Deer Decoy during gun season?

[mnhunter2]

What do you think about using a deer decoy during the gun season?

[Wanderer]

It would probably be effective but not safe if you're hunting public land.

[Knoc]

I dont think its legal is it?

[Cheetah]

Deer decoy during gun season? I would expect it to get shot by someone.

[fivebucks]

Perfectly legal. I use mine on remote public land and private. Not sure it has helped but I did have a small buck walk with 20 yards of my doe decoy and I could see no reaction. He could not have seen it until he was 50 yards away so it did not bring him in.

[TooTallTom]

I don't know much about decoy use for deer, but I wouldn't want to be carrying one in or out if it didn't collapse and/ or stow somehow.

[Finlander]

Update your life insurance and get high in a tree! I would walk it in with a blaze orange cloth over it!

[fivebucks]

Mine is a Renzo 2 dimension and it folds up nice and I slip under my blaze vest.

[SpecialK]

Most fold up or break down and come with a sack to carry them in so you shouldn't get shot walking with it.

[mrklean]

usually that sack is blaze orange as well so it at least stands out

[paceman]

Why would you need one for firearms? You don't need the deer that close to shoot it.

[SpecialK]

You use a deer decoy for the same reason you would use a duck decoy. It may help bring out deer from the trees out into the open either to check it out and see what it is or to give them a feeling of security.

[Ufatz]

Why would you need one for firearms? You don't need the deer that close to shoot it.

No! No! The CLOSER you have the deer the better. Ten yards is nice. Personally, regarding a decoy, I thhink you might as well go stand at the downrange end of a shooting gallery in most places.

Or just put a sign that says DEER on your back.

[Musky Buck]

I would love to fiddle with a decoy after I have a buck down for the year, just to see what happens, I don't see how you'd get shot carrying that out in the cover of darkness in the AM ? Just wrap some blaze orange around it when you walk out. I hope not too many are blazing rounds into private land. Heck, leave it under your stand and wait for darkness to carry it out at night if you wish.

[SpecialK]

I was chatting with my brother this morning about this as I knew he had used one (friends) a couple of years ago. What he said was that they worked. Deer came running in to check it out and see what it was. However, once they figured it out, they did not come back in to it all.

May be a good tactic to use the last couple of days after the deer have been spooked a bit if you still need to fill a tag.

[Grainbelt]

If you can find one where the tail flicks horizontal when a deer is staring at it you may have a decoy that works. The does are smart, and are alerted when the decoy does not give the everything is ok tail flicker. When the doe is alerted so are the trailing bucks.

[Crappie Rage]

After using a decoy for years bow hunting, the purpose they serve is to bring the deer in close enough for a shot and to draw away the attention of the deer from the big blob in the tree to the decoy.

In that manner they work and work well. How ever, deer can have trouble seeing the decoy from a long ways away since it is not moving. One buck I shot got to 15 yards from the decoy in an open field before seeing it.

If you expect the deer to walk up to the decoy and hang around for an hour, you will be disappointed. If you want the deer preoccupied long enought to shoot, you will not be disappointed.

[SpecialK]

Lots of things you can do to the decoys to give you a tail flicker effect and if you add a scent to the tail it will bring the bucks in nose first

[mrklean]

place in kansas where we turkey hunt the guy showed us a video of a 125" come in a crush a buck decoy go spooked ran about 50 yards and stopped looked back even started to walk back but got spooked cause they were laughing so loud in the stand