Hunting Stories

Death By Decoy : The Pronghorn Buck That Wouldn’t Leave Us Alone

Oct 21, 2026

Twin Elements · Hunting Stories

Death By Decoy : The Pronghorn Buck That Wouldn’t Leave Us Alone

By James Doumtsis

We’re nine days into an epic Montana adventure now, and in the middle of a much needed town run. Our first proper resupply since arriving in the USA. We stink, are low on food and ice, but riding a genuine high. Two tags punched from the six: Ayden’s first bull elk from a few days back, and now my first pronghorn buck in what might be the single funniest hunt either of us has ever been a part of!

In This Report

A Mule Deer Buck That Slipped Through The Cracks
Finding an Unpressured Pronghorn
Something From Nothing
Two Tags Down, Four to Go

A Mule Deer Buck That Slipped Through The Cracks

MULE DEER COUNTRY

Before the antelope story gets underway, a couple days back, we had an awesome opportunity on a mature mule deer buck. With tags between Ayden and I for elk, mule deer and pronghorn, we really have been fortunate enough to move wherever the hunt takes us. If that’s spotting ahead of elk at first light, or a group of rutting pronghorn, we can at least weigh up the options. It was early morning still, when I spotted the tines of a bedded velvet mule deer buck whilst glassing. A buck had proved to be a rare sight out here so immediately I felt a sense of excitement! To this point we had seen plenty of does, yearlings and (young) forky bucks, yet nothing worth a closer inspection. As we waited off the buck, assessing the thermals and hoping for a more consistent prevailing wind things began to align. We watched as the buck rose from his first bed, dropped down a few steps into a nearby crack and re-bedded. If I hadn’t seen where he went with my own two eyes, then I wouldn’t have believed it. Like water running down a crack in the clay, this buck slipped through and disappeared into his new bedding area. A step either direction and the hillside prevented a clear view. We were perfectly perpendicular with the buck and fortunately for us, this allowed us to formulate a plan. From this viewing perch I had a decent approach, but the second I dropped off this ridge and tried to approach, the terrain and topography betrayed me. Every landmark that looked obvious from above disappeared the second I was down in the maze of gullies and chasms at ground level. Either way, the stalk was on. One thing I didn’t take for granted was being able to look back at the ridge I had just left and still see Ayden nestled into the rocks recording the buck. By seeing where I had come, it gave me a slight perspective as to where I needed to go. Another important factor, before I dropped off the ridge and lost sight of the buck, I placed a pin on On X maps. This pin would prove essential later, as I used it to roughly work out where the buck was laying. The route I took getting to the buck was what I deemed the best. It certainly wasn’t the most direct or the fastest, but it should have kept the wind off the buck and given me my best chance. What I hadn’t accounted for, was the sheer amount of other unseen mule deer in the gully. Deer were bounding in all directions as I finally reached the same ridge as the buck. Fortunately, the same crevices that the deer reside in meant that the buck hadn’t noticed any of the fleeing animals so the stalk continued. After around thirty minutes I had executed the large loop and now stood somewhere above the buck, on the same ridge at least. I looked for the landmarks that seemed so obvious from the other side, yet none stood out. I checked On X maps and once again, it gave me a fifty metre probability, but nothing more than an estimate as to where the buck was. Finally, the most accurate bearing that I could use to navigate was Ayden. As I looked back to where I had started this morning, I quickly realised that I had nearly gone too far. From what I could draw based off where Ayden was positioned, I was quite literally right on top of him. Adrenaline kicked in as I crept forwards, one toe at a time. Stalking down the ridge with socks on the rough rocky ground. On a day with almost no wind at all I tried to time my movements when a gust came to conceal my movements. Inch by inch for what seemed like forty five minutes I crept closer until… Antler. Right below me, a tip of antler flicked through my bins. Even after seeing it so clearly, it disappeared into the shadows of the cave. I had snuck within twenty five metres of the buck, yet couldn’t see him clearly. How he lay, I needed him to stand for a shot. With the way the land unfurled, I couldn’t get any closer as I would drop too far out of sight and risk being too exposed and heard if I went any higher. It was a stalemate, and unfortunately at such close range for a prolonged period of time, it wasn’t long before a stray whiff of scent gave me away. The buck busted out of his bed, having shown nothing but the top two inches of his antlers the whole stalk. Watching him flee across the prairie was disappointing, but equally rewarding.

Finding an Unpressured Pronghorn

UNPRESSURED ANTELOPE

After blowing out the buck, we were back to searching for a pronghorn. The real story of these next few days started almost by accident. While scouting a fresh elk spot, we came across four pronghorn does and a buck that behaved nothing like the antelope closer to camp. The ones we were accustomed to seeing within fifteen kilometres of where we were primarily focused had been educated. The second they spot the truck two or three kilometres out, they get suspicious and flee, doing what they do best, putting space between them and the threat. On this, North American wildlife are tuned in to when season opens and hunters are afoot. On the other hand, these pronghorn simply watched us drive past at five hundred odd metres and barely reacted. Completely unpressured. We continued, keeping a low profile and parked a kilometre off, out of view. We had a lead, so trying to let them cool down, we paused for lunch, and then started to head back in.

