Coyote Decoy

Bowhntr6pt

Bowhntr6pt

Well-known member
Do you, or have you, used them?

Which ones are good ones? Which ones are junk?

Will be used in open fields from a couple hundred acres to 500+ acres.

Weight/transport are not an issue.
 
I use the King Critter from Lucky Duck. Been happy with it, works great. I carry it when I am not using an e-call. It is great when I know I am going to be taking long hikes, and only using mouth/hand calls. Many times when I decide to call, and make a stand, I do not even put it out, but at times I certainly need and use it. It is hard to beat for the price.....
 
I have a pair of Renzo's coyote decoys that fold up and are easy enough to pack along. I've had mixed results using a "coyote" decoy. Some coyotes have charged in and then others will hang up after seeing the decoy. For me, the use of the decoy has worked best later in the season (mating season)
 
Feather on a string with fishing line and a swivel!

Coyote decoys are more miss than hit in my opinion!

Just another thing to pack in and out.........
 
Originally Posted By: Mr. PoppadopalisFeather on a string with fishing line and a swivel!

Coyote decoys are more miss than hit in my opinion!

Just another thing to pack in and out.........

Thanks, good point except I hunt 95% of the time from my truck so transport is no issue for me.
 
Originally Posted By: Bowhntr6ptDo you, or have you, used them?

Which ones are good ones? Which ones are junk?

Will be used in open fields from a couple hundred acres to 500+ acres.

Weight/transport are not an issue.


If you set up your stands correctly the predator should be on the ground before a decoy would be helpful.

I have seen just as many run FROM a decoy as run to a decoy.

IMHO a decoy makes folks lazy. They don't pay as much attention tot heir stand set ups, expecting the decoy to make up for their lack of attention. Properly employed, a good stand AND a decoy can be effective. I have used the original Mojo critter, it is one of my favorites. The new critter, not so much.
 
Back in the '90s we played with real full body mount coyote decoys for awhile. Buddy was a jack leg amateur taxidermist and he made up a few in different poses. They ran off at least as many coyote as they brought in and can't say we wouldn't have brought in all or at least most of those anyway.

End of the day, we were killing fewer coyotes with the decoy than without so we scrubbed the whole exercise as a bad idea. Have not had any interest in messing with it again since.

- DAA
 
Originally Posted By: SnowmanMoOriginally Posted By: Bowhntr6ptDo you, or have you, used them?

Which ones are good ones? Which ones are junk?

Will be used in open fields from a couple hundred acres to 500+ acres.

Weight/transport are not an issue.


If you set up your stands correctly the predator should be on the ground before a decoy would be helpful.

I have seen just as many run FROM a decoy as run to a decoy.

IMHO a decoy makes folks lazy. They don't pay as much attention tot heir stand set ups, expecting the decoy to make up for their lack of attention. Properly employed, a good stand AND a decoy can be effective. I have used the original Mojo critter, it is one of my favorites. The new critter, not so much.

Thanks for the reply.

Looks like little to gain, if anything, by their use.
 
I would say that the theory of getting their eyes off of you is pretty solid. You just have to be careful about what decoy you use and how you use it. I used a whirling woodpecker with some good results. It was small, quiet and the coyotes seem to lock onto it. Jeff Mock and I used a mojo critter a few times and had coyotes run right up to it. But I saw just as many shy away from it. A friend and I were hunting in New Mexico when this coyote starts coming in. I got set to take the shot when the coyote rounded a bush, got an eye full of the decoy and bolted for the next county.

Most guys wouldn't think that a predator would be spooked off by a little decoy, but they can be.

I just think that a decoy is not an end-all-fix-all solution to bad stand set ups.
 
Have owned a Flambeau for quite a few years. Carried it on stand maybe 3 times. Since then it has sat on a shelf just inside the hay barn door. Once in a while, if my mind is on something else, it will startle me when I round the corner into the barn. Good to check the old ticker once in a while. Someday I'm going to fill it with spray foam and set it out 300 yards for target practice.
 
Originally Posted By: SnowmanMoI would say that the theory of getting their eyes off of you is pretty solid. You just have to be careful about what decoy you use and how you use it. I used a whirling woodpecker with some good results. It was small, quiet and the coyotes seem to lock onto it. Jeff Mock and I used a mojo critter a few times and had coyotes run right up to it. But I saw just as many shy away from it. A friend and I were hunting in New Mexico when this coyote starts coming in. I got set to take the shot when the coyote rounded a bush, got an eye full of the decoy and bolted for the next county.

Most guys wouldn't think that a predator would be spooked off by a little decoy, but they can be.

I just think that a decoy is not an end-all-fix-all solution to bad stand set ups.

Speaking of stand set ups and tactics... I think you can tell by my posts I'm quite successful at killing coyotes... I wish I could say it's because I "really" know what I'm doing... honestly, I'm hunting areas that have never really been hunted... so I'm sure I'm getting away with things.

Our county has grown leaps and bounds resulting in nice woodland pockets and fields surrounded by developments... the coyote are basically unmolested until I come along...lol.
 
Originally Posted By: SnowmanMo
If you set up your stands correctly the predator should be on the ground before a decoy would be helpful.

I have seen just as many run FROM a decoy as run to a decoy.



yep
 
I'm a big decoy fan it lets me get away with a lot of things that would spook a coyote if he wasn't fixed on the decoy. I think the big trick is the coyote can see it for a long way and not all of a sudden having something whirling in its face.

I tried a fake coyote decoy, and in my opinion it is more trouble to deal with than it is effective.

I hunt a lot of country where I never see a coyote until he steps out from the brush to look at the decoy, he can smell from in the cover but he can't see from in the cover. I think it helps overcome some of the circling to get the scent, his eyes short circuit his nose.
 
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Originally Posted By: AWSI'm a big decoy fan it lets me get away with a lot of things that would spook a coyote if he wasn't fixed on the decoy. I think the big trick is the coyote can see it for a long way and not all of a sudden having something whirling in its face.

I tried a fake coyote decoy, and in my opinion it is more trouble to deal with than it is effective.

I hunt a lot of country where I never see a coyote until he steps out from the brush to look at the decoy, he can smell from in the cover but he can't see from in the cover. I think it helps overcome some of the circling to get the scent, his eyes short circuit his nose.

Thanks for the reply.

I'm referring more to using an actual coyote decoy, not other type decoys, which I have and use on occasion.
 
Friends have brought coyote looking decoys on occasion and I don't recall them ever really working very well. A feather on a stick and string on the other hand works very well. I have heard the battery powered motion decoys work pretty good but I have never used one. I'm not a gadget guy and like to travel lite so I don't get a lot experience with the latest and greatest things. Simple has always worked for me and my theory is if ain't broke don't fix it.
 
I have a little Primos spinning decoy with half a stuffed animal looking thing on the end...LOL. We nick named it Lil Buddy!

Hunt mainly in the high desert of central Oregon, in the sage. It works best when it's just spinning over the top of the sage, i guess so it's in and out of sight... if that makes sense. I think if they loose it a little, they look harder for it, and it keeps the focus.

Just my .02 worth.
 
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