Decoy at waterhole
Pronghorn
I'll be in northeast Colorado mid September for pronghorn. Was wondering if anyone has tried setting up a decoy at a waterhole ? I plan on putting up a ground blind and was wondering if I could/should supplement the set with a Mel Dutton decoy ?
Hoping some folks may have tried this - with or without success ?
Thanks in advance
I would let the water decoy in the pronghorns.
Yeah, pronghorn decoy at a waterhole, bad idea IMHO.
However, a customer of mine did have excellent success using a moo cow decoy on one end of a long waterhole, to help "squeeze" the bucks closer to his blind.
So, it can work as a confidence decoy, but also can help "channel" the bucks somewhat.
Best of Luck, Jeff
Will probably put them on alert. I'd pass and maybe use it out in the field.
Sorta like duck hunting...one decoy looks weird and doesn't draw ducks....multiple duck decoys is a magnet....most of us don't have 20+ antelope decoys, LOL....they are coming into the water that they already know is there...you can't improve on that!!
Joe
Just let the water do it's magic.
I would recommend not using decoys at water.
Yep, the water will bring them in.
Have you thought about hunting with the decoy? There's nothing like the adrenaline of have a mature Pronghorn bearing down on you at 50+ mph.
Last year I had this young buck lie down 15 yards from the blind and on the water's edge.
I thought, O"boy, a live decoy.
He stayed there for over 1/2 hour. Usually pronghorns come in, drink, and they are gone with a few minutes.
While the buck was lying there , this buck came over the hill, saw the buck there, watched for a while, must have figured something was wrong and left.
This was during the first week, Mid August, of the Colorado Season.
my best, Paul
Put a couple duck decoys on the far side of the water hole.
The antelope will avoid the ducks and come to your side
You can thank me later :)
sitO is correct, you haven't lived till you hunt the rut with a decoy and have one run you down. Highly recommended !
Interesting advice cnelk! I bet it works great too. I'll be toting the recurve first week of Sept and anything I can do to help get one in close is worth trying!
Brad, I set out this Magpie decoy and the buck came right to it!!! :)
Maybe a duck would also work.
My best, Paul
I ran an archery antelope outfitting business in the 90s. We played with decoys at water holes and never had consistent results. Some bucks absolutely came in with the decoy up and some bucks would shy away with the decoy up. We never saw a pattern you could bank on. Those bucks may have done exactly the same thing without the decoy up.
If you have enough land, I would save the decoy for use when you need a break from baking in the blind. If you don't have extra land you can do some decoying and stalking on without screwing up your waterhole, I would go without a decoy and just sit, and sit and sit. Its not physically demanding but it can be a mental challenge.
Never had any luck with a decoy next to water, even during the rut. I like to set up where I can be seen from water when decoying during the rut. Always at least a little higher elevation so my decoy can be seen.
