UPPING YOUR ODDS
Decoying can be a deadly method to lure in big bucks, but it’s a strategy that doesn’t always get the desired results. I’ve fine-tuned my setups to add as much realism as possible -- hopefully to fool any mature buck that might hang up just out of shooting range.

The first piece of advice I have to offer anyone who wants to increase his or her odds of success while using a decoy is to wash your decoy thoroughly and make it as free of any foreign odors as possible. This means washing the actual decoy with any of the various scent-free soaps on the market and allowing it to air dry. Don’t be afraid to rewash it frequently.

After the decoy dries, it’s time to give it a liberal dose of scent-killing spray. I personally spray my decoy down with scent killer prior to each setup. While I try to handle the decoy with gloves on at all times, it still might brush up against my skin at some point in time.

ADDING THE ULTIMATE REALISM
Once you’ve removed all alarming odors from the decoy, it is time to add some real deer urine to the setup. Notice I didn’t say to add to the decoy. It’s imperative that you don’t ever put any type of scent directly on the decoy itself. Safety should always be a main concern, especially when dealing with aggressive, rut-pumped bucks in the fall.

I incorporate Mrs. Doe Pee’s Buck Lures products into practically all of my deer hunting because they’ve proven their effectiveness over and over again. These products are the real deal, and they should be used appropriately. The second piece of advice I can give you is to use them sparingly. Remember, whitetails have “sniffers” that are far superior to our own. A few drops of real deer urine -- whether estrous or otherwise -- will draw the attention of bucks from all over the county.

As mentioned, I used mock scrapes in the above situation. Both scrapes were pawed with a stick from the woods and then doused with a bit of Mrs. Doe Pee’s Continuous Scrape Set. The scrape that the buck came in contact with also had a scrape dripper above it, with some of the urine in it as well. This lure is a mixture of buck and doe urines. My intention was for any buck that might circle downwind of the setup to get a whiff of an intruder’s urine and force him into action. That strategy worked unbelievably well!

The buck walked in from my left, and he actually came in contact with one of my mock scrapes while en route to the decoy. I have no doubt that this olfactory stimulation helped cause the aggressive attack on the decoy. I believe that this 9-pointer, having assumed dominance over that part of the farm after the dominant buck died back in September, was fully duped into believing that another buck had intruded into his territory and had made a scrape there.

And poor Deek Boy paid the price for his intrusion! I can still see and hear the buck hitting that decoy with such force that the image will be forever imbedded into my mind. Deek Boy’s foam eyes were actually gouged out in the attack by the narrow-racked buck’s antlers.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Decoying can be one of the deadliest tactics in today’s whitetail woods -- especially when you add more realism to the situation with real deer urines. While you may not cause a violent attack every time (I don’t know that it would be too affordable to have this happen all the time), it can help pull that elusive mature buck into a shooting position when he might hang up otherwise. And, of course, safety should always be of paramount concern in all deer hunting. Perhaps it’s time for you to step it up a notch and take your decoying to the next level!

page: 1 | 2