Cool footage and great buck! I killed my first decoy buck last week. He wasn't big but it sure tripped my trigger. He was a 120" 8 point when I shot him and a 115" 8 pt when I recovered him. He broke a G3 on the death run and I couldn't find it.
Very nice and congrats! I’ve been trying to kill a whitetail on film for several seasons, and have not had the luck. Mostly because I can’t wait as long as you did to shoot!
Both of those angles were awesome. The over the shoulder hunts are my favorite as it shows it from the hunter’s perspective. I have captured a lot of self filmed hunts, and I can say from experience you are one, cool customer to have that buck at your decoy, with the main cam running, and still take the time to adjust it and turn on your go pro. Very impressed. Well done sir!
In your GoPro footage you seem to be pretty naked up in your stand. Do you have any problems getting picked, or does the decoy hold their attention to where it’s not an issue?
Troy, I was thinking the same thing as I sat there that morning...shoulda moved that stand in the Summer. I'd only hunted it once early season, and with the leaves it wasn't as bad. The drought, a few years back, killed a lot of trees in this area and that stand used to be thick with "backdrop" cover. There's a big tree to the NE of the stand which is hard to see from either angle, but that's the direction he came from.
I think the tree out front helped, but yes...the decoy seems to take ALL of their attention when they lock on to it. You can get away with quite a bit of motion, sound, and even scent when they are in its "grips".
Thanks everyone, it was a goal of mine to get all of that on film from two angles...the "snort wheeze" and a good shot were bonuses.
Impressive! i love the 2 camera idea. Congratulations on getting a great buck on film. You showed tremendous patience and composure getting it all together.
No scent on decoy, but I did spray some doe pee on a few weeds around him. I sprayed the deke with scent killer at beginning of season, but have had him out 10-15 times since then...and he rides in the back of the Tahoe.
I usually face the decoy into the wind, that day it was NE, and that's the direction he came from.
If you watch him closely, there's a point early on where he senses something, or smells something. He drops the "attitude" for a second and walks back towards me and the field edge a bit...but it was brief and he was "sold again" shortly.
Kyle that’s interesting. Would you mind expanding on your strategy and past experiences with which way you face it?
It’s been my experience that they “like” circling and coming head on to a buck decoy. So I always have the wind at their back, quartering to me, so that the buck typically circles downwind of the decoy coming in between me and the decoy and then giving me the quartering away shot as he postures in, head on to the decoy.
Matthew, I can't think of an encounter where the buck came directly head on, but I may be misplacing an episode or two. I've used a decoy extensively, maybe more than I should...both full body, and the HUD.
I'm not an expert by any means, but I do enjoy the interaction, and just when I think I've seen everything they throw another curve.
I usually set him facing into the wind, but occasionally I go against that and face him into a thicket, or just whatever the thickest cover is...kinda like he's looking over a doe in there. I have watched doe's and some bucks key on the direction he is looking. I've watched them stand in one spot for 5+min trying to figure out what he's interested in...and bottom line is that I don't want them looking at me or catching movement from my stand.
In almost every encounter the buck, if "sold" on the deke, comes close enough and changes angles enought to give me a broadside opportunity at some point. I've never had one just run in and blow up the deke, but I have had them size him up for several minutes and then take him out.
Heck, sometimes I just set him up thinking about how he'll be seen from afar, or an adjacent trail, more of an "art than a science" I reckon ;?)
Sure have had fun watching their interactions, and responses...especially after they knock him for a loop! I'll try to put together some clips as most of my other videos are WAY too long to keep most folks attention.
Be good and have fun...you and your brother look like great guys that do it right, and I appreciate that!
Yes KS, I'd have to say the 10th up to the rifle season which starts the 28th this year. I've had them out earlier and had some interactions, but you said most effective and after the 10th I've had the best luck.