Do Elk Decoys Work?

Fact checked by Steven Lines, lifelong Hunter and Outdoorsman.

When people go elk hunting, they notice that elk have become more clever about staying hidden. With all the people out there hunting, the elk have started tuning out aggressive calling.

The herd bull might still respond to your sounds, but you are likely to need a visual cue to convince it that it is safe to come out. 

Elk decoys serve as the visual cue that shows the herd bull that it is safe to come out. They can help you get a bull within range for shooting, and there are several ways to make it work. You can hide the decoy’s head behind a tree to keep bulls moving forward. You can also place it 10 or 15 yards into the opening first thing in the morning. 

If you use an elk decoy, you want to get the most out of it. There are several different ways to use it effectively. Continue reading to learn whether decoys work and the best ways to use them on your elk hunt.

Do Elk Decoys Work?

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Elk decoys work and have become more important than they used to be. As more and more people go elk hunting, the bulls have learned that the aggressive call might be a trick. They won’t always respond, but they are more likely to do so if you have a visual cue. The elk decoy serves this purpose well. 

Bulls are very cautious about approaching the cows and often approach quietly. You might want to place the decoy 20 yards away from your setup and stay downwind of it. This way, it won’t suspect that you are there, and you will be able to shoot it with the arrow as it approaches the cow. 

How Do You Use Elk Decoys?

There are several different ways to use elk decoys effectively. The idea is to convince the elk bull that it should approach the cow. First, you can use the elk decoy hidden behind a tree. Just as people do, elk read the facial expressions of other elk.

If the bull sees your decoy’s face for too long, it might suspect something isn’t right. You can hide the decoy’s head behind a tree to keep a bull coming to get closer and see if it can get a read on the cow elk decoy.

Another tactic is to stake the decoy 10 to 15 yards into an opening in the morning. Bulls often stand in the meadows at dawn and bugle to their cows to encourage them to join them. If you get your decoy in there before the sun rises, you can hide and wait for the bull to come.

You can call it with some contented cow elk sounds, and it should come to the decoy when it sees it.

You can try a more aggressive approach if you are hunting with a partner. Your partner can carry the cow decoy around 15 yards behind you. Start with a short, high-pitched bugle and follow it up with the whine of an estrous cow.

The bull will likely respond, and you should move the decoy away. Make cow-calling noises that suggest the cow is following a smaller bull. The partner can move the decoy to lure the bull into the hunter’s sight.

Finally, you can place the decoy around 20 yards behind your setup. When a bull is pressured, it will approach cow calls without responding, and you might be spotted as it comes toward you.

Call out every 15 minutes or so, and when it goes to the decoy, you should be able to intercept it with your arrow. You should make sure you are downwind, so it doesn’t smell your scent.

Where Do Elk Like to Hide?

Sometimes people go out elk hunting, and nothing works. They make calls, drop trail mix, and do more, but no elk show. They can tell that the elk had been there because there are circular beds, fresh droppings, and the smell lingers. However, they don’t see any elk. They want to know where elk like to hide. 

It is important to understand how elk use the terrain if you want to ambush them. You can’t learn what their behavior is unless you can find them. Elk are smart enough to discover terrain that helps them avoid people. They choose it by trial and error; once they find a spot where people don’t show up, they stay there for a while. 

There are five different terrain types that elk use to hide from people. First, they must have a large supply of vegetative nutrition to survive. They are grazers, and they eat shrubs and woody plants. Larger elk need 10 to 20 pounds of vegetation each day.

Grazing is an important part of their day. Once the grass dries out in the early fall, they look for shrubs. The key is for you to know what they are eating so that you can find them. If the elk aren’t under as much pressure, they are less cautious about appearing in these openings.

However, if there is pressure, they will be harder to find.

When elk are traveling, they prefer easier passes. Another terrain feature they like is the mountain pass that provides them a path. A topographic map can look for the low spots between the mountains.

If you zoom in on a satellite map, you will be able to see old trails that go through the passes. The elk are likely to use this route. 

Another feature elk use is the grand canyons. Any large abyss will attract them, and canyon chasms are tempting because they know there is a chance of finding water there. There is also often vegetation around the water. Canyons also provide shading, and the slopes make elk feel safe.

It is often easier to find elk in steep country because they are forced into certain areas, and it is harder for them to scatter. 

