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beware. That whitetail doe or spike bull standing

in the clearing might be more than it appears.

If you’re not careful and have not read your local hunting

regulations, you may wind up with more than a freezer

full of venison and definitely more than you bargained for.

That’s one of the goals for Brian Wolslegel, owner of Custom

Robotic Wildlife, a Wisconsin based company

that produces lifelike, robotic animal decoys.

One of the main customers of the company are

the various law enforcement agencies around

North America. Fish and game departments,

game wardens, and many other people are

finding more and more uses for these near

perfect taxidermist creations.

According to their website, “Poachers take

wildlife anywhere, anytime and they do so

using the most unsporting methods. It is

difficult to have a law enforcement officer, a

poacher and a wild animal at the same location at the same

time... but by incorporating a robotic decoy, officers can do

just that.”

A local game warden approached Brian with the idea

about 13 years ago for making a lifelike, custom decoy for

enforcing the local hunting regulations. Brian, who now

sells his decoys all over North America, took

that opportunity to make the decoys that

now help protect our wildlife. “After that,

the business just grew”, said Brian. During

their first three years, they did no advertising

and focused mainly on doing whitetail deer

decoys for the area. Now, their lineup spans

from turkeys, coyotes, and bears, to a moose

they are working on for Alaska. “We have

even had requests for a Red Deer in Latvia,”

Brian mentioned.

As a credit to the dedication of hunters across the board to

preserving their own heritage, many decoys are purchased

by non-profit based wildlife organizations and then donated

them to the local game wardens for use in problem areas.

Law enforcement agencies don’t always have enough

funding for anti-poaching efforts and some areas charge

offenders up to $100 per shot offense to offset the cost of

the eventuality of replacing the animal. These fees are in

addition to whatever legal action the culprits face by the

legal system. “All states are different”, Brian tells me, in

fact, some agencies in New York go so far as to offer the

offender the opportunity to either face court action and legal

fees, or replace a decoy. “I have had these people call up

needing to buy a decoy with their credit card ready”. Most

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of them seem to be taking the replacement option instead

of facing the courts. This serves as a deterrent and learning

experience as well as a method of funding the decoys.

All of the decoys are operated by remote control and run

on batteries, “12 AA batteries will run the typical deer

decoy”, says Brian. This allows the decoys to be manned

by an officer at a safe distance. The decoys are full mount

works of taxidermy art and typically include different sets

of reproduction antlers unless the customer requests or

supplies real ones. Some customers supply their own hide in

order to have a decoy that better matches the local wildlife.

They typical deer or elk decoys employ an interchangeable

system that allows the users to either make bucks and bulls

or a doe or cow.