I first heard about the new DSD Bedded Doe decoy last winter and wrote about it soon thereafter; click here to read my initial impressions about it, and see a product reveal video.

I waited to follow up on that story until I saw the Bedded Doe included on the Dave Smith Decoys website, and also receive word it was in stock and shipping. That time is now.

As the photos here show, the Bedded Doe ($549.99) features an ultra-relaxed bedded posture, matched with an ultra-realistic paint job and finish. Very simply, it looks real. Note: The website has a 360 Decoy Viewer tool that allows you to drag and spin the decoy photo below, which provides every possible angle of this new offering.

One topic that wasn’t covered in the initial reveal video I watched last winter was decoy assembly. Good news: The Bedded Doe has a one-piece body with a removable head; set up is fast because all you must do is slide the short post from the neck into the body.

Depending on how and where you hunt, decoy weight and dimensions can be important considerations. For example, my favorite decoying spot is in a South Dakota river-bottom, and I have to walk a half-mile to get to my hang-on stand. (The landowner allows me to drive my pickup or ATV on the land only to recover a deer.) This DSD Bedded Doe weighs only 13 pounds, and because it’s relatively compact (about 3 feet long), I would have no trouble carrying it to my spot in a mesh decoy bag (i.e. the kind used for duck decoys).

Many bowhunters are reluctant to try decoying whitetails because they fear spooking deer. All I can tell you is I’ve been decoying for a decade, and while not every buck has come to a doe or buck decoy, I can count on one hand the number that reacted negatively. My ratio of positive to negative responses is something like 50 to 1. And all of these responses have been to standing decoys; I’ve never owned a realistic bedded doe decoy. In my estimation, this new offering will be crazy-effective, not only during the rut, but anytime.

One final word, and it’s about safety: I decoy deer ONLY on private land during archery season, and even then I’m careful to avoid placing a decoy (doe or buck) where it can be spotted from any road. In my opinion, it’s simply too risky to set a deer decoy where a poacher can find it in a riflescope and then send a bullet in my direction.