OK so my brother hunts on my land with me and he sent me a text today That said "Hey we need to make us some dummies to put in all our stands so when we hunt they will just think it is part of the tree cause with them empty now they are used to it but if we get in them and we are and they see us they will go the other way". What the heck is he thinking?? So when we get to the stand we have to deal with a wet heavy bummy which is not exactly my deffinition of safe to begin with, then you have to do something with it while hunting. His response to what to do with them while hunting was "put them on the ground and cover them with a camo tarp". Are you kidding me? OK so lets make as much noise as we can, make it even more unsafe and do to the dummy what we do with our selves with camo and add a tarp to the already extensive list of things to carry to the stand. Thats a great idea little brother!!!! Sory about the rant but, I think its just plain dumb. What do you guys think??
If your brother employs this tactic, they'll be a dummy on the ground, covered with a tarp and a second in the tree. Seriously, I would be worried about the dummy on the ground. I can't count the number of times deer have literally been directly under me. I wouldn't want a piece of anything that I touched laying on the ground under me.
Well the thought really isn't too bad. I had a thread like this a long while back. Basically the deer get used to the silloutte in the tree. A lot of times, a large "thing" sticking off the side of a tree can stick out and it's difficult even in good cover. As far as getting them down, just lower him down by rope when you climb in. It shouldn't make that much noise and at least where I hunt, he would be hidden by brush so no need for a camo tarp or netting. I'm still not sold that the theory isn't solid, just that it's too much effort for the return, which is basically the general concensus in my thread.
Why not just select trees that will offer cover while in the treestand? With camo on the body and well placed tree limbs there would be sufficient cover. On another note, I was in a big, fat oak with no real cover, no limbs from the tree and no other trees very close, and I still had four deer, a 10 a 4 and two does, feeding around under me. The 10 looked at me every so often but, since I wasn't moving, he didn't get worried and they all moseyed off after about 20 minutes or so. Movement is what gets you noticed over any other thing, IMO.
Exactly how I feel. I've been in plain sight before and even been stared down, but as long as I didn't move, all was good. One of the biggest mistakes that bow hunters make is trimming TOO much.
This isn't the first time you've been on here stewing about your brother. The saying goes, you don't get to pick your family.
I think its a glorious idea! How many hang on/fixed stands do you have setup? I agree, there should be one in each stand. Make sure the height and weight is exact for which person will be most likely to use that stand. The camo should match too, just to be safe. Another thing to consider, should the dummy be standing or sitting? I guess that would depend on the hunter. Some like to sit more than they stand, or vice versa. So many factors to consider! Please let us know how this plays out. Photos would help.
I get where your brothers heads at, I thought the same thing but not a 3D dummy, just a silhouette covered in camo. Make a flat cutout and cover it in camo and strap it to the tree behind your seat. You could even make the silhouette with an arm up to match how you would look with your bow drawn. Then take it one step further and a manufacturer could make a back cushion in that shape so you have a back rest to lean against in the stand. Your brother is wicked smart:D
I know this and I wouldn't trade him for the world. I'm not really complaining about him as he will understand if I explain it. He just gets these ideas from people he works with and when I ask him do they either hunt or have they tried this stuff them selves 99% of the time he says no or I don't know, I didn't ask. This is not the brother I have had trouble with though. I love him no matter what and will always allow him to hunt here unless he does something really unethical as the other one I use to rant about some did. He wants to be good at hunting but, I don't think he understands a good education about this will go way further than he thinks. Heck I have been trying to get him to join thos forum since a week after I did and he hasn't even visited it yet. This all goes back to our child hood when school was not important to our family. Long story and not getting into that one. I have learned over the years to research things before just taking someones word it will work and educate myself in many areas not just hunting. Most of the time I do some research online and then ask questions on here to see if anyone has tried it. I will then base my decision on two things. How well you guys say it works and what I think based on what I have read about the process in which it works and how I feel my deer will react based on past experiences. This one seams to be more trouble than it would ever be worth considering the stand locations and amount of cover I made sure they all have this season.
It aint going to happen. lol Im not going to do it anyways. Weigh out the agravations in your head over the benifit. No one has been busted on stand here yet. Ground blind once. I am not saying it wont happen but, I feel the trouble is not worth the reward. If he wants to try on ein one of the stands and compare the difference in the rest at the end of the season he is more than welcome too. I will do it if I have proof it is most deffinately worth it.
I've thought about putting a blaze orange vest around the tree that my stand's in...But not a life size dummy lol. Maybe a baby doll :D
