Dreams to Reality

When I started out, I had a saying on my website's home page..."Starting a New Revolution in Big Game Decoys". Although the saying is no longer visible on the website, the statement lives through my efforts and through those that help me promote my decoys. You see, I knew in my heart there was a way to expand one's opportunities with the proper tools. I think the Heads Up Decoy embodies a tool that provides opportunities never realized before...with opportunities comes success and hopefully moments you will never forget.

My good friend Kent accompanied me Saturday afternoon on November 20th in pursuit of a big whitetail buck. The plan was to head to some property I have access to and hang out in a pasture waiting for a giant whitetail to show himself. We left Kent's house at 1:45PM...ish. Driving to our planned destination, we weaved through the county buzzing by some additional property we could hunt. You see, we know that the big bucks have a tendency to bed up with a hot doe in the pasture ground, basically voiding treestand hunting.

Part of the trip was taking a highway for a couple miles before hitting a final turn on a county road. I was babbling on the phone driving 65mph when Kent tapped my arm and gave me a "whirly bird" signal with his finger to turn around. I hung up and turned around. Kent had spotted a buck in a raggedy cut milo field that a mouse wouldn't hide in. He was bedded with a doe about 300yds off the highway, and he was a shooter.

We bailed out of the truck and planned our attack. We grabbed the Heads Up Whitetail Buck Decoy, the camera, a Bugling Bull Grunt Call, and my bow. The plan of attack was to get down wind and walk at him as far as we could before he spotted us. We walked as one, in unison, with Kent in front with the decoy and camera and me holding on to his coat-tail across a small grass strip, a shin high wheat stubble field, and finally to the last small strip of grass abutting the milo field the buck was in.

Several people have asked me why I made the buck decoy so big. Well, you use big buck decoys to kill big bucks...like the one bedded just ahead of us. The typical western KS wind let us down...it was hardly blowing. Where this buck came from we don't know...maybe it was "Divine Intervention"...cause he was big and he was looking into what little wind there was allowing us to approach him. We gently stepped through 30 yards of milo stubble and closed the distance to 60 yards. Not wanting to disturb his doe bedded on our side, we set up. Kent displayed the Heads Up Decoy and the buck stood up. With a small grunt from the Bugling Bull Dialect Deer Call, the buck approached our position larger than life...ears down, hair out, stiff legged... I ran a Rage broadhead through his cage when he was at 15 yards(aka "toasted him" as you will soon witness)...the time was shortly after 3PM.

I exploded with emotion and energy when the arrow disappeared through the chest of this great animal that I will probably be criticized for. I guess my justification is that I have worked very hard and my family has sacrificed for this moment and I did not restrain myself very well. I hope to refine my on camera performance as I continue with the success of the Heads Up Decoy. I hope you will understand when you see this footage. Please appreciate the fact that my friend Kent and I did something that at the time was a possibility...not a reality and that was to take a mature whitetail buck at eye level with archery equipment in open country...and Kent, being the absolute MAN! captured it on video.

I want to personally thank my good friend Kent Hensley. A side note about Kent, he truly is the best hunter I know. He was holding the Heads Up Decoy when I harvested the first animal taken by my decoy 3 years ago. Now, he was holding a Heads Up Decoy when I harvested the first whitetail buck with the Heads Up Decoy. Kent is a good hunter and a great man. Thank you Kent for helping me prove that you can get away with almost anything using the Heads Up Decoy.

Please click the link below for the video.

Garrett's 2010 Whitetail Buck