1 00:00:01,320 --> 00:00:05,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Foundations podcast, your guide 2 00:00:05,160 --> 00:00:08,959 Speaker 1: to the fundamentals of better deer hunting, presented by First Light, 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: First Light Go Farther, Stay Longer, and now your host 5 00:00:19,079 --> 00:00:19,960 Speaker 1: Tony Peterson. 6 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 2: Hey everyone, welcome to the Wire to Hunt Foundation's podcast, 7 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 2: which is brought to you by First Light. I'm your host, 8 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 2: Tony Peterson, and today's episode is all about why you 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:30,600 Speaker 2: might want to use a doe decoy instead of a 10 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:39,360 Speaker 2: buck decoy. If this week doesn't make your giblets tingle 11 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 2: as a deer hunter, you might want to check your pulse. 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 2: It's go time and all of you folks who sat 13 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 2: out the hot weather or the lull or whatever to 14 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,360 Speaker 2: hunt the best time of the year, well it's here 15 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,559 Speaker 2: and you better get out there. But first you might 16 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 2: want to consider a doe decoy, which is something I'm 17 00:00:56,400 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 2: going to lean on pretty heavily this year. But first 18 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 2: I need to explain why I keep leaving the buck 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 2: decoy at home and going with the dough. So buckle 20 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:07,479 Speaker 2: up my pre rut buttercups, because it's time to talk 21 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 2: to your Let's do a little imaginary lesson. To start 22 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:23,560 Speaker 2: this one off, Let's say you're a guy, because that's 23 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 2: a pretty safe bet for a podcast with this level 24 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 2: of juvenile humor that is centered on trying to outsmart 25 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,039 Speaker 2: rabbits with antlers, and you're about to head to the 26 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:35,480 Speaker 2: local watering hole. Now, let's also say that you are 27 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 2: a single fella. I don't care if your main squeeze 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 2: got hit by a train and it has been the 29 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:42,679 Speaker 2: appropriate amount of time since the funeral, or you're just 30 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:46,640 Speaker 2: a pioneer not a settler. Whatever. So you walk into 31 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 2: some fine establishment adorned with plenty of Neon signage in 32 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 2: the windows, and you stroll up to the bar to 33 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 2: order I don't know, seven shots of fireball or whatever 34 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 2: the kids are drinking these days. I've been out of 35 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 2: the game for quite a while on that front, so 36 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 2: you got to fill in the blanks yourself here. Now 37 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,160 Speaker 2: you look to your right and you see what is 38 00:02:03,200 --> 00:02:06,320 Speaker 2: clearly a large collection of women dressed in cowgirl themed 39 00:02:06,320 --> 00:02:09,480 Speaker 2: outfits that they clearly bought for some bridesmade get together 40 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 2: type thing. Maybe one of them has a veil on 41 00:02:12,520 --> 00:02:14,480 Speaker 2: or something and is carrying a balloon that is shaped 42 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:16,960 Speaker 2: a lot like a not safer work balloon. If you 43 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 2: get my drift, you take a head count, you realize 44 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 2: there are eleven of them and they are doing shots 45 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 2: and having fun. Then you look to your left. At 46 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:27,720 Speaker 2: the other end of the bar is a collection of dudes. 47 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,959 Speaker 2: They all have Affliction T shirts on. They are about 48 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,280 Speaker 2: two sizes too small, Several have barbed ware tattoos around 49 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 2: their biceps, many of them have backwards hats on, and 50 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 2: all of them are drinking what looks like brown hard 51 00:02:42,040 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 2: liquor that is mixed with nothing more than an ice 52 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 2: cube and bad decision making. To further clarify what's going on, 53 00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:52,800 Speaker 2: one of the bridesmaids she goes to the jukebox and 54 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 2: plays Mark Kenyon's favorite Taylor Swift love song. Then one 55 00:02:56,760 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 2: of the Affliction T shirt wearing dudes struts over and 56 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 2: plays a German death metal song that sounds a bit 57 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:03,839 Speaker 2: like what they used to use to make it very 58 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:09,400 Speaker 2: uncomfortable for the detainees in Guantanamo Bay. You have two choices. 