Mesa meccas are another terrain feature that attracts elk. The mesa is a flat-topped highland, and they have steep sides. They also have openings where the elk can graze. It is a great spot for elk if the mesa is rugged and has no well-traveled trails.

Do Elk Stay in the Same Area?

Elk’s patterns are based on security, food, and water. However, they don’t find a great location and stay there. They are always on the move, and they graze as they travel. They spend the evenings in places with a lot of grazing opportunities because the secure cover isn’t as necessary when it is dark.

Water is always important, so at night the priority of their needs might be food, water, and security. They will start traveling again in the morning to look for heavy cover. Security is vital during the day. 

During hunting season, the elk often break into smaller herds and meet to spend the nights together. However, they will spread out during the day. As soon as the sun begins to appear, they file out into their smaller groups.

Hunters often see the elk gather at night, and they set up to ambush them during the exit in the morning. The problem is that the elk have an excellent sense of awareness and can avoid the hunters. 

Elk do not stay in one place; they are constantly on the move to stay safe. They have good instincts and do what they can to protect the herd. Elk constantly travel and graze, and they move around during the day. 

Where Do Elk Go When Pressured?

When elk live in an area with many hunters, they feel pressured and go to extra efforts to stay safe. Many elk survive hunting season and learn how to avoid hunters better. The more pressured elk feel, the better they become at hiding. No matter how pressured they feel, they will still look for their three basic needs: security, food, and water.

If the elk live in habitats where the best food is out in the open in parks or meadows, they will feed at night in darkness. However, many elk live in habitats where they can find food within the forests. Most elk will go as deep into the trees as possible when they feel pressured. However, there are other places where they can find safety. 

Safety for elk means lots of trees and steep slopes. A mesa with thick pines to the north and steep slopes is a great place to find pressured elk.

If there are areas that are difficult for people to reach, the elk likely know where they are. The important thing to remember when hunting pressured elk is that the elk will go to places where very few people have been.

Why Is Elk Hunting So Hard?

Elk hunts are known for their level of difficulty. There are several different ways to hunt them. The easy way is by going to a ranch where they have a resident herd. The other ways are to hike in the mountains with a partner or guide. 

The first difficulty to overcome is the trek to where you might find elk. You can hike or go on horseback, but you will need to go up steep hills deep into the mountain. You will be going uphill and downhill the whole time, so if you are an inexperienced rider, this can make you sore. 

Once you get to your campsite, you will sleep, and your day starts early, around 3:30 or 4 in the morning. You will ride out in the darkness, and then you get to the area where you hope to find elk just as the sun is coming up.

If you aren’t able to lure the elk out at dawn, you probably won’t see one until dusk. You will still look for them because you are there, but it is very hard to find them in the light of day. 

Elk hunting is hard because many elk survive each season and are all the wiser. They know better how to avoid people and are good at finding security.

You have to go deep into the mountains to find them, and you have to start very early before it is light out. You need to have a great deal of patience and be prepared to do a lot of waiting. 

Are Elk Decoys Worth It?

Elk decoys can make elk hunting easier because elk have trouble resisting a cow. You need to know where you expect the bull to come from, and you can erect the decoy off to the side behind you.

Make sure you erect it quietly and quickly, so the elk doesn’t notice you. If you camouflage part of the decoy, it makes the bulls more curious and draws them closer. 

Elk decoys can make elk hunting easier because you may be able to draw the elk out during midday nap time. Once you set the decoy up, you can do some soft cow calling and periodically respond with a bugle that sounds like a young bull.

This often helps to make elk hunting easier. They are unlikely to come out without a decoy, so you have a better chance of finding one during daylight hours. 

Final Words

Elk decoys do work, and they can make elk hunting easier, especially during daylight hours. Elk are notoriously hard to find because they learn more about hunters every season. They hide in the thickest part of the mountains, away from the paths traveled.

They are constantly on the move and good at hiding themselves during the day. When you want to improve your experience, try using a decoy to help draw out a bull.

Steven Lines is a hunter and outdoorsman from Safford, Arizona, USA. Since he was a child, he has been hunting and fishing and has over 20 years of outdoor experience. Steven works as a hunting guide in Arizona during his spare time and runs a Youtube channel dedicated to sharing his outdoor adventures with others.

Sources

• https://www.purehunting.com/elk-calls-elk-calling-101/
• https://elkhuntersguide.com/home/bull-elk/
• https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/calling-and-decoying-elk-in-timber/