Lunkerdog

For a lack of a better way to put it... Indoctrination... Depending on conditions... Moon Phase, weather, hunter pressure, etc... Deer may be very active at night. When they are inevitably their going to find your decoy. It won't take long for the vast majority of the deer in your area to realize that your decoy is just that.

You want the deer in your area to be surprised when they see your decoy. You don't want them to have already checked it out, and realize that it's not a real deer. Once they've figured out that it's not real your decoy has lost all of it's effectiveness... Ask any duck hunter about the effectiveness of their decoys.

FF also makes a good point... You may return to find that your decoy has been trashed by a dominant buck!!!

That said, I'm glad to see that you've done other research about how to effectively use your decoy.

This particular piece of advice is relative to part of what I said in my first reply to this thread.

Then there's this advise, I think I would also move it away from where I intend to use it. Meaning that you don't necessarily have to bring it back to camp/home, just away from where you intend to use it.

The Green Horn Hunter

Thank you LunkerDog, I will do so tomorrow.

Murdy

I have never used a decoy, but I was talking to a co-worker who uses them. He said antlers on/off is not the only indication of gender. Posture is also important, so merely adding antlers to a decoy that otherwise looks like a doe doesn't really work, or vice versa. Or is this just BS from manufacturers to sell twice as many decoys? Anyone have an opinion on this?

The Green Horn Hunter

Thanks Murdy, I am learning a lot from you guys.

And thank you for answering my un educated questions.

Murdy

No problem, but my post was a question, too. I was just repeating what I heard and asking if anyone had an opinion about it. I'm not saying any of that is true based on personal experience.