25 Deer Calling Tips
There are two accessories I always take afield with me these days. The first is a quality pair of binoculars to help me see deer skulking in the shadows that would otherwise go undetected...
And the second is a deer call.
If I am careful, a single note can lure that buck into range as if I possessed a magic flute (a buck, I might add, that could easily walk out of my life forever.) Do grunt tubes work all the time? No. Most experts are pleased if they can get one out of 10 bucks to respond favourably to their renditions. Here are 25 tips to help you bring the big guy into range on your next hunt.
EARLY SEASON
1. Try starting the opening day off with a bit of rattling. Not hard and harsh mind you, but soft and easy to imitate two bucks sparring in order to test each other's strength and weaknesses. A rattle bag seems to work best here. Just rub the bag back and forth between your hands for 10 or 15 seconds at a time, and then grab your bow or gun. This low-level grinding is sure to tweak the curiosity of any nearby passing buck.
2. One of the problems calling to whitetails during the early season is the response rate. Bucks are not quite worked up enough to be attracted to a knock down drag-out buck fight, nor are they likely to come a-running to an estrous doe bleat. They will, however, investigate a contact grunt from a young buck or doe, or the plaintiff bleat of a fawn. The trick here is to key in on food sources, and then set up an ambush in a nearby staging area that offers plenty of cover.
3. Or, try calling right outside a buck's preferred bedding area late in the morning or an hour or so before dark. This is risky business, but if you are careful, it can work on your very first attempt. What call should you use? A couple of moderately toned contact grunts could send that bedded buck into a frenzy. Why? Your rendition might be interpreted as a younger buck invading his territory to look for potential suitors.
BLIND CALLING
4. Yearling buck grunts, doe bleats, doe-in-heat bleats, moderately toned buck grunts, fawn bleats, buck contact grunts, yearling buck tending grunts and even fawn-in-distress bleats are all proven deer calls. Indeed, each fall, knowledgeable hunters who know how to imitate these basic vocalizations in the wild tag thousands of whitetail deer. It is the buck contact grunt, doe-in-heat bleat and the series of moderately toned tending buck grunts that bag the most bucks however-three easy calls to master.
5. Don't be afraid to use your deer call. Sure, improper calling can spook a buck into the next county, but more often than not you will learn something about deer behaviour than can be used successfully later in your career. You might for example learn how quickly a buck will pinpoint your exact location if you or your treestand are not well camouflaged.
6. When blind calling, start your calling sequence with the volume turned down low. A buck might be standing nearby, and come running in to investigate. If your rendition sounds more like a foghorn however, a nearby buck might vamoose without you ever knowing he was close at hand.
...Always have an arrow nocked or your gun in hand before you start calling to unseen deer....7. Always have an arrow nocked or your gun in hand before you start calling to unseen deer. It only takes a second for a buck to step into view, and he will be on high alert leaving you precious little time to prepare for a shot. A140-class buck, for example, once came in so fast and stopped so close to me I could not nock an arrow without alerting him to my presence. He escaped unscathed.
8. Just because a buck doesn't respond immediately to your calling does not mean he is not going to come in for a look-see. He may take 10 minutes, he might take an hour, so don't give up hope. Indeed, more than one buck has been known to circle around and show up on the downwind side of a treestand long after the hunter relaxed his guard.
9. Be sure to test the upper limits of every grunt tube you plan on taking into the woods with you before you step afield. Some models lose their tonal qualities when you blow hard, causing a squeak that is sure to alert any nearby deer. Don't discard these odd-sounding calls however. Sometimes a simple reed adjustment is all it takes to bring the grunt tube back up to specs. If that doesn't help, save the parts. It is amazing what authentic sounding deer calls you can build when you mix and match barrels, reeds and ribbed tubing!
ADD REALISM
10. If you should snap a twig while still-hunting or walking to your stand and start a deer, try a confidence call. I like to imitate the soft mew of a fawn as they always seem to be stumbling about, but avoid the use of a fawn-in-distress call. I can't imagine a scenario where this would help you bag a buck holding steady on red alert. A single low doe bleat might also calm any nearby deer down.
11. If you are hunting from ground zero, and a buck hangs up just out of range, try grunting, bleating, mewing or rattling from a different location. This is a killer maneuovre if you can pull it off without being seen. Raking an antler up and down a tree trunk, or pawing at the ground with a stick might be all it takes then to get that buck to finally commit himself.
12. Learn to double up on your calls. For example, try a doe-in-heat bleat followed by a short series of tending buck grunts. This is a hot combination during the pre-rut as well as the peak of the rut. A lost fawn bleat followed by a doe-in-heat bleat and then a tending buck grunt can be the ticket when the rut is in full swing. Why? A nearby buck will "think" a hot doe is about to be bred by a buck in attendance. The "lost" fawn only adds realism to the ruse, because does routinely abandon their fawns while being bred.
