Desert Mule Deer Hunting with Heads Up Decoy

As the midwest rut comes to a close, many people forget or are not aware that the desert southwest is now the rutting hot spot for mule deer and coues. With plenty of public land and over-the-counter archery tags, it provides great bowhunting opportunity if you are willing to head south for the winter...or if you already live there. With the annual success rate of 3-7%, you'll be in for a challenge.

Photo Courtesy of Jon Yokley

December and January is prime time for states like Arizona and New Mexico. Heads Up Decoy can prove to be a vital part to success in the desert SW.

Tyler Wilson from Carlsbab, NM has been using Heads Up Decoy for several years now. He has generously offered a story of is buck he took a couple years back with the H.U.D Mule Deer Buck Decoy. For his story, Tyler will receive a Heads Up Decoy prize pack. For more information about Heads Up Decoy or to purchase any of our mobile decoy products visit www.headsupdecoy.com

Here is Tyler's Story

Well year after year looking on social media I would always see Patrick Montgomery and his clients kill big deer year in and year out!!! Not just a few good deer but everyone was killing a trophy. Finally, I had to call him up and see what the big secret was and really see if the HUD was really the big deal. Since it was in all the pictures he had posted. Like most guys like Patrick he didn’t mind one bit to share some details about the HUD. I reached out to Heads Up Decoy to ask about the big hype.

Early December we finally found a couple bucks that were on the buck-it-list. One of which being a deer that we nicknamed high tine which some other hunter would harvest in January that scored in the high 180s. Not knowing this buck was going to be taken we patterned this deer as much as possible but with this hunt being in rut we knew he would be somewhere in the area with all the doe. 3 weeks out I finally said what the heck lets buy some Head up decoys (mule deer buck). So, we each bought one. When I finally received my HUD in the mail I couldn’t wait until January 1 to see if this crazy product was going to WORK??!!!! Well to my surprise the HUD was awesome. I watched a decent 8 point that we had seen a couple times scouting about 400yrds off the road heck I’ll give it a try and see if I could lure him in. within minutes the buck b-lined it to me. Would have been an easy 25 yard shot if it was the 1^st.

The day before the hunt we decided we were going to stay the night out in the area we were watching all the bucks. After hours and hours of looking through the binos I finally spotted some doe in a thick catclaw brush line. Not knowing if there was a buck with them I decided to walk out to them with the HUD and see what would happen knowing these deer were in full rut now. After getting to about 70 yards they started getting up and stomping the ground and bam the big boy stood straight up and started coming right at me...why couldn’t this be opening morning. Finally, after 20 minutes of a stare -down he took his doe to a piece of private property. Bad mistake on my part.

January 1^st finally came and a txt 4 hrs. in the hunt saying he was dead! Well not letting it get to me I hunted my butt off knowing there was still the drop-tine buck and a wide chocolate colored 4 point that I would kill if I had the chance. I let my buddy sit in the hot seat for a few days just to make sure a bigger buck hadn’t moved in the area. Day 7….2 days before my anniversary I had to get it done!

Tyler Wilson with a great NM Muledeer buck!

Every hunter seemed to be hunting the same area by now it seemed. Keeping my head up I kept glassing and searching finally an ear tip moved in a big mesquite. Now or never I picked the HUD up and went to stalking. 2 hours later I was 50 yards. What the heck I thought let’s see what this buck would do if I started to just walk to him with the decoy. 30..25…. 20..no way I thought finally at 12 yards’...yea 12 yards...I ranged him I had to let the arrow fly!!!! AIM SMALL MISS SMALL he went 20yrds and did the dirty dance. The big 4 point was mine and my tag was notched.

The HEADS-UP DECOY did its work!! My buddy ended up killing a good 10 point because of the HUD as well. I can’t wait until this coming month I have a TAG, A Giant Found plus some other that I would gladly notch my tag on and I HAVE MY HEADS-UP DECOY READY!!! Thank you, Garret Roe, and the HUD TEAM!

