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How many people use a decoy when hunting elk in early archery? If so what decoy and why?
My brother does. Montana cow butt, because nobody should be shooting at the south-end of an Elk.
Also one of the lightest and most compact options, which is important when you're 3 hours and 2,000 feet up the trail.
I think it was Lou who had some good results wearing a funny hat, but that always seemed like a good way to get yourself shot at....
Yeah im a little nervous about getting shot at. I seen the hat and like it just dont know how well it would work.
One of my hunting partners came back to camp a number of years ago with a story about how a guy drove up on an ATV and shot an arrow as his cow butt decoy and missed. He was about to knock another arrow when my partner broke concealment and yelled at the guy a bit. Funny story for sure.
I keep a Heads Up cow elk head decoy strapped to my pack all September. It's super light and accessible for a quick setup either with the bow attachment or with a clip to a tree branch.
FWIW, I think the smart move is to set up the deke so that you can only see the edge of the frame.
That creates maximum visibility for an animal that would have to give you a broadside shot if it were to approach the target directly, and it would lose sight of the deke entirely if it were trying to circle around it, so maybe you get lucky and it has to come back in for a closer look...
I was using montana elk decoys 15 years ago. They work and they dont.
I think it works better to 'flash' a decoy than a static decoy
Have at it
I have used the side profile Montana decoy several times and only had 1 elk come to it, it happened to be a spike and when he came thru the timber responding to a cow elk call he seen the decoy and it appeared to me felt comfortable that thee was another elk close by and relaxed but it did not go to the decoy and was to far from me to get a shot, it was in a clearing and he just fed for a while and walked off the good news it didn't spook him at all
The hat is golden in the right situation. I don't just walk around on the woods wearing it. It is clipped on my pack. If I get busted I drop down, put it on, show myself with a soft mew, take a couple bites of grass and look around. Often they go right back to their business. I let myself be seen when skylined or calling to a visible bull. I'll show it, drop down and move, show it again from a different spot while softly calling. I've sucked-in bulls at point blank, taken it off and waved it at them, and they still don't leave.
I also use a Heads Up, Montana butt, and Ultimate predator. The secret to decoying is to give it movement. Flashing the butt, walking behind the Heads Up or UP, moving the hat like a live elk would do.
Ultimate Predator for me. It has worked way too many times now for me to try anything else. Going to try the Turkey out this Spring in Nebraska.
So I guess I should tell my brother to twerk it a little and see if that helps ;)
Just flashed on an image of Lou walking around like Elmer Fudd with Jackass ears... ‘bout cost me a good cuppa coffee!
Matt, my hunting partner laughed and laughed when I showed up with the original deer hat. Said it was the stupidest thing he'd ever seen. Then an hour later he watched as I decoyed three P&Y class muley bucks into 25 yards, and passed them up. The next weekend, he had one too.
Well, better ornery than stupid, right? ;)
