Here are two scenarios. Tell me which is more plausible.
No. 1: I’m in a tree in Kansas during mid-November, and a young buck decoy is 25 yards away. A big 8-pointer cruises through, and I get his attention with a grunt tube. He sees the decoy from 100 yards and immediately turns and comes to it. He swings around to go nose to nose with the decoy, but before he can start the fight, he begins running out of air, courtesy of a well-placed Thunderhead.
No. 2: I’m in a tree in Kansas during mid-November, and four does come into a small food plot, where they see the decoy. Instantly, the girls are on red alert, stiff-legged and terrified by the sight of the new kid on the block. They immediately turn tail and race back into the tree line.
OK, they’re both plausible. Deer decoys. Sometimes I love ’em, sometimes I hate ’em.
There’s little question that during the right conditions, decoys can help you kill mature bucks. It’s also true that, sometimes, a decoy will
