“Fake it” with the Best Deer Decoy

To be honest, I was a decoy skeptic until one Christmas when I drove up on a buck doing R-rated things to a decorative reindeer. Using a decoy is admittedly one of the goofier parts of hunting, but it can also be a lot of fun. More importantly, it can be really effective.

You might think that picking out a decoy just comes down to finding one that looks like a real deer, but there’s actually a lot more to it than that. There are different types and strategies you should familiarize yourself with before you invest. Luckily, we’ve got all the info you need right here, including a list of our top decoys and why we like them.

How would you use a deer decoy?

Deer decoys trick deer into thinking there’s another doe or buck nearby. If you do it right, the quarry spots the decoy and comes to check it out. This brings it into shooting range.

Set up your decoy 10-15 yards from your stand on the edge of a feeding area opposite where you expect your quarry to be traveling, ideally downwind. As a buck moves from between bedding areas, he’ll catch a glimpse of your decoy and come to inspect.

When’s the best time to use a deer decoy?

Deer decoys are best for the rut. Specifically, you have two windows.

The first ten days of November, only a few of the does have come into estrus, and the bucks are angry, territorial and looking for fights. If they spot an unknown buck decoy, they’ll come quickly to defend their territory.

At the end of November and beginning of December, most of the does have been bred, and there are only a few left who come back into estrus. The bucks are still very territorial and ready to fight over the few remaining does, so they’ll come running for any doe or rival buck they see.

Decoys work best in the morning. If you put a decoy out in the afternoon or evening you risk scaring any does that are coming to feed.

Common Mistakes

• Scent. You’re trying to trick your quarry’s sense of sight, but their sense of smell is even sharper. Make sure your decoy doesn’t have any human odors. Store them covered and away from any strong chemicals. Use scent eliminators to remove any residual scent, and then apply the appropriate lure. Don’t apply doe estrus to a buck decoy, for instance.
• Visibility. In the rut buck movements become a lot more unpredictable. It’s not enough to just put your decoy along a trail. You should place it at the edge of a feeding area where it’s visible from as many travel corridors as possible.
• Setup. You’ve got to use the right decoys in the right ways at the right times. If it’s just before the rut, for example, bucks are looking to fight. A decoy of a strange buck gets their attention. During the rut when bucks are looking to mate, a doe decoy with some estrus scent is a good choice.

Choosing a decoy

Types of deer decoys

Decoys come in a variety of styles.

You can attach bow-mounted decoys to the front of your bow. This has a few benefits. Most of all, it’s highly portable. It also hides your body well. These are good options for still hunters or ground hunters, especially those that use public land and don’t want to carry an extra piece of gear.

Standing cutouts are two-dimensional photo prints of deer. These are still portable, but they’re full deer you can set up near feeding areas where you stand hunt.

3D decoys are full three-dimensional models of real deer, usually made of plastic. These are the most realistic, of course, and many even incorporate movement. They’re harder to move around, however, and they usually come at higher prices. Because of this they’re best for dedicated decoy hunters, usually from a stand.

If you’re looking for realistic movement, wagging tails are a unique decoy option. They’re electronically operated fake tails that you can move by remote. You can use them alone by attaching them to trees or posts, or you can attach them to a 3D decoy you already have. This makes them versatile options to have.

Realism

Deer eyes function a lot differently than ours. Although they do have color vision, they can’t see as wide a range as we can. They also have much lower visual acuity, something like 20/40 vision. They do however have a much wider field of vision–around 300 degrees–and their eyes are especially adept at picking up movement.

What does that mean for your decoy? You need one that’s realistic, but don’t worry just because you can tell it’s a fake when you’re standing right next to it. A deer spotting your decoy from across a field will not be seeing it in such detail.

Movement, though, can be really helpful. This makes it much more likely that your quarry will notice the decoy.

Does it / will it smell?

For deer smell is maybe their most important sense. This means that you have to pay attention to how your decoy smells, too.

Manufactured plastic decoys might smell when they come off the line. Clean them with a scent-neutral product and then consider leaving them for a day or two outdoors.

Also consider the material the decoy’s made of. If it’s foam or carton, you can easily add your own scent to it, which is essential to creating a good decoy system. However, they can also pick up odors from outside chemicals more easily, so you have to store them carefully.

Ease of use / portability

Bowhunters already have a lot to carry. If you’re hunting public land, you have even more. You want to find the right balance between realism and portability for your personal situation.

Large 3D decoys, for example, are very realistic but tough to lug around. Some have special innovations for transportation, though. They may come with carrying cases or be collapsable.

If you get a cutout, make sure you can fold it down. Cutouts are lightweight, but it defeats the purpose if they’re bulky and difficult to carry. A compact cutout, on the other hand, is easy to pack along with your other gear.

Stability in wind

A windy day can be a blessing or a curse for decoy users. Good decoys take advantage of wind and use it to imitate movement. When you pick a decoy, this is a great perk.

Some decoys, however, have difficulty staying up in strong winds. This can ruin their effectiveness. Two-dimensional decoys can be especially susceptible to wind, so if you go the cutout route, check how it’s staked into the ground. You want something stable.

Our Top Picks In Detail