59 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,080 Speaker 2: What group do you approach first? Now, let's say that 60 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 2: you pose this question to the next one hundred guys 61 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 2: you run across. Some of them are five feet tall 62 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,679 Speaker 2: and one hundred pounds soaking wet, while others look like 63 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:25,240 Speaker 2: they failed the NFL draft for being too big and 64 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:29,799 Speaker 2: too violent, and of course there's everything in between. What 65 00:03:29,919 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 2: percentage of guys do you think would stroll up to 66 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,640 Speaker 2: the barboyer tattoo crowd? First, it's probably a pretty small, 67 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,080 Speaker 2: pretty low amount, although there might be a few mixed 68 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 2: in there that just like the thrill of throwing haymakers 69 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,880 Speaker 2: on a Saturday night, the smart money is on the ladies. 70 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 2: Maybe not all the guys go that way, of course, 71 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 2: but the numbers would be in your favor there. Now, 72 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:55,160 Speaker 2: let's think about deer. I had the recent pleasure of 73 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 2: snort wheezing in a giant eight pointer on public land. 74 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 2: That was clearly a dominant buck, and he was the 75 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:03,840 Speaker 2: kind of deer that could handle the deer version of 76 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 2: you know what are you looking at? Pal? I also 77 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 2: had the displeasure of cutting hairs off of his back 78 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 2: when I guess the rains wrong, because I was in 79 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,560 Speaker 2: full meltdown mode from thinking that he was going to 80 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 2: walk out a frame and get out of my life, 81 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 2: which he did later on, and which stung a lot. 82 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 2: But that buck was the buck to challenge I tried 83 00:04:24,160 --> 00:04:25,960 Speaker 2: the same thing on a smaller deer and it worked 84 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 2: exactly like it often does. That buck was a lover 85 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 2: and not a fighter. In fact, almost every deer you 86 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 2: see will choose the lover approach because in nature it 87 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,800 Speaker 2: makes more sense to burn precious calories passing on your 88 00:04:39,880 --> 00:04:44,120 Speaker 2: genes versus locking the cage of the octagon for five rounds. 89 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 2: Yet we almost always choose a buck decoy over a 90 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 2: dough decoy. Why is that? Well for starters, the people 91 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:56,400 Speaker 2: who sell you buck decoys tend to hunt places that 92 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 2: you definitely wouldn't be allowed on. If your farm is 93 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 2: hovered up in prime age bucks, a buck decoy is 94 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 2: no big deal. You can weed through the little tiny 95 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 2: one hundred and forty inches and wait on the one 96 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,520 Speaker 2: sixty five who rules the roost. You also probably have 97 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:15,840 Speaker 2: a very good idea where he likes to travel and win, 98 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 2: So a buck decoy with an aggressive body posture is 99 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 2: the right call there, and it works. You can turn 100 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 2: on your favorite hook and Bullet channel or go on 101 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,320 Speaker 2: over to YouTube and watch this play out a lot 102 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 2: this time of year, and it is cool as hell. 103 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 2: A buck that approaches sort of sideways while licking his 104 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,160 Speaker 2: lips and side eyeing a plastic rival. It's just a 105 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 2: sight to behold. And when he sucker punches a fake 106 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 2: buck in the guts, it's pretty damn amazing. But again, 107 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,839 Speaker 2: if you choose a buck decoy, you're playing the odds game, 108 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,640 Speaker 2: and what you're doing is saying I don't want a 109 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 2: certain number of bucks to come in to range, and 110 00:05:56,680 --> 00:06:01,279 Speaker 2: I certainly don't want any actual doze around me. This 111 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:05,200 Speaker 2: is the equivalent of casting a huge bucktail for muskies. 