Deer decoys during rifle season?

[Varmint Hunter]

Is it legal to use a whitetail deer decoy during the rifle hunting season? I will be hunting on private property.

[charles p]

Yes it is legal in NC. 

[shot1]

I do know that the game wardens use them to entice people to shoot from the highway after dark. They have dummy deer they set up that the head will move and the tail will flip and they use those bright eyes reflectors for the eyes so they shine. I personally have seen them in Northampton and Halifax Co.

[Varmint Hunter]

Yes it is legal in NC. 

Thanks for the info. I may just buy a Montana photo image decoy that folds up into a disc. 

[Varmint Hunter]

I thought you guys might enjoy an update.

[MGMorden]

I do know that the game wardens use them to entice people to shoot from the highway after dark. They have dummy deer they set up that the head will move and the tail will flip and they use those bright eyes reflectors for the eyes so they shine. I personally have seen them in Northampton and Halifax Co.

Not just shooting them.  We were ticketed once for turning around and looking at the darned thing.  No guns in the vehicle.  My brother and I were coming home about 11pm - passed what looked to  be a huge buck sitting in the ditch.  It was late, the road was empty (middle of nowhere), so we turned around to see if he was still there and see if we could get an accurate count of his rack.  Soon as we pulled back around blue lights went off.  Got a ticket for "harassment of wildlife" because it's apparently illegal to observe wildlife via the use of an artificial light, and vehicle headlights DO count . . .   

[slim rem 7]

you actually got a ticket for something like that..things get crazier every day..

[shot1]

Yes the game GESTAPO in NC can be A**holes. They know that most people will not spend the money to fight such stuff in court and will just pay the fine. A good lawyer would have got you off. That "decoy" was not a game animal, it was an inanimate object the same as a road sign.  I know of a fine that was given to a man that was fishing on the Roanoke River in Roanoke Rapids NC with his little girl. She had to use the bathroom so he let her out on the bank to go into the weeds. A game warden just happen to be watching this area, it was during Rock Fish season, and apparently he could see the little girl doing her business. The warden came down and called the boat back to the bank and gave the man a ticket for littering because his little girl left toilet paper where she wiped herself after taking a crap. I did not hear how that one turned out but the man said that he was going to court and fight it.

[SHOOTALL]

stupid laws - you can spot lite only with permission of land owner and only until 10 pm  NO weapons in vehicle period ! There is a game warden in Lousia county Va. that will give you a ticket for casting light on areas where deer feed IF you make a turn to slow and your lights cross a deer feeding in a field. Alot of game laws are for making money and do little if anything to protect critters  Think about it cast light where deer MAYBE feed . Other than a Wally World parking lot where is it safe to use a light ?

[shot1]

In the Eastern section where I hunt you can't shine a light ANYTIME. In Northampton County you have to be 8' off the ground to deer hunt with a rifle and have written permission on your person from the land owner. If the warden catches you going to your stand with even a round in a detached magazine he will ticket you. I will agree it is all about money. I had the same warden check me three times in two hours in the same cove on Lake Gaston fishing one time. On the third time I asked him what his problem was and got his name & badge number and told him I was reporting his harassment and also told him there were laws against such things and he should know that. It did no good to report him. I was told that he was just doing his job.