Four In a Row with a Deer Decoy

Four In A Row

by Nathan Sullivan

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As the tall-tined whitetail started down the hill toward us, I couldn’t help but be confident that he would close the distance to within bow range. After all, this was the third buck today to come in to the decoy and at least the ninth buck this season that had provided up-close action. On top of that, I had the inventor of Heads Up Decoy, Garrett Roe was with me to assist on this hunt. Most of the other bucks were younger deer that provided exciting hunts but were not ones I wanted to tag just yet. The other two shooter bucks that I had close calls with had swirling winds to thank for their escape.

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 Over the last several years I have gained so much confidence in using the HUD that I rarely go afield without it. After all, I have used it to take a buck each of the last three years. The versatility and mobility of the HUD fits my hunting style perfectly. I have had success on both mule deer and whitetails in all types of situations including spot and stalk, ground blinds, and tree stands.

Now back to the story of this year’s buck. We had first spotted the buck from about half a mile away locked down with a doe in a small draw. After circling to get the steady wind in our favor we headed down the main draw a few hundred yards and began easing around the corner, well Garrett was at least. I was convinced that the deer were in the next draw so I was being rather careless. We spotted the buck at the same time he spotted us, but with the decoy already up blocking our profile, he had already decided we were another  buck coming to steal his doe. As we dropped to a knee, Garrett gave one grunt and that was all it took…the buck was on his way. As he approached, he bristled up and pinned his ears back in an attempt to intimidate the new rival. The buck was within 30 yards and closing fast when I came to full draw. I had already told myself not to shoot as long as he was still coming closer, so I followed his progress through my sight window. When he finally came to a stop, he was within 20 yards and the arrow was on its way. At the shot, the arrow buried to the fletching and the buck went down for good within 200 yards.

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For the fourth season in a row, I had just taken a mature buck with the Heads Up Decoy! I am already looking forward to next year to see if I can keep the lucky streak going. I also would like to thank Garrett for all of his help on this hunt, it was an awesome experience that I won’t soon forget.

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preVeteran's Day Giveaway with Heads Up Decoy and Head Hangerz

Are you a bowhunting veteran or do you know a veteran that is passionate about bowhunting? We know it's not quite Veteran's Day...nor is it quite the peak of the whitetail or mule deer rut. However to us, it makes sense for a bow hunting veteran to have a decoy that will help him or her dominate the rut when it kicks in, rather than getting it when the rut is half over. And, when you bag that buck you'll need something classy to show it off.

Heads Up Decoy has teamed up with Head Hangerz to offer you a chance to win a Heads Up Decoy of your choice and a Head Hangerz Euro Mount Stand like the one shown.

Click here to find out about Heads Up Decoy

To enter to win make sure you Tag, Comment, Like, and Share our Facebook post. Although all our veterans are deserving, we will pick one on Wednesday Oct 26th 2016 to receive his or her choice of an H.U.D decoy along with the stand. That bow hunting veteran will have the goods in time for the rut no matter what you decide to chase. Know what would also be awesome? If you'd give our Heads Up Decoy and Head Hangerz pages a like as well.

Feel free to comment on this blog post...but to win you'll need to do all your commenting, tagging, liking, and sharing on our Facebook post. Good Luck!

To get you back to FB, here's the link: Facebook

Click here to find more great products from Head Hangerz

Double Down on Heads Up Decoy

Two for Two: A Hunt of a Lifetime

This article was featured in Bowhunter Magazine

I stayed tight to my brother Lucas as we aggressively closed the gap on the rutting mule deer buck. The Heads Up Decoy (HUD) mule deer doe was working perfectly to mask our approach as we neared the buck. Finally he turned on a dime and was coming right at us! Was this really about to happen? We had already decoyed one mature buck that ran off with an arrow in his vitals. Were we really going to be blessed with a second mature buck coming into bow range in less than 30 minutes?