112 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:08,760 Speaker 2: You aren't going to accidentally catch very many bass on it, 113 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 2: and maybe, just maybe you might catch a mongo pike, 114 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 2: but mostly you're going to either catch nothing or hook 115 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,239 Speaker 2: into a big musky. Now, if that's what you're into, 116 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 2: doughnuts for deer doughnuts, But if you're listening to this podcast, 117 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:26,600 Speaker 2: my guess is that maybe you're open to the possibility 118 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:29,080 Speaker 2: that decoying in one hundred inch dear would be pretty 119 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 2: sweet too. That's where I'm at and I'm going to 120 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:35,080 Speaker 2: get to it, But first I should talk a little 121 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,240 Speaker 2: bit about a third option. You can use a small 122 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 2: buck decoy. I'm trying to get Dave Smith to make 123 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 2: me a realistic looking basket rack six pointer. But it 124 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,600 Speaker 2: turns out he knows the decoy market better than me 125 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 2: and isn't interested in my suggestion for how to run 126 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,159 Speaker 2: his business. I also asked him to make me a 127 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,960 Speaker 2: feeding dough decoy, and that got me a response that 128 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 2: was similar to what I told my wife that I thought, 129 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 2: after this whole filming whitetail run, I'm on wraps up. 130 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 2: I'm just gonna go hunker down in Wisconsin for a 131 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:05,160 Speaker 2: few weeks until I run out of season or kill 132 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 2: a big buck. Anyway, a little buck decoy opens up 133 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 2: your options more. A big buck's not usually going to 134 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 2: fear a little buck, but that doesn't mean he's gonna 135 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,040 Speaker 2: mess with him. Sometimes they come in and it seems 136 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:20,760 Speaker 2: like they just want to push them around, kind of 137 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:23,200 Speaker 2: like when you use a quarter strut jake for spring turkeys. 138 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,560 Speaker 2: But sometimes they almost don't pay them any mind at all, 139 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 2: even if you pair that decoy up with some rattling 140 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 2: or grunting or snort wheezing or whatever. The bucks that 141 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 2: are out there this time of year are looking for 142 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 2: one thing first and foremost. That's not a fight. It's 143 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 2: something that while I'm not a dear biologist here seems 144 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,160 Speaker 2: like it's more likely to get offered up by doze 145 00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 2: than bucks. There is also the reality that putting out 146 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 2: a buck decoy has a ripple effect on the rest 147 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 2: of the non target deer That doesn't seem to do 148 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 2: you too many favors if you like having non target 149 00:07:55,720 --> 00:07:58,960 Speaker 2: deer around you. What I mean by that is, by 150 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,920 Speaker 2: the time the pre rudd is really kicking in, it 151 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 2: seems like the doughs have had enough of the harassment already. 152 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,320 Speaker 2: They are generally pretty leery of decoys anyway, which I 153 00:08:09,360 --> 00:08:11,360 Speaker 2: think is funny because we always talk about them as 154 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:14,000 Speaker 2: if they are easy to kill while acting like big 155 00:08:14,040 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 2: bucks are super smart. I think the average dough, at 156 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:21,040 Speaker 2: least pressure dough, has better survival instincts than the average 157 00:08:21,040 --> 00:08:24,560 Speaker 2: big buck. But that's fodder for a different podcast, and 158 00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 2: one that might get me shunned out of the deer 159 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,280 Speaker 2: on In community because it's built on the notion that 160 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 2: mature bucks are the masters of avoiding hunters. Any huski. 161 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:35,760 Speaker 2: If you put a buck decoy out, you are generally 162 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 2: admitting a few things. The first is you're calling out 163 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 2: bucks that are just not big enough, or the ones 164 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,440 Speaker 2: that don't have the right mentality to mess with your decoy. 