It was slow and steady until at around two hundred metres from where I had hastily placed an On X waypoint, I crested a ridge and spotted the buck’s horns. We were lucky to keep out of their keen eyesight and assessed the terrain ahead. Ideally we would have gotten closer, however from where we were, I could sneak into a clump of taller sage and set up the decoy.

With the plan set I moved ahead from Ayden who remained behind to film. I got the all clear and flashed the decoy. Instantly, the buck stood and started walking straight towards me. Realising the urgency of having to now wiggle backwards on my belly (out of view) and set up behind the decoy with my bow. The second I turned to roll away, the decoy almost like a kite, caught some wind and flopped over. Crashing to the rocky ground, this unnatural movement must’ve confused the incoming buck, as by the time I could get the decoy back up he had turned and headed back to his does.

Something From Nothing

A CRAZY CHAOTIC HUNT

What happened next is genuinely one of the more chaotic sequences I’ve ever been a part of with my bowhunting adventures. Rather than let the opportunity die, I grabbed the decoy and bow and dropped down off the ridge, creeping in out of sight trying to race to the next ridge. In doing so I quickly removed another hundred metres between me and the pronghorn. By the time the buck reconvened with his girls, I had cut the distance. When a doe emerged from the hidden prairie below at about a hundred metres out, I flashed the decoy again. I knew that immediately behind the does, the buck would be fourth in line and see the decoy. I had just started pushing the stakes of the decoy deep into the ground when I looked up to find the buck (which I anticipated to be at one hundred metres) had closed to fifteen metres in the space of a few seconds flat! Pronghorn are the second fastest land animal on the planet, and it showed. He had caught me with my pants down.

Both hands were on the decoy and my bow sat harmlessly two metres behind me. With no other play, I used the decoy itself as a shield, shuffling backwards toward my bow while the buck circled, trying to work out exactly what this rival was. I can only imagine what Ayden was observing. Watching through the lens, it must’ve looked like oil and water refusing to mix in the same pot! The buck racing in, me backing one way, then the buck attempting to flank around the other. The whole time the decoy spinning between them acting as an invisibility cloak. The whole dance of the decoy is etched in my mind, yet in reality, it played out in a few seconds. Finally I reached my bow which I had fortunately pre-placed an arrow on the string. This minor detail was likely what saved the stalk. Rather than continue to waste time and fumble, I came to full draw at twenty yards as the buck squared up quartering on. Remembering how explosively pronghorn can drop and spin off the string, I held my pin dead on the point of the shoulder rather than higher on the centre of the vitals. The shot broke clean and struck the buck hard. With a crack, the arrow and broadhead setup fractured bone before continuing, full length through the body. On its way out, the arrow had enough momentum to shatter the femur. A seriously tough setup rendering this pronghorn dead on his feet. The buck hit the deck within eighty yards after a quick sprint.

A FIRST PRONGHORN BUCK

Two Tags Down, Four to Go

Butchering & The Walk Out

Walking up to the buck is when I realised exactly how unique they are as a species. Their hair is light and bristled, almost coarse to touch. What I can liken it to most is like the quill off a feather, super thin and hollow, their hair shifts effortlessly in the breeze. They have an intense orange colouration, with a white underbelly and rump. As I tagged the buck, appreciating the whole animal we set to work butchering and meat retrieval. Due to the terrain and the short distance back to the car, I decided to pack the buck out whole with the Walk & Stalk Carbon Game bar. For those who aren’t familiar, the game bar is a super lightweight, versatile seven in one instrument which I used to drag the buck out with ease. Back at camp, we then used the same game bar and the Walk & Stalk pulley system to raise the buck off the ground, for a cleaner butchering process.

A pronghorn buck would have to be comparable to a fall deer back home in Australia. This animal was a much needed boost of protein into our lives and over the coming days Ayden and I enjoyed plenty of delicious pronghorn meat. We started with the heart, tenderloins and other easy cuts to utilise. The meat is mild and tender. For a rutting male of the species, the eating quality was superb and pleasantly surprised us. One thing’s certain, with how fun and delicious these critters are to hunt, pronghorn bucks moved up on the hit list! Ayden still has a pronghorn tag, so we will do our best to add to the tally.

It’s been a strange, brilliant run so far. With plenty of genuinely humbling stalks, one absurd comedy of errors, and two tags filled inside the first nine days. Whatever’s around the next ridge, we’re here for it.

Fast Food