I’ve always been a fan of decoys and feel that using them with proper tactics when calling predators can increase success immeasurably. By using decoys, you not only appeal to a predator’s sense of hearing but also to its discerning eyesight. A critter that has a tendency to be overly wary or call shy due to hunter encounters can often be foiled into making a mistake by the judicious use of a decoy, either in the form of a full-body adversary or a motion decoy — or better yet, both.

For my money, motion is by far the most effective aspect of decoying. My first dog was a rat terrier cross, and I now have an 18-year-old Jack Russell terrier, Feisty. Both have been hunting machines, pursuing everything from from mice to deer and consistently spotted critters long before I did — in many cases where I couldn’t locate a damn thing. However, on many occasions I’ve spotted an unmoving critter large or small that the dogs missed seeing, but the instant that beastie moved the slightest bit, they zeroed-in like a radar beacon.

Way back during the Dark Ages, when I first started hunting predators, there weren’t electronic callers or such a thing as a predator decoy on the market. My first fox calling predator decoys were a pheasant or jackrabbit frozen in a lifelike upright position. They provided no movement and were a pain to use so I replaced them with turkey feathers on monofilament line tied to a right-angle support on a foot-high wooden stake — white turkey feathers for early season and dark turkey and pheasant tail feathers when there was snow on the ground. The feathers swung enticingly in the slightest breeze and brought a number of red foxes within range of my shotgun and rifle, while I was still in high school.

My first self-moving decoy was feathers attached to the arm of a battery-operated metronome, the kind that musicians use to mark time. The arm swung back and forth waving the feathers and it worked OK but proved too temperamental for the rugged conditions of predator hunting.

When I was in college, I mounted a couple white-tailed jackrabbits, a dark fall one for winter use and a white one for early fall. I used these effectively for several years until mice finally de-furred them, often in conjunction with feathers tied with monofilament to a black painted arrow shaft.  This was a deadly combo that conned a lot of red foxes and coyotes into range.

During one fall deer season, I called up and shot a large Texas bobcat. And since the skimpy fur wasn’t worth much, I decided to invest in the ultimate lifelike predator decoy. I had the cat mounted with a black-tailed jackrabbit hanging from its mouth. I figured no self-respecting coyote, gray fox or bobcat could turn down checking out this realistic phony. Wrong! I should have used a small cat, because this large, intimidating mount scared the bejeezus out of every predator that came within sight. I did manage to kill a couple critters at long range when they locked up and eyed the decoy. I gave that infernal decoy to a rancher — rather than use it for target practice.

Fortunately, today’s predator hunters have a good selection of motion and static predator decoys at their fingertips, from a lifelike full-body Flambeau Lone Howler Coyote to Montana Decoy’s collection of photo realistic silhouette decoys. Several times when I first used the photo silhouette single decoy, I had critters spook when they circled, got head on to the decoy and the two-dimensional decoy disappeared. To remedy this, I either set two decoys perpendicular to each other or used a silhouette in conjunction with a radio-controlled gyrating decoy. 

My favorite full-body decoy is the foam Feather Flex Whitetail Fawn decoy. The single stake running up through the front leg allows this decoy to swing enticingly with the slightest breeze, providing very visible movement. However, I always put a couple small stakes 6 to 12 inches apart, bracketing the rear legs. This allows some movement but keeps the decoy from swinging in a full circle — another lesson learned the hard way when a spinning decoy spooked several incoming predators.

There are a number of bouncy, wobbling, gyrating, battery operated, motorized fuzzy wuzzy and phony feathered decoys available today, such as those marketed by Foxpro, Byron South, Mojo and others. Foxpro has a whole selection of motion predator decoys offering continuous or intermittent action. Some are remote controlled, others are attached to the e-caller itself.

Decoys are especially effective during late season, when you are likely to be coping with a high percentage of ultra-skittish, call-shy, escape and evasion prone predators. Don’t be a dummy — never leave home without one!