165 00:08:45,559 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 2: The second is you're probably going to alarm some non 166 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 2: target deer with its presence, which can have a negative 167 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 2: effect on your sit. With a dough decoy, you mitigate 168 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 2: a lot of that stuff, And to be honest, doesn't 169 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:01,960 Speaker 2: it just makes sense to give the deer what they're 170 00:09:02,000 --> 00:09:05,040 Speaker 2: looking for. I really don't get the idea that it 171 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 2: should always be a buck decoy, but maybe that's a 172 00:09:07,120 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 2: personal problem. This really started to take shape for me 173 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:13,680 Speaker 2: a long time ago when I started using some portable 174 00:09:13,800 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 2: fold out deer decoys. One of them was a meal 175 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 2: deer decoy, but represented a feeding meal deer, so in 176 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 2: other words, it just looked like a relaxed deer that 177 00:09:23,559 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 2: was munching on some greenery or acorns. The white tails 178 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,840 Speaker 2: didn't seem to notice that it wasn't their species. And 179 00:09:29,880 --> 00:09:31,960 Speaker 2: what blew me away was that I could use it 180 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 2: in the early season, like in a beanfield setup, and 181 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 2: almost all of the deer would eventually come over and 182 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 2: feed by it. Now, some of the dose would look 183 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 2: very suspiciously at it at first, but almost always they'd 184 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 2: end up feeding over to it. It kind of shattered 185 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 2: my notion of what I knew about decoying at the time, 186 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 2: but the lesson there was one that stuck with me. 187 00:09:54,720 --> 00:09:58,840 Speaker 2: We absorb a lot of information about deer hunting vicariously. 188 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:03,840 Speaker 2: I you it at least partially as an academic pursuit, 189 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 2: which it is, but it's all so experiential. In fact, 190 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 2: experience is just the real difference maker between being good 191 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,760 Speaker 2: at this stuff or not. In my experience messing around 192 00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 2: with that feeding mule deer dough decoy and then later 193 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 2: their white tailed dough decoy, was that a lot of 194 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 2: what I'd always heard about decoying is just not always true. 195 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:35,000 Speaker 2: You can say I had a natural bend toward doe 196 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:38,520 Speaker 2: decoys to begin with, but that really became something different 197 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,000 Speaker 2: last season when I hunted with my daughters. Now I 198 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 2: know I've talked about this a lot, so bear with me. 199 00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 2: After one of my daughters shot a spike on the 200 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:49,120 Speaker 2: first night of the season, her sister was up to 201 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 2: bat and while I tried really hard to get a 202 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 2: buck in front of her, I couldn't even get a 203 00:10:52,520 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 2: deer to show itself. We sat in the north woods 204 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 2: and blanked and blanked and blanked, and it got to 205 00:10:57,840 --> 00:10:59,679 Speaker 2: be the first week of November, and I told her 206 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 2: that our shot was going to be to post up 207 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 2: with that dough decoy and just wade out a buck. 208 00:11:04,440 --> 00:11:08,040 Speaker 2: My rationale was that in a low deer density area, 209 00:11:08,200 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 2: a lone dough would draw some serious attention if we 210 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:13,320 Speaker 2: could get a buck to even look at it. And 211 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 2: it took us all day, but the buck that did 212 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:18,280 Speaker 2: look at it liked what he saw so much that 213 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:20,640 Speaker 2: he put on a scraping show for us and then 214 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 2: trotted into about fourteen yards and gave our fake deer 215 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 2: a good butt sniff. He seemed very confused at what 216 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 2: he got a whiff of, but he didn't get much 217 00:11:29,960 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 2: time to ponder it because my daughter shot him right 218 00:11:32,080 --> 00:11:33,920 Speaker 2: through the lungs and in a matter of seconds we 219 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:36,280 Speaker 2: were getting out of the blind to go look at him. 220 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 2: A week later, I sat in the exact same blind 221 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 2: with the doe set up in the exact same spot 222 00:11:41,480 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 2: and watched a cruising two year old eight pointer pop 223 00:11:43,840 --> 00:11:46,680 Speaker 2: out of the field and trot right past my setup. 