Growing up, I was obsessed with hunting from a young age. My younger brother, Lucas, could take it or leave it. Most of the time he would just go because he was tired of me nagging at him and it was a good excuse to go spend time together. I started bowhunting during my college years and was immediately hooked. When Lucas decided he wanted to buy a bow and try bowhunting I was super excited. It didn’t take long until he became addicted like the rest of us and now he spends many hours in the field each year with his bow in hand.

Being the older brother, I always want to see Lucas have success. My desire for him to get quality opportunities on hunts and fill tags has created pressure on myself as well as on Lucas when it comes to making the shot. This has burned us on past hunts. We have matured as hunters and strive to just relax and have a good time, which has improved our success, and most importantly the enjoyment of hunting together.

I moved to western Kansas in 2005 and we have talked about getting together to hunt mule deer every year since, but family responsibilities and eastern Kansas whitetails kept Lucas from venturing out west during the rut. We decided during the summer that it was time to quit talking and start doing, so we made plans for Lucas to come stay a few days during November and try to kill his first mule deer.

We locked in a four day stretch around Veteran’s day to spend hunting together. The week was finally here, and the excitement was too much to manage.  Lucas was able to duck out of work early on Thursday allowing him to arrive in time to have a couple hours to scout some areas for the next morning. Lucas arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon and it didn’t take long for us to get dressed in our Sitka gear and head out to try to locate some deer. Neither of us expected much, but we were excited to spend time together and see some animals.

Shortly after leaving town we saw a lone buck cruising through a crop field. We glassed him and thought he was too small to shoot so early in the hunt, but as we watched him he continued moving in our direction, further tempting us.  We contemplated trying to kill him, but ultimately decided he just wasn’t what we were looking for.

We continued down the road to an area where I saw a nice typical earlier in the season. I had also watched some does using the field so I thought it might be a good place to check with the rut activity picking up. It didn’t take long to spot a decent buck cruising through the drought stricken corn in search of a receptive doe. The corn was very thin and non-existent in some spots, but would provide enough cover for us to try to close the distance on the lone buck.

We made it several hundred yards into the corn before spotting a deer in the middle of the field. It wasn’t the mulie we were going after, but it was a mature whitetail buck. After looking at him closer we decided he would be hard to pass on if he came over to check us out. We had the HUD mule deer doe decoy and I was wishing I would have brought my whitetail buck HUD along as well. We still thought the buck might check out the mule deer decoy so we hunkered down on the back side of a terrace in some weeds and continued showing the decoy to the whitetail. He would look at us and then look away. It wasn’t long until the mulie we were stalking came into view and the whitetail bristled up, posturing towards the mule deer. The mulie continued on and we lost sight of him. However, the whitetail was still watching us from several hundred yards away so we stayed put. A short while later Lucas heard a corn stalk break and the mule buck had somehow snuck around us and was 50 yards and closing!

Lucas had to get repositioned to ready for a shot while the buck continued towards us. As Lucas went to draw, a bowhunter’s worst nightmare happened; I saw his arrow come off the string. I think Lucas remained much calmer than me and he hurriedly got his arrow nocked again. As soon as he did I was telling him to draw because the buck was on top of us. As Lucas hit his anchor point the buck stopped 20 yards away. It didn’t need to be said, but the big brother in me was coaching, and I said kill him there. Lucas took his time and sunk the arrow perfectly in the buck’s vitals! He exploded at impact and made it several hundred yards before falling out of sight!

There were a lot of high fives and hugs after seeing that buck go down. We couldn’t believe it! Lucas drove close to four hours and we had only been hunting for a little over an hour and he was done. It couldn’t have played out better and the Heads Up Decoy worked flawlessly, pulling that buck from hundreds of yards away right into our laps!

