Buck Decoys- The Truth About Them

Buck Decoys-The Truth About Them. I would have to venture a guess and say 90%(if not more) of the every day Whitetail deer hunter do not own and have not thought about using a buck decoy. I am not sure why this is but I can not recall it ever coming up in conversation with another hunter. I'm not sure they are even  readily available at say Gander Mountain or Dicks.
   This being said lets consider something else. How many times have you seen a trophy buck, out of shooting range or could not slow the deer down long enough to get an ethical shot or for whatever reason could not close the deal? I know more than half of the time I saw a true trophy class deer and did not close the deal. Hell,maybe 90% of the time. We have all heard it and it stands true, Trophy bucks did not get to be trophies because they are stupid. They are intelligent and as bone collectors and hunters of trophy animals we need every tool in our arsenal to harvest these once in a life time whitetails.
  Okay,here is the scoop on the buck decoy. If you did not know, bucks run in bachelor groups through the summer. By the time these bucks are working on shedding there velvet the pecking order has been established. The bucks that use your area as there home range are familiar with the other bucks in the area. They know which one is the dominant Buck and who is who, so to speak,and basically have established the pecking order. When you put a decoy out it you are introducing a new buck that they are not familiar with. Using a little buck scent in combination(Put directly on decoy)can be very effective. Don't misunderstand me, There is certain times and conditions that a decoy will work best. Often times when I'm hunting like a soybean field or an open area I love to use them. The big, smart bucks will hang up in the woods until dark, then come to feed in the bean field. You might never know they are there. By putting a decoy out it can draw that buck to investigate. In general I would have to say open areas is when decoys are going to be most effective. I think you get my point.
   Two of my best bucks taken, a decoy made the difference and help me close the deal. Hunting a open field during bow season, It gets difficult to get the bucks to come in bow range. The decoy will peak his curiosity and he will have to come check it out.

Hunting The Rubs A Whitetail makes Or The Lack There Of...

Hunting the rubs that Whitetail Bucks make with there horns Or The Lack There Of ...
  I have been really looking for rubs and haven't been seeing any this year. It is really weird. I know there is bucks in my area because I have trail Cam pics of them So it is not to concerning. I tend to think maybe where I am hunting might just be the path the deer travel to get to there bedding areas or water, or food. one really odd thing is that places that last year had rubs like crazy do not have rubs this year. The area where you normally find rubs will most of the time have rubs year after year. Not necessarily the same trees but definitely the same are.
  Another reason this is not to concerning is over time I have learned to focus on the scrapes as appose to the rubs. Don't get me wrong, when I'm looking for a stand location it gets me very excited to see rubs on the trees around where I am thinking of setting a stand but it is not crucial. Before we had trail cams it would have been a different story but I have pictures of good 3 and a 1/2 year old deer moving through my trails on multiple occasions. The point I really want to make is this, Whitetail bucks will rub there antlers on trees and never return to that tree again. But a scrape from a Whitetail Buck , well, he will check up and freshen up on a regular basis. It is the bucks M.O., him letting other deer know who he is and he is in the area. It is a social thing. As well other bucks will mark this scrape if so inclined and it will let the first buck know who he is. That being said, Mature whitetails will check there scrapes on a regular basis. A Rub well tell you a Buck was there, but there is nothing saying he will ever come back to that spot. Don't worry about rubs, they are encouraging to see, especially big ones on big trees, but not what needs to be focused on. Scrapes are where it's at, That is, your chance at harvesting the buck that made it.