Knew he made great calls, didn't know about the decoys. Thanks for the heads up.I haven’t ever added anything but I use the Carlton Butthead decoy which is 3d and I feel like that has helped add the “real” factor to it. After a couple years of using a decoy during archery season I am convinced it works. Especially as a solo hunter.
Knew he made great calls, didn't know about the decoys. Thanks for the heads up.
It is exciting for sure. I usually use a buck decoy and each encounter is different. Hopefully my calling is up to snuff to keep from buggering an incoming bull.I never add anything. If the decoy is going to work, it does. If it isn't going to work, I probably said the wrong thing in elkish and nothing is going to change his mind.
The encounters are short term, and I'm not pulling in a whitetail from across a big field. I will say that decoys and rutting whitetails are what makes treestand hunting tolerable. It is fun to watch the different behaviors of dominant verse subordinate bucks.
Jeremy
Paul do you catch a distant bull's attention and when he heads your direction do you make it disappear to get him to come in a little closer looking for the cow he spotted earlier?Basically a Decoy is best utilized in semi to open country where a tight setup is just not possible! In Dark Timber country a Decoy is not needed, instead have a Setup where an incoming elk Must come into your range before they need to stop & look where the source of the calling is coming from! Your SETUP is one of the most over looked parts of the hunt & costs more hunters a shot than any one thing!
Don't depend on your Decoy to be a miracle worker, it's merely a tool for specific occasions.
ElkNut/Paul
In response to the OP's question, I don't add anything to the decoy itself - I hang it from a branch with a short bungee to allow any thermals or ambient breeze to shift it around. I threw all the poles away. I specifically use the decoy when by myself and, not setup as the caller for another hunter. I've found it very useful to distract a bull's attention and move him away from me when he's coming in, allowing for a better shot at his vitals. The decoy is always setup 30 to 40 yards to one side of me.
Not a big fan of the frontal shot, though I know it can kill an elk. Had a friend lose a good bull that way, very little blood trail and when found couple days later arrow never exited.Exactly. And like Paul said, it is not needed a lot of the time. The setup is critical. I've found a decoy is not a miracle worker but it can buy you a few seconds or get an elk into a slightly better position than coming straight in.
Good to know, thanks. I have one of those ordered, the Carlton one also. Now if I can get the Heads Up one and figure a way to put all of them on one stake, it will look like a harem of cows just waiting for Mr. Big to show up, Lol.We use an ultimate predator cow without additions and it works great
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
Will be 3 of us mostly.Are you hunting w a partner? If so, have them set up behind you calling. They can move an ear every now and then w a quick flick
Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk