What's the Deal with Predator Hunting Decoys?

Having hunted coyotes for years with the use of terrain camoflauge clothing, hand calls and more recently an electronic caller, I've had fairly good success. In the past, I didn't use predator decoys because I really didn't recognize their usefulness and was under the opinion I was doing ok without them. I guess you could say I was caught up in "old school" thinking on this subject. But, over the past few years, I have come to learn through experience just how valuable this tool can be to a predator hunter and have changed my way of thinking on this subject.
There were many times I experienced the situation where a coyote would approach the sound of my calling and then hold up several hundred yards out. Instinctively, I would try to coax it in closer with lip squeaks or a coaxer only to have it turn tail and run. Through this experience, I have learned that when a coyote cannot identify what it is that is making the sound it tends to be over-cautious and, many times, end up spooking. But when it can see something directly from where the sound is coming from even though it may not look like the distressed animal that would make that sound, it most often will drop its guard and continue coming into the call. When you see that the coyote has spotted the decoy you are able to stop calling and position yourself for your shot while the coyote is focused on the decoy. I have had coyotes literally come charging in within whisker length of a decoy. Most recently I had 3 coyotes come charging in together directly to my e caller I had hidden in a thorn bush behind a feather decoy. There are many types of decoys on the market from 3-D sillouettes to motorized types. There is the old turkey feather on a stick that works quite well which will also act as a wind direction indicator. There are rabbit decoys, bird decoys, fawn and coyote decoys...all have their place in a successful coyote hunter's bag of tricks.
Whether or not you take advantage of using decoys in your predator hunting is up to you. But if you want to see an increase in your success consider using decoys in combination with your calling...as for me, I'm sold on them. Good Hunting.