Talk to me about decoys!! Please!!

me

me

New member
I was kinda suprised in another thread how many people mentioned that they used decoys. I've never used one. It hardly even crossed my mind until now...

What are you all using?
Are they powered or just something like a stuffed bunny?
Do they markedly improve results?
If you're using a remote call, do you place it right by the call?
Does it have to look like a real animal or would wrapping the speaker of my 612 in fur do just as well?

Thanks!
me!
 
There are several decoys made out there that are mechanical. They all work. I dont use one cause after a camera and gun and everthing else i just dont use one. If i was to get one i would get the Jack in the Box by FoxPro. www.gofoxpro.com Hope this will answer your questions. Also use the search engine and you will find a ton of stuff.
 
I'm a real believer in decoys. By the time the animal comes in to the call, you've fooled his hearing. If he sees a decoy, you've hopefully fooled his eyes. The nose is one thing I don't think can be fooled, but some folks will argue that. Anyway, I've used a number of static and powered decoys. I believe motion is the key. I often wear a turkey vest when hunting, so carrying decoys is no problem. I do use just a plain wire coat hanger that I straightened and tied marabou feathers to. A turkey wing feather might even work better? The feathers move in the slightest breeze and this is about the easiest decoy to carry.
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I've also used silhouettes. The silhouettes are nice because they seem to get the hawks, magpies, blue jays and crows stirred up. They'll dive at the decoy and create quite a ruckus. The coyotes are convinced that everything is on the up and up when that happens. The subordinate animals seem to stalk in where the dominate animals charge in. Either way the animals attention is so riveted to the decoy that you can usually get away with a lot of movement if you have to. I add a marabou feather to the silhouette decoys for more movement.
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Here is another decoy I made. It has to be staked down or hanged in a bush or tree. Otherwise it'll take off for the next county. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

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I also have a Predator Enticer by Come Alive Decoys. (Thanks MJM!) I like it real well too.
 
Weasel -

Have you ever used rabbit silhouettes? For some reason, as I read your post, I expected to see rabbits. The foxes kinda surprised me!

LOL!! I really like the first one! Can you say "No Cost"!!??!! I've got hangers on my drycleaning and feathers of every color and size in my fly tying materials. Do you think they'd be attracted to a black and orange wooley bugger? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Thanks!
me!
 
Me, Yeah but once you set the hook reeling in a coyote is a tough fight and they alwys seem to break the line and get away /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Weasel, thats is very impressive hanger straightening, looks perfectly straight.

LOL such great decoy work and I'm impressed by a straightened hanger.

t/c223encore.
 
Rabbits? Yep!
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I've since added a white marabou feather for a tail. I haven't used it in the field yet. I really like that first one too. I'm cheap and it's easy to carry along with my shooting sticks or in the pouch on my turkey vest. The silhouettes are cheap too. They are made out of scrounged coro-plast (the stuff real-estate and election signs are made from) you could even use corrugated cardboard for a throwaway decoy. They fit in my turkey vest too.

The black and orange wooley bugger will work great. (as long as it's the size of a softball! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif ) If I could kill a turkey I'd save a few wing feathers for decoys. You could tie it on a branch with thread or leader material and it'll spin and move in the wind. Talk about a lightweight decoy, eh? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Weasel Pretty much nailed it. I think they are just something extra to help convince that coyote everything is "normal". If you have been calling long, I am sure you have been blowing away and look over and see a coyote staring at you. You think, dang I am busted. This has happened a few times to me, but you quit calling and he looks right at the decoy. Then they seem to forget about you. Something else I have noticed is they seem to forget about going downwind as often. Once they see something is hurt, they arent gonna give it a chance to get away. Just another tool that is gonna give you the edge. Oh yeah, we use the Predator supreme, and the mini extreme on our videos. www.decoyheart.com. Hope that was what you were looking for. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
You can rig a decoy out of just about anything if you don't want to shell out 50 or 60 bucks for a factory job.


