Has anyone ever heard of using decoys for sheep?? I use them for whitetail and they work wonders.....so it got me thinking. I wonder how it would work for sheep, especially with a bow.

the chef

What, chef, do you need MORE stuff to schlepp up the mountain? If that is the case I'll gladly let you carry some of mine!

Frans

Other that becoming a dall sheep decoy yourself by wearing white cover-alls, nope, I haven't heard of using a decoy for sheep.

I agree with Frans. You wouldn't catch me lugging something like that into sheep country.

Cheers,
Canuck

My white tail decoys are less than a pound each. It would be no problem at all lugging them up the mountain if if would help to get them within bow range

A pound each? Are these the big foam decoys? They still would be big I reckon? Depending on the terrain, it may be hard to get it through the trees. Come on, chef, don't turn a sheep hunt into a deer hunt at altitude. Stalk'm!

Frans

I made a sheep decoy once but never have tried it. The decoy was fleece hood that drapped over a paper mache ewes head with horns and everything.( Probably not a good idea to put a 40" set on your head.) Then wear a white outfit. I am sure a decoy would be effective. I think it would be handy if you had to cross a valley or a basin in view of the sheep so that you could circle around and get above them or get the wind in your favour. I have been in a few situations where this would have been handy.

I think decoys are cool if they aren't to much trouble to pack around.


Daryl

It seems to me that the use of decoys for big game is most often an advantage during or close to the rut. As most sheep hunting is not during or close to the rut a decoy may not be very effective. Unless the decoy was made out of a bail of alfalfa with legs and a head stuck on it. Left out on the mountain awhile it may attract some attention from a sheep that would wander into bow range.

Robin

Franz ya gotta get with the times!!!!! Decoys arent 3 dimensional monstrosities anymore. Go check the Renzo site before you poo-poo them based on weight. I chatted with the Renzo dude and he thinks there isn't enough demand to produce a sheep decoy. He was interested in my little story about how it worked to get my buck last fall ...it's true decoys do work. And based on the principle that sheep rely on sight a lot it would either work very well or very badly.

I'd like to give it a try though.

LOL another thing Franz...you haven't tried them with your bow yet. When you've connected by stalking one with your bow....then you can talk about stalking........archery is a little different than rifle hunting.

yeah, yeah, yeah.... I know.

I can see it being it BIG job, stalking within bow range. All depending on terrain. I've come across sheep beds that were so strategically located that it would be hard to come within rifle shot.

I'm just not a decoy-kinda-guy. It would mean I'd have to sit around the darn thing waiting for things to happen. Too boring.

For argument's sake, how would you use it? Would you set it up near sheep trails that you have found? And then ambush?

Frans

I think I'd try and get in close to a group with some monster rams-monster rams because it's best to dream big!! Then I'd hide behind some cover with it set up slightly upwind of me. The next world record monster ram would come trotting over to see who this stranger is in his midst and walk by my ambush on his way to the ram. If they are like other game animals they would want to approach a ewe from the back and a ram from the front...I'd take that into account too. Alternatively I might hide behind it to get a little closer to a patch of cover where I might be able to complete a stalk. I know this hiding behind the decoy thingy works really well for antelope--maybe it would here too.

If I could stalk to bow range I'd sure do it first...but if there were no alternatives it would be worth a try.

I wouldn't try it in a rifle season/area, too dangerous.


There's very little info on the net regarding decoys and sheep.

I assume it's one of the following:
- a dismal failure
-so successful no one is willing to mention it
-or that people don't get many chances at sheep and therefore don't experiment much-deer,moose etc. offer many chances during a season to play around and try different things.

I think it would be interesting and fun to try. It's just as thrilling to get an animal to come to you as it is to go to them. It takes an additional amount of knowledge regarding their habits in order to make it work.

cheers

Hope you guys don't mind cutting in here,

For use of a decoy(outside the rut) while bow hunting, I think a decoy would be effective if you hunted sheep as though you did not have a decoy. The decoy may just be the edge that a guy needs to 'get the shot'.
I don't care if a ram knows something is up, as long as it makes him hesitate long enough for that shot.
If your on your final stock and you are spotted, you are most likely busted. If you have a decoy or are dressed like one, and you are spotted you may still have a chance.

