PINEHURST, Idaho -- The fact that hunting in the Inland Northwest is done in remote areas makes it difficult to monitor. So when fish and game officers want to know if sportsmen are abiding by the rules, they create a situation where the hunters come to them.

On a rainy day just outside of Pinehurst, Idaho, fish and game officers are setting a trap for over anxious hunters.

"This elk was built two years ago by another officer and I," said Officer Josh Stanley with Idaho Fish and Game. "The hide was donated by a guy south of Coeur d'Alene with the elk ranch."

The decoy is named J-Lo, a stuffed elk turned temptress and carefully positioned where she's visible from a busy Shoshone County roadway.

"Today is the day before cow season, we're putting that elk out there in hopes to get an opportunistic violator who would take a cow before the season opens," said Officer Stanley.

From his road-side blind Stanley watched and waited. For legal reasons he must be able to identify which passenger actually shoots the elk .

Idaho Fish and Game Officer Rick Bogar sits in his patrol vehicle nearby, he's responsible for making the traffic stop.

"They'll come in and stop the individual that shoots and if they don't shoot, we'll just check their tags and license and then move them on," said Officer Bogar.

It doesn't take very long for J-Lo to attract the attention of a passing hunter. Officer Stanley watches as a car pulls over to the side of the road after spotting the elk. The driver pulls out a rifle and sites the elk with a scope, that's when officers move in.

Officer Stanley relays to Officer Bogar who then stops the vehicle. Jeremy, who is the driver of the car, and his wife sitting in the passenger seat, are both licensed hunters and not suspected of poaching, but Officer Bogar does give them a warning about contemplating shooting from a roadway.

"If you got a pair of binoculars, it's a little better to look out the window with than a scope and a rifle," Officer Bogar explained. "It looks a little suspicious."

J-Lo continued to catch the eye of other drive by hunters, many who hope such a fetching cow will have a bull elk nearby.

"We've had lots of people drive by, we've had two folks poke guns out the door looking at it," Officer Stanley said.

The team is still waiting for their first "shooter" of the day. Fish and game officers would be just fine with no one shooting at their decoys, they say only a few hunters break the rules that everyone else follows.

"Being the day before cow season, sometimes guys will come out here and try to get started early," said Stanley. "That's pretty much cheating and a lot of guys in the state would not appreciate someone hunting outside the designated hunt."

Just then a 15-year-old rider on an ATV showed up to the scene, the teen had no idea fish and game officers were on a stakeout.

The boy showed restraint, not loading his rifle until he was out of a congested area. When he finally spots J-Lo, he realizes the cow is still one day out of season. The boy raised his rifle and looked at the decoy through the scope before putting the gun down and then using a cow call in hopes of luring a bull elk out of the brush, but the young hunter only lures in Officer Bogar.

Bogar gives the teen high marks for being a legal hunter, but notices the tags on his atv are expired.

"Take that ATV home and get it registered, if it comes back out again your dad gets a ticket," Bogar told the boy.

As night falls with still no shooters, fish and game officers outfit J-Lo for a little work under the cover of darkness. Officer switch to hunting for spot-lighters - people who poach big game by looking for the reflection from the eyes of deer and elk.

"You're taking away that opportunity, taking away from the other hunters out there, those who are playing it legal and trying to find their elk," said Officer Bogar.

During the sting, J-Lo didn't attract any shooters, but a decoy bull elk named Franco always seems to draw gunfire.

"Franco's a bull elk, what we call a simulated elk," Bogar said. "It's a half mount, the backside has no body to it, just the front half."

Fish and game officers are using Franco to bust hunters shooting from the roadway.

"It's a major safety concern," Bogar said. "We've had guys pull out their weapons and shoot their partner, shoot their vehicles, shoot down a road when a car's coming up or where people are walking."

As the sting continued, fish and game officers watched as one truck pulled up and spotted Franco, while another truck pulled up behind the first one and opened fire. Bogar sprang into action.

"Both of you get out of the vehicle please, step to the back and turn it off," he ordered.

The identified shooter, T.J. Gibson now faces the misdemeanor charge of shooting from the roadway. Fish and game has the option of seizing T.J.'s rifle as evidence but didn't do so on this occasion. There are several fines to pay including making things right by Franco.

"If they do shoot the animal, there's a $50 restitution to repair that, but it doesn't cover the cost of what it takes to build one," said Bogar.

Some of the simulated animals are getting more and more sophisticated. Idaho Fish and Game now has several decoys that have moving body parts and are operated by remote control. In fact, some are so realistic looking that officers have to block the road when their putting the decoys in place so someone doesn't start shooting at them before they can get back to their truck.