'09 Heads Up Decoy-What Not to Do #1

I had turned David and Lincoln on to an area that is loaded with deer, but does not present any traditional whitetail ambush spots...no trees. The terrain is open with thick native grass about knee high to chest high is some places. The deer are easily visible but difficult to get close to. During the rut, the buck will chase does from one end of the field to the other, literally all day long.

We were surveying the area on a mild mid October Sunday morning. The wind was about 10mph from the NNW. We spotted some does moving in our direction on a ridge. We quickly positioned ourselves with David the shooter ahead 40 yards, myself operating the decoy, and Lincoln on the camera. The does acknowledged the decoy but bedded down leaving us wondering what to do. As Lincoln and I discussed our options a good 8 point buck rose from his bed and moved only to bed down a short distance from his original spot. David had no idea the buck was there.

David and I put together a game plan for putting a stock on the bedded buck while Lincoln stayed behind to video from a distance. We belly crawl through grass, yuccas, and cactus to within 47 yards of the bedded buck. I was to hold the decoy up and get the buck to rise drawing his attention while David poked him with the arrow. The wind had layed down some, and I wanted David to try to get closer. The buck spotted David's movement and we didn't get a shot.

Morale of the story, when you have a decoy...use the dang thing. It's to lure in an animal from a distance. We were close enough. We had the cover to use the decoy and to draw the bow, just got too greedy.