A buck took issue with a decoy deer and, as captured on a recent video, charged into and took apart the decoy out in a field.
Barstool Sports posted the video to Instagram on Tuesday.
Decoy Buck Can Lure Multiple Animals
Decoy bucks are designed to help hunters by provoking nearby bucks to charge at them so the hunters can get a clear shot.
But bucks aren’t the only ones drawn to the decoys. And this is not the first time an animal has gotten confused by a decoy deer. In 2018, an Idaho videographer recorded the moment when a mountain lion snuck up behind a plastic buck and then pounced.
The mountain lion finally crept up to the decoy’s hindquarters and sniffed it. Then it stared at the fake animal in confusion, The Daily Mail reported.
Decoys Can Trap Hunters, Too
Unfortunately for hunters, they aren’t the only ones who use decoy deer to trick their prey. Wildlife officials also use the decoys to catch poachers.
In Jackson, Wyoming, a decoy deer got an Idaho hunter a citation worth hundreds of dollars after he saw its mechanical movements across the state line and shot at it.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department set up the decoy on Idaho’s opening day for deer hunting, the Associated Press reported.
Game and Fish Department official Mark Gocke told the AP that the hunter who fired at the decoy ran when law enforcement showed up. They stopped him and cited him for shooting at a deer in a closed hunt area, for taking a deer without a license and for shooting from a public roadway.
During similar stings in 2013 and 2015, about 40 percent of hunters fired at the decoy deer.
Oregon State Police troopers tried a similar tactic this year. They left a decoy buck in rural Scappoose on the last day of the 2020 rifle deer season. They put the decoy up after the legal time for hunting had ended. A car stopped near the decoy and its driver fired three rounds.
The troopers cited the man for unlawful take of a buck deer during closed season and seized his rifle.