We were all smiles as we headed back to the pickup to get the camera and necessities to take care of Lucas’ deer. While we stood there recounting the events that had just transpired, Lucas looked down the road and saw another good buck headed our direction. The buck stayed on the road long enough for me to size him up and decide that he was definitely a mature buck with great width, but crossed into the field we had just vacated before I could really assess his antlers. I quickly decided we needed to get a closer look so we ditched the cameras and tripod and I grabbed my bow and Lucas grabbed the decoy.

We headed towards the buck, but rather than coming towards us he headed out to the middle of the field to where Lucas’ buck had come from and where the whitetail buck was still located. We could watch the buck the whole way and could tell that he was rutting hard. Déjà vu was happening because the buck went right towards the whitetail and he bristled up once again, but this time the mulie went around the whitetail and headed in our direction staying in plain view. As he closed the distance it was evident he wasn’t coming right at us, but would cross by us several hundred yards away.

The mulie walked with his head to the ground and rarely lifted it. Lucas thought we should try to close the gap, but we would be leaving the taller corn and going into an area of knee high grass where the corn failed to grow. I agreed and we moved forward. The buck raised his head once and glanced our way, but quickly put his nose back to the ground and continued walking on the back side of the terrace. I have watched bucks act this way in the past and knew we could be very aggressive. Lucas held the HUD in front of us as we hunched over in “I” formation and quickly closed the distance. The buck was still oblivious when we came to a halt within shooting range. Dropping to our knees, I hastily nocked an arrow to prepare for a shot. Like it was scripted, the buck turned and decided he was going to come check us out. When the arrow clicked on the string Lucas was ranging and the buck was 25 yards and closing. I decided to let him get tight before drawing in case he spooked. Amazingly, he didn’t even flinch. I hit full draw and the buck stopped less than 15 yards away and the VPA tipped Goldtip zipped through him so fast he didn’t even know what happened. He bounded a few yards and would have tipped over, but I couldn’t contain my excitement and foolishly stood up with my arms in the air. The buck finally realized what we were, and tried to flee, crashing 40 short yards later!

Unbelievable! We had just used the Heads Up Decoy to double up on two mature mule deer bucks! After coming down from that adrenaline rush we realized that the deer were shot and died less than 100 yards apart. What a hunt! I still can’t believe how it all played out and in such a short time. The hunt unfolded like we all dream they will and I was very proud to be with Lucas when he arrowed his first mule deer. Sharing a hunt like this with my brother is one of the greatest moments of my bowhunting career, and something we will relive together for the rest of our lives. It really doesn’t get much better!

Like brothers do, we argued over whose deer was the biggest, but not in the fashion one would think. Lucas thought mine was bigger and I thought his was bigger. We decided to have my friend who is an official scorer for the Pope and Young Club green score our deer. The bucks do not resemble each other at all, but ironically score very similar. My deer gross scored 171 7/8” and netted 156 4/8” and Lucas’ buck gross scored 168 2/8” and netted 157 1/8”, so I guess you could say we were both right. After the mandatory 60 day drying period we will have our deer officially scored and proudly enter them into the Pope and Young record book. Lucas and I will have many more hunts together in our lifetime, but killing two Pope and Young qualifiers in less than 30 minutes in the same field will likely never happen again, and is something I will cherish forever.

It's A Numbers Game

For myself, hunting elk and calling elk into bow range is a numbers game. The more times you set up and call...eventually one is going to commit to bow range. With experience and repetition, your efficiency of calling an elk to bow range will improve. Let's be honest, pretty much every place in the elk woods looks ideal. It's whether or not they are there. With that said, it's best that the numbers of encounters stack up in a year and not over multiple seasons. For me, it's been the later. Hunting elk is much easier than finding elk. It's just my opinion.

Over the years, we've been so unbelievably close to killing some GREAT bulls in Colorado with the decoy, but it's just simply not materialize mostly due to tight shooting windows. By drawing another AZ bull elk tag, I was hoping to change our fortune and have it all come together.

