Stuck in the Rut

I can’t believe it!  Right now as I pack for opening weekend of elk season, it’s not dreams of big bulls that are keeping me up at night — it’s whitetails!

I have three fantastic whitetail hunts coming up later this year: Eastern Colorado, Iowa and Illinois.  MONSTER BUCKS are a real possibility on all three hunts, and to add to the anticipation, I’m in the middle of developing a new secret weapon that I can’t wait to try out.

When you pick up your copy of the November issue of Bowhunting, check out my feature entitled “Double Down.” No, it didn’t make Christian’s list of highlights, but you’ll have to force yourself to read through it anyway. Thanks a lot Berg!  In the feature, I describe a decoy that my good friend, Bill Pellegrino, used on our hunt together in 2008.  He basically had his taxidermist build him a beefed-up full body doe mount. The doe was then fitted with a removable set of antlers and placed on an aluminum base so that it could be firmly planted in the ground.

Bill Pellegrino's Mounted Decoy

When I first saw Bill’s new decoy, I thought it looked great, but that it would be pricy to say the least. Then I saw it in action and I couldn’t believe my eyes — it was AWESOME!

After our trip, I decided I just had to have one, only I wanted mine to be even better. The only question that I have about Bill’s decoy is; I’m not sure how well it will stand up to an all-out attack from an angry whitetail buck. Although his decoy is reinforced to some degree, the foam forms used by taxidermists are not intended to take such abuse. Antlers could certainly penetrate the hide-covered foam and a buck could possibly rip huge chunks out of it, or maybe even worse, run off with the whole thing! In light of this weakness, and with three great hunts ahead of me, I’ve decided to try and build the ultimate whitetail decoy! 

I use a great taxidermist named Don Fager, and together, we came up with a few ideas. First, rather than using a foam taxidermy form, we decided to mount my doe cape on an actual Carry-Lite deer decoy. The Carry-Lite has a very realistic shape and provides an impenetrable core that has proven time and again that it’s up to the challenge of taking a beating from angry bucks. Heck, that decoy works great as it is, but we’re going for the ultimate here…

Don’s been hard at work making the necessary modifications to the Carry-Lite and has it just about ready to accept my doe cape. Here is a quick sneak-peak of the masterpiece in progress. Updates will be posted as my new ultimate decoy comes together and then I’ll be sure to fill everyone in on how it performs in the field this fall. Watch out bucks!

Don Fager's Decoy Masterpiece in Progress!