13. When doubling up on your vocalizations use a single purpose call and couple that with notes from a variable grunt tube. It adds a bit of realism to your calling strategy by sounding like two distinctly different deer.
PEAK OF THE RUT
14. You will know the rut has kicked in when you see bucks lingering around feeding areas preferred by family groups of does and fawns well after sunrise. They will be searching for does by scent-checking the edges of openings, and by staring off into thick wooded areas for several moments at a time. This is a good time to give a roving buck what he is expecting to find-a family group of does and fawns. He will quickly zero in on a couple of fawn bleats followed by a doe bleat or two. Keep your eyes and ears open, but don't be afraid to blind call every 15 minutes or so, either.
15. Bucks love to cruise the edges of major waterways during the rut in their seemingly never-ending search for a doe in estrous. To narrow your search and pinpoint an exact calling location, look for inlets and bays that funnel bucks close to the shoreline or "around the horn" as they trot from one side of the bay to the other.
...Stay alert and be ready to shoot at all times...16. You can set up a treestand on a downwind edge of the bedding area, or still-hunt in and around the thick stuff. Either way, calling blindly to bucks by using doe-in-heat bleats followed by moderately toned tending buck grunts will work. Stay alert and be ready to shoot at all times because the action can be fast and furious!
SPECIALITY CALLS
17. When a buck is in the company of an estrous doe near the very peak of her cycle, he will often make a clicking noise just moments prior to copulation. It sounds much like someone dragging their thumbnail across the teeth of a plastic comb, with each individual click separate and distinct.
When the rut is in full swing, this clicking will signify to a passing mature buck that a hot doe is somewhere nearby, and that mating is about to take place. Use a moderately toned or high-pitched series of clicking, and a sexually experienced trophy buck just might believe that a younger and less mature buck is about to mate, and rush in to take over the breeding rites.
18. A snort-wheeze is made by a buck exhaling air through his nose in a very specific cadence. Once you have heard it, you won't forget it. It occurs when two bucks of similar status suddenly encounter each other around a food source or a doe near estrous, and serves as a warning to the intruder buck to back off-or there will be a fight. A buck will also emit a loud snort-wheeze when a hot doe refuses to stand still long enough to allow breeding to take place. The buck is undoubtedly warning the doe to stand still-or else!
The snort-wheeze seems to work best during the peak of the rut when mature bucks are tending does. Your rendition of a snort-wheeze, either alone or added to a tending buck grunt or an estrous doe bleat, may be all it takes to pull a mature buck away from a hot doe. But be prepared, however, as any nearby buck will probably come in looking for a fight!
19. If you prefer to still-hunt as I do, and want to call a buck in closer for a clean shot, try a few contact buck grunts followed by your version of a buck making a rub--complete with swaying sapling. It sounds "gimmicky", but it works for me!
WHEN NOT TO CALL
20. Do not keep calling if the buck does not respond in a timely manner. He may simply not want to come over for a look-see, so let him go for another day. The last thing you want to do is educate him to your imitation grunts and bleats.
21. Do not call again if the buck appears to have heard your call, and is already working his way towards your position. Additional grunts or bleats may only serve to confuse him, or worse, alert him to the fact that you are not another deer.
22. Do not call if the buck is already in range, or is looking at you, or is just out of range. If he pegs you, the game is over. Instead, hold your ground, and let him make the next move. If he turns to walk away hit him with another note.
LATE SEASON STRATEGIES
23. In some late-season hunts, "doe tags" are still valid and in fact antlerless deer are often the main quarry. Fawn bleats for example can stir a doe's curiosity to the point where she will come in for a cautious look-see whereas a loud blast from a fawn-in-distress specialty call can still bring a doe charging in to rescue a stricken fawn.
24. Of course, if it is a buck you are after, then you really have your work cut out for you! In most cases as long as he has his rack, he is willing and able to breed-thus an estrous doe bleat is always a good choice. It is imperative, though, that you chose your tree stand site carefully, making sure you are high above the ground and well concealed.
25. If your call freezes up during the late season, you are calling too much. Slow down, and call more sparingly. A squeaking note now can wreck your season.
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EAM
said:
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... I have often wondered just how far a deer can hear a deer call. If anyone has information on this I would be most interested. Of course even a 10 mph wind will make the call far more easily heard downwind rather than upwind, not the best situation. One of the best times to use a deer call is in that last 15 minutes of shooting light when you know there is a buck nearby in the bushes that is waiting for full darkness before stepping out. The use of the right deer call at that point will often have that buck making an appearance while there is still shooting light |
george 8mm
said:
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calls nice to hear that about calls.. I heard guys say they walk in the woods blow a call &the deer walds OUT . Iguess that is hunting STORIES.  |