The summer of 2016 was an interesting one for Heads Up Decoy. Personal preparation for the fall hunts was limited from previous years. No scouting and not a ton of shooting. I purchase a Hoyt Carbon Spyder in the late winter and barely got myself acquainted with it before I left for the Grand Canyon State. I was going to rely on my 30 years of shooting a bow to carry me through.

We arrived Wednesday which was a couple days before the season opener. Doing so gave us a day to sleep in, get organized, shoot, and to get acquainted with our surrounding. My brother also had a tag for the same unit. Being a resident, he had the opportunity to do some scouting. Plus, he had friends that knew the unit pretty well and had some success in years past.

One particular friend of my brothers was in the unit the previous year and stumbled onto a unique calling pattern that would get the bulls really stirred up. Mulitple encounters with the decoy and his "crazy cow call" was the recipe. It proved successful for him and his brother.

I was confident throughout the summer...irregardless of scouting...that we would have some opportunities once the season rolled around. It's Arizona and calling elk is a numbers game. Eventually we'll find one...maybe two...that wanted to die.

Our camp was comfortable except at night. Sleeping proved to be difficult due to the amount of bugling elk keeping us up...some not more than 100 yards from camp. I thought that was very inconsiderate. So we set out to shoot one of them.

Our first morning of crazy cow calling resulted in a loud response of bulls in close proximity, but due to some technical difficulties, we let them off the hook. Never setting eyes on them. The remainder of the morning was uneventful, so we relocated.

Most units in AZ have good...too good...road access. This unit was no expection. It's a popular camping destination and couple that with opening day being on a Friday...it was busy. The evening found us roving a new area only to stumble onto roads and traffic. With the sun dropping quickly, a swift move to a new location needed to be made.

When we stepped out of the truck and began our trek into the woods, we were very disheartened by the mess a previous camper left behind from the previous Labor Day Weekend. Bags of human waste lying in the forest. It was sad to see.

Once distanced from the messy campsite, my brother let out a series of "crazy cow calls" and was immediately hit with an excited bugle! He was CLOSE! We scramble to close some distance and to set up. The cow calling intesified as did the bulls excitement. The bull emerged on the ridge 100 yards ahead. We had no choice but to hold our position and get ready.

My brother hadn't quite mastered the physical call so the cow sounds were not perfectly hit, but the decoy help dispell any doubt in the bull's mind as he approached quickly. I admit that I carry and seldom use my rangefinder, but predicting the bull's path ahead of time, I took the time to range a pine only to verify that my 35 yard estimate was spot on.

My brother settled directly behind me and the bull started to approach head on. I was preparing for a frontal shot inside of 20 yards, but the bull began to leak off to my downwind side and inside the pine I had previously ranged. He stopped quartering too and let out a bugle. KICK ASS. That's all I had to say at that moment. But I was frustrated with determining where and when my shot was going to take place.

As the bull began to drift a few more steps to my left, he flattened out allowing me a more comfortable broadside shot if one materialized. I shifted my weight as the bull came to a stop. A small pine branch or tree somewhere between me and the bull covered his vitals. I decide to draw. Once anchored, I rose off my heels moving the top of the pine to the bull's mid-line. Seeing it was clear, I settled my 30 yard pin on the top of the pine and watched my arrow fly gracefully over the branch and sink deep into the bull's chest.

Even though the blood trail was great, there were a few anxious moments leading up to finding the bull. Given the shot placement and the damage the broadhead made, I was surprised the bull made it out of sight.

It goes to show the importance of finding a bull that wants to die. Even though it is usually a function of numbers and repitition, this bull's number was up right out of the gate. Finding success so early took a lot of pressure off us for the remainder of the season.

Point Blank Turkey Hunting with a Bow

As bow hunters, we always want a slam dunk shot. With the Heads Up Turkey Decoy, we expect it. Not the ground blind traditional set up, I'm talking the wide open turkey fanning bow mounted set up.