I can think of many situations that a decoy would be an edge.

How about standing the decoy up about a 150 yards from bedded sheep. Then you crawl within 80 yards of the bedded sheep.(assuming you can not get any closer.) When the bedded sheep stand up to move or stretch, they see the decoy for the first time and move a little closer. They sheep only need to move 40 or so yards closer for your shot. Knowing which way sheep are going to come of thier perch can be anyones guess. I'll bet that when they see the decoy you can cut that down to 2 ways. Toward you out of curiosity or away. Even then it ain't over.

I have friends that have those miniture ponies.
I have threatened them that I was going to dye them white, put fake horns on them and and go sheep hunting with them. The ponies could pack the sheep of the mountian too.

Give the decoy a try, wether it works or not, it will make you a better hunter from what you learn.


let me know what you think,

Daryl

Thanks for the reply Daryl, I'm just trying to get some ideas here and especially to find out if anyone has tried it. I appreciate any input and you've presented some good ideas.

the chef

Hello;
The weak link in Chef's plan is that the Sheep hunt, in Alberta at least, is timed to end before the rut starts. If the season lasted another week, it might improve your odds, but by then the rams are so horny and distracted, you wouldn't need a decoy. Portability? How about an inflatable ewe?

Grizz you might be right. I can decoy the bucks to come closer the more they are rutting. I get a lot of bucks and does in early season that just come in for a quick look and then leave. During the rut the bucks are coming in pretty agressively-looking for a fight.

A blow up ewe is a great idea too....maybe you could slip me the name of the company you buy your blow ups from?



That little dig of yours really made me laugh.

the chef

You gotta be able to laugh, to have fun.
Grizz

I've heard that people use them for pronghorns. Some use them as true decoys, but others use the 2-dimensional ones as "stalking horses". They will hold up the decoy in front of their body and move toward a herd as if a new animal is joining the flock. I don't see why that wouldn't work with sheep. Since I'll probably never get to hunt sheep, this is all academic to me.

quote:

Originally posted by Redlander:
I've heard that people use them for pronghorns. Some use them as true decoys, but others use the 2-dimensional ones as "stalking horses". They will hold up the decoy in front of their body and move toward a herd as if a new animal is joining the flock. I don't see why that wouldn't work with sheep. .

Exactly! (think outside the box)


Daryl

Hey Daryl, lets try this idea with Wood Bison the next time one of us has a tag! Should be a pretty portable decoy eh!

Best,

John

A few years back someone placed a decoy of a bighorn ram atop the ridge known as the "Hot Rock" which will be recognized by anyone who has "hunted" around the mines at Cadomin.Now this decoy did not attract much attention from the other rams but I can attest personally to how it drew attention from hunters,one of whom is a very well known taxidermist who once worked with Brian Dobson in Edmonton. A rapid stalk soon put this fellow in easy range of the fake ram. He laughed harder than anyone.
p.s. remember the hunter shot this past year west of Calgary setting up a whitetail decoy!

Hello;
One of the stranger things I've seen occurred on the Ya Ha Tinda, when you could still drive to the Park. I was glassing some open meadows beside the road, when I swore there was an antelope looking at me over a patch of buckbrush. After I got over the shock, I wandered over to have a look. Someone had aranged the head and hide of a Pronghorn on a stump. I wonder how many other hunter got taken in by that little prank?
Grizz

sounds interesting wind might be a problem a flying sheep might attract some attention

quote:

I wouldn't try it in a rifle season/area, too dangerous.

Where, other than 410, is there a sheep season that is bow only? Just askin, where I hunt, sheep is rifle from opening...

Rocks, I'm not sure of the answer on that one. I've been just poking around 410 I havent checked out other wmu's...so you might be right on that one.