The author lured this mid-December South Dakota buck into close range — 10 yards! — by placing his Flambeau Boss Babe decoy 20 yards upwind from his treestand (decoy facing into the wind). When the buck walked between the decoy and the treestand, to get downwind of the decoy, the buck’s attention was 100 percent focused on the fake, making for a perfect shooting opportunity.
Sure, some archery dealers have massive stores and sell large amounts of clothing, as well as ground blinds, treestands, deer decoys and just about everything else — large and small — that you can think of for pursuing whitetails, wild turkeys and other big game.
My purpose in writing this article isn’t to address those few dealers with almost unlimited floor space. Instead, I’m thinking about the archery shop where you can speak with someone on the opposite side of the store and do so in a normal voice. Here, space is precious, and for that reason, these archery shops must be very careful when deciding whether to stock anything but the basics (bows and accessories).
The idea for this article came from a recent whitetail hunt in South Dakota. Again, I punched my tag thanks to a deer decoy, and as I carried it under my arm back to my pickup, I thought about how it has become a vital part of my bowhunting game plan. Even so, I never see deer decoys for sale in my local archery shops.
The two deer decoys featured below aren’t crazy expensive, and they won’t take up much space in your store. And trust me, they work. I suggest you bring them into your archery shop during early summer, when customers are beginning to get serious about planning for the upcoming whitetail season.
Flambeau Master Series Boss Babe
This is not an exaggeration: From late October through early December, I’d choose to leave my rangefinder or binocular in the truck before my Flambeau Master Series Boss Babe ($165.99 on the Flambeau website, but street price is often $120). There is NOTHING I own that makes a bigger difference to my deer hunting enjoyment and ultimate tag-punching than my Boss Babe. Period.
In terms of size, Boss Babe mimics a 1.5-year-old doe. Decoy dimensions: nose to tail, 41 inches; tip of ear to the ground, 44 inches; body width, 11.5 inches; shoulder to the ground, 32 inches. Weight: just under 14 pounds.
The durable, blow-molded plastic 3-D decoy features realistic detail, and in my opinion, what sets it apart from other doe decoys is its stance. She is squating, like she’s peeing, and during the rut, this causes cruising bucks to lose their minds, especially if you spray some doe-in-heat scent on the decoy’s rump and on the ground downwind of the decoy. (I always set up the decoy facing into the wind, upwind of my ambush location.) A peg on the decoy’s rear leg allows for the attachment of scent pads.
Boss Babe is easy to carry into the field because it's collapsible. The head, legs and ears detach and fit conveniently in the body cavity for easy transportation. The leg attachment system has a large diameter screw cap to lock down each leg from inside the body. A secure plug is provided for the head hole so that parts don't fall out during transport. Note: It includes two sets of ears: submissive and alert. Because of the decoy’s wide stance, you don’t need to use stakes, which is a tremendous benefit in the field. Finally, Boss Babe looks great as a bedded decoy, too; simply don’t install the legs.
I suggest you have one assembled Boss Babe on display so customers can see and touch it, take it apart, check its weight, etc. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Montana Decoy Dreamy Doe
The Dreamy Doe ($79.99) from Montana Decoy works well throughout the deer season, including the rut. Because the 2-D decoy (image on both sides) weighs just under 2 pounds (including leg poles), it can be used as cover to spot-and-stalk whitetails in open terrain. I like it best when placed around food sources or in relatively open river-bottoms. Again, as with the Boss Babe described above, I place the Dreamy Doe upwind of my ambush location.
When unfolded, Dreamy Doe measures 37 x 40 inches; folded, 13 x 16 inches. (Click here for a quick video on how to properly fold the Dreamy Doe.) Hunters can add a Teaser Tail ($20.99; sold separately) for extra motion and realism.
Thin boxes storing collapsed Dreamy Doe decoys will take up little space in your store, and even an assembled decoy is easy to display. You’ll certainly want one Dreamy Doe on display so customers can see and touch it, as well as practice collapsing it.
Closing the Sale
Customers are more likely to purchase a specific product if the person selling it is knowledgeable and excited about it. In my opinion, this shouldn’t be difficult because I can promise you these decoys work. Encourage your staff to use them on their own deer hunts; heck, give them to your staff as a perk. And when they tag a deer, be sure they take decent pics of the animal and the decoy in the background so you can showcase it on your social media pages.
