I was setup next to a wooded field access road with a doe decoy about 15 yards from me and close to that road. It was rut time or at least really close to it. A small buck came down that road, maybe 6 point but not sure now. He heads straight for the decoy and mounts it immediately. He rides her for maybe 20 seconds when her legs collapse and he falls right to the ground with her. Gets up, looks around as if to be sure nobody saw that. Walks back up the road about 15 yards and looks at her for a couple minutes. I am still doing all I can to hold back the laughs that were boiling inside me. He walks up to her nudging her with his nose a few times and walks away. Then I am thinking what is he gonna do when he comes across another doe. Oh, the socket where the decoy's back leg attaches to the body broke in the fall.
another time I had a buck literally come running full speed and smashed into the decoy and it blew up and he just kept right on running. it was comical.
We built a wild horse body out of a 4x8 1/2 in plywood with no legs . My partner & I were the legs . It worked so good , we walked within 30 yards of Lopes . Its still being used by my old huntin oartners .
We also used a Trojan Cow to sneak up on Geese sitting waaay out in big fields . Arrowed several that way .
Had a 10 point 2 year old mount it twice, finally tipping it over.
The best hunt, was the 3rd day of the season opener, we had unusually cool weather. It frosted that morning. I put the decoy out, rattled at first light, and a nice buck came in to point blank range. I was hunting on the ground. He came in full speed immediately. I shot him at 20 feet through the heart. He turned to run, looking over his shoulder, I grunted, and he came back. I watched the blood pour out of him, and saw his eyes roll into the back of his head. He reared up, and fell on his back, pinning his antlers in the dirt.
They are a great tool. In association with a good grunt call, and rattling horns, hunt in an open field, you will see action. I prefer a scrubby little rack I put on mine. Any and all deer are set at ease by the smaller framed deer. Doe decoys are useless in my opinion. It puts deer on edge normally. One thing I do, is rub the deer down with natural grasses and I wear latex gloves when touching it. The deer seem oblivious to you, and are very focused on the decoy. They can put deer on edge, but they really do interact with it.
This year, I had a bachelor group of 6 yearling bucks come into my one and only time I used it this year. 4 of them simultaneously sparred each other in a cloverleaf pattern. Very exciting tool. When used correctly. It will teach you what you're doing wrong... and right.
