Topic: The Best Deer Decoys of 2022 (Read 37 times)
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Why It Made the Cut
This decoy conveniently mounts to your bow, provides an ample shot window, and keeps you concealed.
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Product Description
It might seem like a no-brainer that Danny Farris would pick his own co*pany’s decoy as his favorite. But the Ultimate Predator Whitetail Decoy wasn’t his brainchild. Farris was a fan of these decoys prior to owning the co*pany. In fact, he liked them so much that he bought Ultimate Predator Decoys when the previous owners decided to sell.
These decoys appealed to Farris after he missed the biggest buck of his life during a spot and stalk in Kansas.
“After I missed that buck, I wanted to find a way to hunt whitetails in open terrain and draw their attention away from me,” he says. “I started with the doe and buck decoy. I knew a rutting buck would focus on the buck, and it would allow me to get a shot off with the bow-mounted doe decoy.”
One thing that separates Ultimate Predator from other portable decoys is that it mounts to your bow and provides you with a shot window, so you can run it hands free. You also don’t have to worry about peeking around the side of it when you draw your bow, thanks to the shooting window, which allows you to stay hidden when a buck trots into range.
The Ultimate Predator Decoy mounts directly centered over any co*pound bow, so it keeps you hidden but also provides great balance and doesn’t affect your arrow’s point of impact, Farris says.
Like any bow mounted options, this one doesn’t perform the best in windy conditions, but that’s a tradeoff for any lightweight, 2D decoy that folds into a small frisbee.
Farris has taken plenty of bucks using these decoys, but he does see room for improvement with the design.
“I’d like a simpler mounting system,” he says. “Our current system is versatile, and you can mount it on any bow except reverse draw crossbows, but it attaches with Velcro. I’d like to have one that doesn’t incorporate any, so you don’t have to worry about making noise if you need to make an adjustment.”
Why It Made the Cut
Jared Scheffler tailored this homemade decoy to fit his run and gun style of hunting, and it has helped him arrow bucks as close as seven yards.
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If you’re a thrifty hunter who still wears your grandpa’s army fatigues, or you prefer DIY gear because you’re picky when it co*es to equipment, perhaps you can borrow a play from Jared Scheffler’s book. The big buck stalker of Whitetail Adrenaline wasn’t satisfied with the decoy offerings for his aggressive tactics, so he built his own.
READ NEXT: How ‘Whitetail Adrenaline’ Proved Stalking Mature Bucks Is a Legitimate Game
“Around 2012, I was afraid that the decoys on the market would just blow around, so I built a prototype,” Scheffler says. “I wanted something that was light yet durable enough that it wouldn’t toss around in the wind.”
This prototype that Scheffler designed utilizes a deer head form and a deer hide that’s mounted on a cardboard cutout of a whitetail buck. The form head gives depth to the decoy, and the hide adds realism, which also doesn’t glare in sunny conditions like other decoys.
To keep the decoy from blowing in the wind, Scheffler uses a small tripod leg and a steel stake, which add enough weight to stabilize the deer in high winds. You can also use the stake to angle the deer however you need, he says.
While he still uses the decoy to kill big bucks at insanely close distances, Scheffler recognizes that it’s not without its flaws.
“It’s definitely not as light or packable like the Ultimate Predator or Heads Up Decoy,” he says. “But it does pretty well in the wind, especially high wind.”
For Whitetail Adrenaline junkies, Scheff’s Special has inspired others to create similar decoys, but he urges hunters to use caution anytime they want to decoy on public land.
“I always tell people to be extremely cautious if they want to make one,” he says. “I’ll pull that decoy down if I see someone drive by. I know a guy who did this and got shot at on an open prairie. Luckily, he wasn’t hit.”
Why It Made the Cut
The aggressive stance, anatomical proportions, and Dave Smith details make the posturing buck the most realistic decoy by far.
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Product Description
Like other Dave Smith Decoys, the Posturing Buck possesses more realism than most co*petitors. The posturing position and pinned-back ears mimic an aggressive buck that’s ready to establish dominance. If you’re looking for a decoy to deploy during the rut, the posturing buck should grab the attention of a buck that’s cruising for a hot doe.
However, all that realism co*es with a price. A steep price. Yes, this decoy will probably fool more deer (and hunters for that matter) than cheaper options. But if that realism gets you a shot at a big buck, it might justify every penny.
Why It Made the Cut
For less than $150 you get two realistic decoys that you can quickly deploy whether you’re hunting your farm’s ladder stand or run and gunning open country.
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If you have a tight hunting budget, getting every penny’s worth can help maximize your hunting season (and keep you in good standing with your significant other). For less than $150, you get two decoys (one buck and doe) from Montana Decoy. These lightweight decoys use realistic whitetail photos that are printed on cloth, so you can pull up stake and pack them down when you need to make an adjustment. Two decoys also give you options when it co*es to your setup, whether you decide to deploy both or just one of them.
Even though these decoys create a 3D effect, they’re still 2D, so if a buck gets too close without giving you a shot or tries to circle downwind, the jig is up. But if you can position these on the edge of brush, you might skirt around this dilemma.
Why It Made the Cut
The Primos Scar is a classic decoy design that has a sturdy base, a tail and head that move in the wind, and a reasonable price.
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Product Description
The Primos Scar resembles a classic decoy that most treestand hunters are familiar with, but it features a few subtle details that add realism to help fool cautious bucks. Deer don’t stand still for endless hours on end, and your decoy shouldn’t either. The head and realistic tail both move in a slight breeze, so this decoy doesn’t look like it’s frozen and (hopefully) won’t tip off a buck that’s co*ing to investigate.
For transportation, you simply pack all the parts into the main body co*partment and store inside the travel bag. The Scar lacks the realism of other decoys, and the details on its body fall flat. However, I do appreciate the antler size, which isn’t too small but not so big that it wards off a big buck.
In ideal conditions, a buck can hear a grunt call 100 yards away. But if it’s especially windy or you have several terrain features between you and where the deer are bedded, it might be harder for a buck to hear your best deer calls.
It’s probably not a good idea to leave a deer decoy out overnight, especially if you plan to hunt over it the next day. Decoys can sometimes spook deer, and if a buck gets spooked the night before you plan to hunt it, you’re dashing your chances of getting a shot at that buck and putting him on alert.
Technically, yes, you can use an archery target as a decoy, but it probably won’t work as well as an actual decoy and transporting it can be difficult.
The best deer decoys won’t work every time, but they can fool a rutting buck every now and then. If you decide to add decoys to your tactics this fall, be sure it’s legal in your area and you’re not hiding behind a decoy during gun season.
For this review I interviewed deer hunters that find consistent success killing big bucks with decoys. I picked their brains about which features make these decoys ideal for their preferred hunting tactics, and how they use them in various hunting scenarios. For other picks, I relied on previous experience.
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