Before I got my mini-extreme I took and old deer tail I had saved to make jigs out of, took an old practice arrow, tied the tail to the arrow, left 20 or 30 ft of extra kite string tied to it,stuck the arrow in the ground, made a loop and stuck the string over the end of my boot, I just wiggled my toes and the tail danced on the arrow, kind of a hands free remote control decoy,,,worked great!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
Oops! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif Now I remembered that you asked about the placement of the decoy when using a remote caller. I place the decoy near my remote e-caller. Sometimes I'll place the caller and decoy a good distance away from me. Always keep the silhouette decoys edgewise to you. That way if somebody sees it and takes a shot, they are shooting at angle to you and not at you. If I'm using a hand-call only, I'll place the decoy a little closer to me. It really gets the heart pumping to have a coyote only a few feet away from you as it stalks your decoy totally unaware of your presence.

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I like the whirling woodpecker. It's small, light weight and will almost always clip to something you can find. I did, however bend me a welding rod to clip it to if there is nothing else available.
 
Quote:
If you have been calling long, I am sure you have been blowing away and look over and see a coyote staring at you. You think, dang I am busted.


U-u-uh-h-h... Do I really have to admit how many times? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif

That's why I went to electronic calls in the first place. Before remotes, I had 100' of lamp cord attached to the speaker of my old 512 so I could put it away from me. Even before that, I dubbed a 45 minute tape with 30 minutes of Gerald Stewart's efforts of strangling bunnies for his father; I left the first 15 minutes blank so I could lay the call out, walk away and get positioned before the squeeling started.

I've now gotten into the habit of looking all around me to see who's been watching me tweet away on my call when I stand back up after a session... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smiliesmack.gif

Quote:
The black and orange wooley bugger will work great. (as long as it's the size of a softball! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif )


I guess my #6's won't do, huh? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

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P.S.
If you trout fish, try them in pink! Trout LOVE 'em!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-003.gif
 
6's will work to catch the trout, then you can use the trout as a scented decoy. The longer you use it, the more scented it'll get. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Great post me!

I have used the "decoy heart" with the fuzzy critter looking decoy. It works real good for most sets. It is battery operated by a single AA battery. I did have one coyote shy away from the very slight sound the little motor makes during its rotations.

Weasel: Thanks for passing your knowledge on to us. I am always trying to learn to be a better hunter. Your decoys are awesome. Would you mind if I tried to copy some of your silhouettes? I really like that you have shared your pictures! THANKS!!!! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Redhound80
 
Quote:
Would you mind if I tried to copy some of your silhouettes?


Not at all. Make as many as you'd like. I keep them fairly small as to not intimidate subordinate animals. The sitting fox is only 17" tall. Post some pictures when you're finished.
 
I don't always use a decoy (depending on how far the walk is!) but I've had some great success in using the JIB with the Foxpro. I think I would of called and shot almost all of the yotes without the decoy but its just another tool. I've had several come to within a few feet of the decoy without realizing that something was wrong! And yes, I've had a few spook with the decoy (I think they got my scent off it). It also helps when you are using a shotgun, pistol or bow to get them closer those extra few feet that makes all the difference in the world when not using a rifle. Decoys are just tools that sometimes come in handy!
 
i have several a kids stuffed chow toy marked to look like a fox,a stuffed rabit with the hanger from the store still on it to hang from a fence, featherflex turkey, weasle ball from k-bee toys with fur wrapped on it and one without,coyote siluete works great while howling.
my favorite is a turkey feather on a shoe string i tie to a bush.
they all can make the coyote look away long enough for you to move slightly for the shot.
 
Me, I got to see a coyote bite a Whirling Woodpecker last fall. The coyote was responding to a woodpecker in distress call and it was locked right onto the decoy. He came in and I actually heard it bite the plastic on the decoy. The decoy did what it was supposed to do in this case. I made a similar decoy out of a blue jay lawn ornament and a Radio Shack motor and switch. It's light, cheap and easy to carry. I just look at it as another tool in the coyote hunting arsenal. BTW, I had my remote speaker and the decoy in the same tree. MI VHNTR
 
I have used several....Weasel's little red foxx works well.....the whirling wood pecker....most times when I use a decoy it is Fox Pro's JIB.....it just works...


Joe
 
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