224 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:49,199 Speaker 2: It was one of those deer hunting moments that went 225 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:52,840 Speaker 2: from oh he's in so much trouble to oh shit, 226 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 2: please come back, please come back so fast that happened 227 00:11:56,400 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 2: that you can barely believe it. I could almost see 228 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 2: that buck stop at the edge of the swamp and 229 00:12:02,040 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 2: process that he had a plan to go cruise somewhere else. 230 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 2: But his rut dulled brain had just seen the very 231 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:11,760 Speaker 2: thing he was looking for, even though he wasn't expecting it. 232 00:12:12,559 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 2: He turned to one eighty and came back into my life. 233 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,520 Speaker 2: And while he made a tiny bit farther than my 234 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:20,520 Speaker 2: daughter's deer, it didn't matter. We went two for two 235 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 2: after struggling all season, all because of a Doe decoy. 236 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 2: Now you might be thinking, well, if I had such 237 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 2: sweet ground to hunt like those dumb ass podcast hosts, 238 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 2: I could decoy one too. Now, I assure you most 239 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 2: of the public land I hunt in the Midwest is 240 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:39,480 Speaker 2: better than this private ground up in northern Wisconsin, and 241 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:41,920 Speaker 2: I can barely see a deer on it with my 242 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:45,840 Speaker 2: best efforts, which sometimes are pretty good. It was just 243 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,000 Speaker 2: the right situation to put out a fake lady. And 244 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 2: that's just it. In fact, I'm really hoping that by 245 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 2: the time you listen to this episode, I'm posing with 246 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,600 Speaker 2: a giant public land buck down on Iowa that falls 247 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 2: for the same trick. That's a TB kind of thing 248 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 2: at the moment, though. The truth is a dough decoy 249 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:06,880 Speaker 2: is a good idea for a lot of folks, but 250 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 2: it isn't just as simple as putting it out and waiting. 251 00:13:09,920 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 2: You want visibility first. You don't have to post up 252 00:13:13,920 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 2: on one hundred acre alfalfa field to make it happen, 253 00:13:16,960 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 2: but obviously you want it where a buck might look 254 00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,440 Speaker 2: at it and see it. You don't want to surprise 255 00:13:22,559 --> 00:13:25,400 Speaker 2: anyone with it. Deer like a lot of things, but 256 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 2: what they don't like is walking into a small kill 257 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 2: plot or meadow and suddenly seeing a deer that they 258 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 2: haven't heard or smelled before getting there. Now, some bucks 259 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:36,040 Speaker 2: might tolerate it, but you're likely to get a reaction 260 00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,480 Speaker 2: that's negative out of a lot of deer. You got 261 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,120 Speaker 2: to give them some space and then think about what 262 00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 2: deer would naturally do. In that setting where my daughter 263 00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:47,000 Speaker 2: and I killed, a lot of the deer come out 264 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 2: of the corner of the field from this nearby swamp 265 00:13:49,520 --> 00:13:52,200 Speaker 2: where they bed. So a deer that looks like it's 266 00:13:52,200 --> 00:13:54,840 Speaker 2: forty yars out from that corner facing in the right 267 00:13:54,880 --> 00:13:59,120 Speaker 2: direction just looks very natural. Now, maybe this isn't as 268 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 2: big of a deal as I believe, But I do 269 00:14:00,840 --> 00:14:03,440 Speaker 2: the same thing with turkey decoys in the spring. I 270 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 2: want them to look as much like how real turkeys 271 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 2: would use the landscape as possible, So with a dough decoy, 272 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,079 Speaker 2: I look for that kind of thing, even though maybe 273 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 2: that's just to settle my brain down and make it 274 00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 2: think that it's doing some smart stuff. But you do 275 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,160 Speaker 2: have to think about how they'll approach. This is one 276 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 2: of the reasons I like doe decoys more than buck decoys. 