deer reactions to turkey decoy's

[apoallo]

I was out turkey hunting the other day and 3 doe come within 20 feet of our ground blind. They were very courious about my turkey decoys. here is some video. You can here my Tom in the distance in the beggining of the video. I wound up not getting the tom, the 3 deers walked off in the area where the tom was roosting, and spooked him off the tree. He then ended up behind us about 30 yards in the brush, which we didnt know. He stopped gobbling and responding to us after he got spooked. So we waited until about 11:30 with hearing or seeing any activity and no response from my calls. We decided to pack up and leave and as we walked about 20 feet from out blind the Tom was right the laying behind some brush. I dropped some equipment as fast as I could so I could try to squeeze off a shot but he flew away..... I figure I would give him a few days to settle down before I go back to that area and hunt for him. Hopefully he will come back. There is a big food source where he was..... oh well I thought the video was interesting My phone only took aboiut 30 seconds. The doe's get much much closer to the decoy's almost sniffing them after this video ends... Good luck to everyone elsedeer turkey hunting.MOV

[apoallo]

here is a picture also of 2 of the 3 deer. The first one looks very thin and her coat isnt very good. We had a very mild winter so I figured they would have been able to find food better. you cant tell in this picture but I was able to count her ribs....from 20 - 25 feet

[Cabin Fever]

I took my son out last weekend and we had 3 yearlings come in to 10-15 yards from my turkey decoys to check them out. They did this 6 different times!!! They would get within a few yards, snort, bound ~50 yards, then come back in and do it all over again! It was very humorous to watch! They were so curious, that they just couldn't let it go! I told my son we might need to use turkey decoys for deer hunting! LOL They sure helped pass the time, since no gobblers were cooperating!

Edited May 7, 2012 by Cabin Fever

[First-light]

We had a doe doing a head bob on the decoy for 20 minutes. It was so funny!

[apoallo]

lol yes cabin fever that might be a great idea to use the turkey decoys in deer season. I think you are alllowed to use decoys for deer right?? might take some attention of us. although during the rut they dont care about us anyways. So late bow and muzzleloader it might work

[Sambuca]

On Saturday, my wife had a doe come in and stomp at the base of a hen decoy she had set out. After the deer got frustrated that the turkey didn't move it walked past her within 10 yards and slipped into the woods. Maybe Turkey decoys might help fill freezer with the DMP tag?

[Nomad]

Few years ago here in Webster i took a video on my cell of a young buck smelling and touching my decoy .

[fasteddie]

I havn't turkey hunted in a few years but always marveled to the fact that deer would approach the decoys . Always wondered about using the decoys during bow season but never did use them , yet .

[apoallo]

well i think i might do that this year during late muzzleloader season with my crossbow. I dont think the deer would give to sh*** about the decoy's during the rut

[NFA-ADK]

Good decoy for ground blind anyway! At least it takes the attention off of the blind. I think it would be good in my "ambush" area's to keep the deer on a visual other than myself yet I would hate to scent the area that much before my ambush... Cool Vid, Thanks for sharing!

[cynthiafu]

some one told me to put a teddy bear out in the woods and the deer will go see what it is .

[apoallo]

well the decoy's i guess are better then i thought they would be. I bought them from wallmart a few years back. you have to blow them up like a pool float. not good if I shoot too close to them with my shotgun....

[NFA-ADK]

some one told me to put a teddy bear out in the woods and the deer will go see what it is .

They are inquisitive thats for sure!

[Doc]

I have noticed that a lot of times you will see turkeys and deer together. It's almost like they know that where there is food for the other, there is food for them. Their diet is quite similar.

[cynthiafu]

They are inquisitive thats for sure!

that is the word i was looking for

[TeeBugg]

well the decoy's i guess are better then i thought they would be. I bought them from wallmart a few years back. you have to blow them up like a pool float. not good if I shoot too close to them with my shotgun....

I have the same decoys...and your right hopefully I don't shoot one while taking a tom lol

[TeeBugg]

Had the same scenario a few days ago. Actually was 2 days in a row. 2 does both big came in and just kept looking at the decoys. Figured they would spook but they just kept getting closer. Very interested in finding out if I can use the decoys during deer season....

[fasteddie]

As for decoys , you should be able to use turkey decoys during deer season .

Many years ago , I called the DEC in Avon to see if it was legal to use a deer decoy during deer season . He daid , of course it is . I told him that I couldn't find anything in the Regs book that said it's legal . He got pissy and said in a loud tone , " If it doesn't say it's illegal in the Regulations , then it's legal ". I thanked him and hung up .

[Jennifer]

I have noticed that a lot of times you will see turkeys and deer together. It's almost like they know that where there is food for the other, there is food for them. Their diet is quite similar.

I see deer and turkeys together all the time! This is really smart if you think about it, and I bet that over the bajillions of years that turkey and deer have co-habitated that they have developed this relationship. Think about it-- deer can hear and smell (especially smell) potential predators, and turkeys can see predators coming 40 miles away. When they mill around together, feeding, they are doubly safe, meaning there is twice the chance they will have an early warning. They eat a lot of the same feed, especially in the fall.

It's why I was surprised when Apoallo said that the deer spooked the tom. This seems unlikely, but I wasn't there. One thing the woods has taught me is that crazy things CAN happen any time.

I have noticed a definate calming effect when there are galliformes around deer. Okay, I will explain. I have chickens and I only let them free range when I am out and about with them because we have every predator here that would like to eat them (I'll admit it, they're pet chickens). When I am out in the yard doing thingsm sometimes I will catch glimpses of the deer back in the woods, sneaky sneaking around and generally acting like spooky deer do when they are around people's houses. When I am out and my chickens are ranging in the yard, nearly without fail, deer will come up into my yard and their behavior is totally different. They are relaxed and feeding. Yesterday a young buck came within 10 yards of me. I have never, NEVER fed the deer.

The moment the chickens get put away they (the deer) leave again. Sometimes they will even make a big show of snorting and running off, as if I hadn't been there the whole time!

It sounds nuts but I have videos of it.

My dad jokes that we should bring the chickens with us during deer season. That's silly, of course, but the turkey decoy is an idea! I never thought of that. It might be a neat experiment.