Add Decoys to your Trick Bag for more Success
07/03/11 14:10
For the last few years, my best friend Mickey and I have: traveled around rattling whitetails using the 4n2 rattling antlers, making videos, and hoping that our work would convince deer hunters that: rattling works , and should be part of every hunters strategy. This year, after a long conversation with Dan Greenwalt about his experiences with decoys, we decided to add decoys, and see first hand what effect they would have.
We needed a lightweight easy to set up decoy, and the Tail Trick Decoy met these requirements (with the bonus of a tail that wags). They are light, polystyrene silhouettes, about 4’ X 15” X 3”, and come in two models: a buck or doe ( depending on whether you put the antlers on top ) and a booty ( the rear view profile of a deer bent over browsing). We opted to use the buck and the booty for our set up ( Mickey and I are both “booty men” )
During the trials we used every possible combination of decoys: a buck and booty, a doe and booty, a stand alone buck, a stand alone doe , and a stand alone booty. Although all the set ups drew the deer’s attention away from the hunter and onto the decoy , we found that the best set up was the two decoy, buck and booty. We also tested them with and without the the tail wagging and found that tail motion definitely peaked more curiosity.
We experimented with the amount of cover we needed to successfully rattle in the bucks. Normally our rattling stands are well concealed, so we began by placing the decoys in front of our concealed positions. This worked well; the bucks we rattled up fixated on the decoys allowing us to eventually work them in close.We were having so much fun we upped the ante by using less and less concealment. We set up in open fields having only tall grass for cover. Bucks would come out of the woods looking for the source of the rattling , and either: come in on top of us, or stop at about 50 yards and hold. I can tell you from experience that without decoys , these bucks would have: come to the edge of the woods, seen nothing, and disappeared back into the woods.
We continued using less and less cover until we were using only the decoys and nothing else. Mickey would sit behind the booty with the camera and I would rattle while sitting behind the buck. We were amazed that the bucks would circle around and approach us facing the buck decoy, and would not spook until they got broadside of us and realized they had been “Punked”.
Needless to say, Mickey and I are now believers; If you are not using decoys we recommend you try them. We are confident that you will improve your results.
Rattle On,
bigbucktom
We needed a lightweight easy to set up decoy, and the Tail Trick Decoy met these requirements (with the bonus of a tail that wags). They are light, polystyrene silhouettes, about 4’ X 15” X 3”, and come in two models: a buck or doe ( depending on whether you put the antlers on top ) and a booty ( the rear view profile of a deer bent over browsing). We opted to use the buck and the booty for our set up ( Mickey and I are both “booty men” )
During the trials we used every possible combination of decoys: a buck and booty, a doe and booty, a stand alone buck, a stand alone doe , and a stand alone booty. Although all the set ups drew the deer’s attention away from the hunter and onto the decoy , we found that the best set up was the two decoy, buck and booty. We also tested them with and without the the tail wagging and found that tail motion definitely peaked more curiosity.
We experimented with the amount of cover we needed to successfully rattle in the bucks. Normally our rattling stands are well concealed, so we began by placing the decoys in front of our concealed positions. This worked well; the bucks we rattled up fixated on the decoys allowing us to eventually work them in close.We were having so much fun we upped the ante by using less and less concealment. We set up in open fields having only tall grass for cover. Bucks would come out of the woods looking for the source of the rattling , and either: come in on top of us, or stop at about 50 yards and hold. I can tell you from experience that without decoys , these bucks would have: come to the edge of the woods, seen nothing, and disappeared back into the woods.
We continued using less and less cover until we were using only the decoys and nothing else. Mickey would sit behind the booty with the camera and I would rattle while sitting behind the buck. We were amazed that the bucks would circle around and approach us facing the buck decoy, and would not spook until they got broadside of us and realized they had been “Punked”.
Needless to say, Mickey and I are now believers; If you are not using decoys we recommend you try them. We are confident that you will improve your results.
Rattle On,
bigbucktom