277 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 2: While bucks will generally approach a buck decoy head on, 278 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 2: or at least in the general direction of the head 279 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:32,600 Speaker 2: which has all of the weapons on it, a dough 280 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:36,320 Speaker 2: decoy is not a threat, it's an invitation, and they'll 281 00:14:36,360 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 2: generally approach it from straight behind. This gives you a 282 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,840 Speaker 2: very good chance to position them exactly how you want. 283 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 2: They also seem to forget about swinging down wind more 284 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 2: with dough decoys than buck decoys, which is an added bonus. 285 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 2: Although it's not a hard and fast rule, you should 286 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 2: think about the wind in any ascent. You might leave 287 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 2: around the decoy, for sure, but generally they walk in 288 00:14:59,600 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 2: right behind her and stick their necks out to give 289 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:04,880 Speaker 2: her a good sniffing. This means, if you like fifteen 290 00:15:04,960 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 2: or twenty hour broadside shots that distracted deer, a doe 291 00:15:08,360 --> 00:15:11,640 Speaker 2: decoy is a great idea. This is something that is 292 00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:15,120 Speaker 2: amazing even for forty four year old adult hunters with 293 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,440 Speaker 2: pretty extensive resumes, but who still screw up shots enough 294 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 2: to think about it way too much when they are 295 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,160 Speaker 2: trying to fall asleep and their dumb brains decide to 296 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 2: run a low light reel of failures just to remind 297 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:29,160 Speaker 2: them that they should probably be golfers. And it's even 298 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 2: more amazing when that happens for inexperienced hunters who need 299 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:38,840 Speaker 2: shots set up as predictably as possible. Plus, and I 300 00:15:38,880 --> 00:15:44,240 Speaker 2: want to stress this all lot, it's super fun. Deer 301 00:15:44,320 --> 00:15:47,960 Speaker 2: hunting should be fun. And watching a buck c and 302 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 2: then approach a decoy that's just about as fun as 303 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 2: it gets. It's cool knowing that you have that ace 304 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:57,400 Speaker 2: up your sleeve where instead of waiting for them to 305 00:15:57,480 --> 00:16:00,600 Speaker 2: choose a route that brings them close, they might walk 306 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,760 Speaker 2: in from anywhere to exactly where you want them to be, 307 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 2: all because they decided it was better to approach the 308 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 2: bride'smaid party instead of the dudees chugging yagger bombs and 309 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:15,400 Speaker 2: mean mugging the rest of the patrons. So think about 310 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 2: that if you're looking to juice up your rut hunts 311 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 2: this year, a good dough decoy might be the missing 312 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 2: piece there. And think about listening next week because I'm 313 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,120 Speaker 2: going to talk about how people get the rut wrong 314 00:16:26,520 --> 00:16:31,560 Speaker 2: and what they should do to get it right. That's 315 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:33,440 Speaker 2: it for this week. I'm Tony Peterson and this has 316 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 2: been the Wired to Hunt Foundation's podcast, which is brought 317 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 2: to you by First Light. I know you need some 318 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,160 Speaker 2: hype content this time of year. You want to see 319 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 2: some big bucks get killed. You want to listen to 320 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 2: some podcasts on the way out to your hunting spot. 321 00:16:45,800 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 2: The meat eater dot com has you covered. We just 322 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 2: recently dropped my North Dakota hunt from last year that 323 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 2: happened on public Land. You can watch me struggle mightily 324 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 2: on that one. Or if you're not in the mood 325 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 2: for tons of whitetail content which we have, you can 326 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:05,360 Speaker 2: go listen to Clay's podcast. He's always covering something just fascinating. 327 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 2: We've got Meet Eat Radio on Thursdays now dropping on 328 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,359 Speaker 2: Fridays too. You can check that out. A whole bunch 329 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:15,440 Speaker 2: of stuff there, tons of content the mediator dot com. 330 00:17:15,480 --> 00:17:17,439 Speaker 2: Please go check it out, and thank you again for 331 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 2: all your support.