even in gun season I like to use one to bring them closer to me. I like them pre-rut to use a buck, come the rut I prefer a doe decoy. I just use a 3D foam archery target with some white plastic bag material for ears and a tail for movement. Great way to pull them into shooting range in the wide open areas. I have used them to pull bucks out into the open...or to pull them in from distances I wasn't comfortable shooting at. Does don't like a buck decoy...but freak out over another doe decoy in my experiences.... I love watching a stiff legged buck come in with his ears laid back ready to beat some ass!! Once they lock-on....it's like they are on a string....
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 18:07:53 GMT -6
Post by kooch on Nov 29, 2020 18:07:53 GMT -6
We all make a big deal about undetected access to our stands. I make a point of not walking out into my plots in the month prior or during the deer season, unless I'm off to collect a dead deer. Or, if it's late in the season and I'm just over trying to be sneaky, I'll go out there and have a look.
Anyway, putting a decoy out there means walking out into the middle of the plot and plopping this thing out there at the beginning of the hunt, then collecting it at the end. I feel like the decoy is best used during the rut, to slow down a traveler.
Explain to me how to put this in my plot without blowing every deer in the neighborhood.
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 18:13:44 GMT -6
Post by sd51555 on Nov 29, 2020 18:13:44 GMT -6
We all make a big deal about undetected access to our stands. I make a point of not walking out into my plots in the month prior or during the deer season, unless I'm off to collect a dead deer. Or, if it's late in the season and I'm just over trying to be sneaky, I'll go out there and have a look. Anyway, putting a decoy out there means walking out into the middle of the plot and plopping this thing out there at the beginning of the hunt, then collecting it at the end. I feel like the decoy is best used during the rut, to slow down a traveler. Explain to me how to put this in my plot without blowing every deer in the neighborhood. I share your concern. The sneaky in and out seems to pay the most dividends before gun season. Once the shit hits the fan, I don't know if sneaky access can offset the choas in the woods.
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 18:13:51 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Catscratch on Nov 29, 2020 18:13:51 GMT -6
We all make a big deal about undetected access to our stands. I make a point of not walking out into my plots in the month prior or during the deer season, unless I'm off to collect a dead deer. Or, if it's late in the season and I'm just over trying to be sneaky, I'll go out there and have a look. Anyway, putting a decoy out there means walking out into the middle of the plot and plopping this thing out there at the beginning of the hunt, then collecting it at the end. I feel like the decoy is best used during the rut, to slow down a traveler. Explain to me how to put this in my plot without blowing every deer in the neighborhood. Don't hunt the plot. Hunt staging areas or travel corridors. I prefer the downwind side of a travel corridor as far from the plot as possible.
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 18:20:47 GMT -6
Post by kooch on Nov 29, 2020 18:20:47 GMT -6
We all make a big deal about undetected access to our stands. I make a point of not walking out into my plots in the month prior or during the deer season, unless I'm off to collect a dead deer. Or, if it's late in the season and I'm just over trying to be sneaky, I'll go out there and have a look. Anyway, putting a decoy out there means walking out into the middle of the plot and plopping this thing out there at the beginning of the hunt, then collecting it at the end. I feel like the decoy is best used during the rut, to slow down a traveler. Explain to me how to put this in my plot without blowing every deer in the neighborhood. Don't hunt the plot. Hunt staging areas or travel corridors. I prefer the downwind side of a travel corridor as far from the plot as possible. Well don't you hunt like 300 square miles of property? At the state of my place right now, if I don't hunt a plot, I don't see more than 15 yards. I'm working on that part. But isn't the entire idea with a decoy to have it out in the wide open so a cruising buck will see it and investigate, or at least pause for a moment to stare menacingly? And - the plot I hunt is only 50' wide. It's more like a shooting lane than a plot.
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 18:28:19 GMT -6
via mobile
kooch likes this
Post by benmnwi on Nov 29, 2020 18:28:19 GMT -6
I don't use my decoy often, but when I do I use it on my food plot.
I leave the decoy there until after dark and then I pick it up in the dark with my atv or truck. The deer by my house are used to atv and truck traffic, so picking it up after dark doesn't booger things up too much.
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 18:43:43 GMT -6
kooch likes this
Post by Catscratch on Nov 29, 2020 18:43:43 GMT -6
Don't hunt the plot. Hunt staging areas or travel corridors. I prefer the downwind side of a travel corridor as far from the plot as possible. Well don't you hunt like 300 square miles of property? At the state of my place right now, if I don't hunt a plot, I don't see more than 15 yards. I'm working on that part. But isn't the entire idea with a decoy to have it out in the wide open so a cruising buck will see it and investigate, or at least pause for a moment to stare menacingly? Yep, I hunt big area's with no cover (which is opposite of you, I'm pretty sure). I actually look for cover to put my decoy in. Not that I want it covered up and to surprise a buck, but bucks travel where they are comfortable which ='s cover (for me). A travel corridor far from food, in comfort, daylight (if they hit the plots at night which is normal for mature deer here), decoy, rut, = buck interactions. I give up a lot of sightings by hunting this way. Lot's more deer around than I see while hunting but the one's I see are more likely the one's I want. I see way more bucks than does, which is fine as I hunt area's with little sign. I'll hunt several times without a doe sighting unless I happen upon one that is hole up with a buck. To be honest I don't think I would have any idea of how to hunt your guys's habitat. I would probably start with hunting 150yds downwind of a plot, parallel to a trail (maybe 30yds to either side of the trail, depending on the wind). Rut bucks scent check gathering area's, and seldom use heavy trails. If I didn't see anything in the first couple of weeks I would mover further away from the plot. Nocturnal bucks used to kick my ass! May be different there. I doubt I would be very successful for the first 30ish years.
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Post by sd51555 on Nov 29, 2020 18:53:30 GMT -6
Don't hunt the plot. Hunt staging areas or travel corridors. I prefer the downwind side of a travel corridor as far from the plot as possible. Well don't you hunt like 300 square miles of property? At the state of my place right now, if I don't hunt a plot, I don't see more than 15 yards. I'm working on that part. But isn't the entire idea with a decoy to have it out in the wide open so a cruising buck will see it and investigate, or at least pause for a moment to stare menacingly? And - the plot I hunt is only 50' wide. It's more like a shooting lane than a plot. I think there's some truth to that. Comparing Cat's part of Kansas to anywhere else is like comparing Sasha Banks to Pat from SNL.
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 19:53:25 GMT -6
Post by Catscratch on Nov 29, 2020 19:53:25 GMT -6
Well don't you hunt like 300 square miles of property? At the state of my place right now, if I don't hunt a plot, I don't see more than 15 yards. I'm working on that part. But isn't the entire idea with a decoy to have it out in the wide open so a cruising buck will see it and investigate, or at least pause for a moment to stare menacingly? And - the plot I hunt is only 50' wide. It's more like a shooting lane than a plot. I think there's some truth to that. Comparing Cat's part of Kansas to anywhere else is like comparing Sasha Banks to Pat from SNL. True. One of my worst traits is trying to relate deer behaviors that I've learned here to other places. You guys up north have it way different than I do.
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Decoy
Nov 29, 2020 22:06:39 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by Bwoods11 on Nov 29, 2020 22:06:39 GMT -6
Decoys are going to work much better in places like Kansas, Iowa, Ohio., in my opinion. Better buck to doe ratios, more rutting, more cruising. More archery days before the gun season.
Northern MN might not be a great area for decoy.
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