It is not unusual to get multiple point blank...inside of 10 yards...shots during a season. For that to happen, the birds do need to cooperate. But it is frequent to say the least. I can remember a picture perfect day in 2015. I was hunting by myself. I had one golden opportunity to seal the deal on a bird inside of 10 yards. And a couple more that were not far outside of that 10 yard mark. It was day where I was not following my own advise...DON'T RUSH!

Our Heads Up Turkey Decoy continues to prove it's worth season after season. There are a lot of people out there with their own version of turkey decoys. As I said, it's difficult to compete with the Heads Up Decoy when the weather is bad or when the weather is good. Our simple design lends itself to versatility and effectiveness. We've proven that time and time again...to the point we have nothing left to do other than keep having fun and introducing our product to new folks.

I have some great footage of my friend David from a couple years back that has never been formally produced until now. (Click  Video) It was a windy spring, but this day proved to be picture perfect for turkey hunting. We did not roll out of bed at o-dark-thirty. David and I sneaked down a low wash to a steep bank. As the sun was beginning to light up the pasture, we eased up the steep bank and settle into a small yucca patch on the top of a ridge. The ridge had a great vantage point and it happen to be adjacent to a small grove of trees the toms filtered into after they loose their hens to the nest.

We occasionally called. We could hear birds in several directions. Pretty soon we realized one gobbler was really picking up what we were putting down. Easily the farthest bird I've ever called and decoyed in. He was merely a speck when we saw him.

When an animal is way out there, I don't mind doing some really crazy things to get an animal to see the decoy. Once I know they have made eye contact, I reel it in an begin making more natural movements. This was one of those instances where I raised the decoy high above my head. Rotate the Heads Up side to side until he made visual.

Once this bird made visual contact with us, he didn't know whether to strut, gobble, run, or all of the above. He was fired up. When I saw the bird run down the draw toward us a few hundred yards away...I knew this bird was going to finish close...and well...he was in David's lap.

We get a lot of hunts that work out like this, but not all of them are on film.

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When The Wind Blows

With all the growth and success of Heads Up Decoy, I am still barely more than a weekend hunter. I plan my days off based on the time of year. Rolling the dice that Mother Nature and the animals will cooperate.

It is hard to believe that I have been building Heads Up Decoy since 2008. The improvements we've made with the product, the additions, and the new revelations have been so great that our original thought behind our concept is hard to recall.

Is Heads Up Decoy more of a system...than an actual decoy? A question I ponder often. The versatility with the decoy and accessories lends itself to limitless opportunities for the hunter willing to give it a run. So, I would say yes, it is a system because there is no one way to use them.

Over the years, I have developed a great appreciation for how well Heads Up Decoys can work in really crappy conditions. I suppose one could argue that in order for it to perform in bad conditions is that you may need another person. I have witnessed many hunts, either as a videographer, observer, or the one holding the decoy, in some pretty brutal conditions that led to a shot. Mostly because we were willing to make the effort.

A couple years ago, we met up with some friends in the hopes of getting them a true Heads Up Decoy experience. It was spring and we were after turkeys. Mother Nature in all her splendor, did everything she could to foil our hunt. To be honest, she kick our butt in all but about 20 minutes of our 3 day hunt.


We did what we could do, but the wind simply would not relent. It beat us down, but we kept after it. Sticking to it ultimately led to success on one of those brutally windy days.

There was no option to have the Heads Up Turkey Decoy in the bow mount, someone had to hold the decoy. On this opportunity, two of us crawled out into the pasture. When we were able to locate the bird from our bellies, we slowly raised up and showed the decoy to the bird. 45 seconds later we got our one and only shot...and made good on it.

Brutal conditions are a part of hunting, and the thing I appreciate about our product is that if you are willing to use it, you have control over decoy in these really bad conditions and can ultimately get an opportunity.

When you cannot pick and choose the best of the best days to hunt, like me. Heads Up Decoy can be the key to success.

For video of this hunt, click the link below. Best of luck this turkey season.

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