I remember the first time I watched a VHS tape of Noel Feather rattling in and killing a big whitetail buck. He banged those shed antlers together, blew on a grunt call and within seconds arrowed a beautiful buck. “How awesome would that be?!” I thought to myself. I figured I had just learned the next step in becoming a whitetail hunting legend like Mr. Feather. Wrong! It took years before I eventually “rattled up” a buck. In truth, I did way more harm than good in my early attempts at talking to deer. Calling in and killing big bucks is much more involved than just blowing air through a plastic tube. There's a time, place and scenario for all the calls in our deer hunting arsenal.
Prior To Pre-Rut
The simple grunt “uuuu rrp” and doe bleat are the most common sounds heard this time of year. When I see bucks grunting this time of year, they’re telling other bucks: I'm not in a very good mood. Younger bucks seem to keep their distance at that point. I rarely use a call until late October. If I do, it's trying to calm deer down, basically letting them know that the twig they heard break was from another deer. The bleating is often associated with doe/fawn groups communicating with one another. During this time frame, your best bet is to be conservative.
Pre-rut
Now we are getting into the nitty gritty of talking to deer. Bucks are feeling the urge to breed more and more everyday. Testosterone is building and bucks start to develop bad attitudes toward their buddies with whom they’ve spent the last few months hanging out with. Scrapes are popping up at a feverish rate. New rubs are appearing daily. It's one of the most exciting times of the year to be in a treestand. This is the best time to call a mature buck in, in my opinion.
Before we get too far into this, I want to say first, that I'm not a fan of “blind calling” or calling without first seeing the deer. Yes it gets some bucks killed, but more often than not, it just educates them. Bucks you can't see will undoubtedly circle downwind of your location, trying to smell what’s going on. Chances are, you will never even know he responded to your calls. He will sneak in, smell you and slink away. Game over. You just educated the buck you want to kill. What are the chances he will be back through that area during daylight hours after getting a snout full of human stink? What are the odds of being able to call him back in at a later date and time? I wouldn't count on it. Stick to seeing him first, then if the situation is right (he's upwind and will have trouble circling you to get downwind before you can get a shot) start calling.
What calls to use? I carry a grunt call, a doe bleat (can call) and rattling antlers. To find out what others like to have in their pack, read 5 Things To Have In Your Pre-Rut Pack.
I use a grunt call the most. When I spot a target buck cruising a field well out of range, I will grunt three to five times lasting no more than two seconds per grunt. This is a non-aggressive grunt. If he changes course and starts heading in my direction, I shut up. The less calling you do, the less chance you have of screwing up. We want him to know where to go but not know our exact location. If this doesn't work, I will snort wheeze at him. Watch this video on how to properly snort wheeze at a buck. A snort wheeze is made by almost spitting and hissing real loud through a tube. You can buy such a call or just pull your grunt tube apart and use the tube. Either way works. This is an aggressive call that will either make him stop on a dime or hightail it to the next county. If he keeps going, no big deal, you did what you could to try and get a shot. If he stops and shows interest throw out a couple of grunts and another wheeze, if he commits, let him come without any more calling. If he holds up and you can rattle without being picked off, do so. Sometimes it will work like a charm and other times they will lose interest and continue on. There is no harm in working the calls in such a manner as long as they don't see you or get your wind. Knight and Hale has some great snort wheeze calls.
The Rut
During this time, the first does of the year start to come into estrous and the breeding season or what’s better known as “the rut” begins. All bets are off during this phase. Bucks and does will show up in places you never expected to see them. Bucks you never knew existed will be here one day and gone the next. Kill him when you see him, don't count on second chances.
Calling techniques are much the same as the pre-rut period but I do add doe bleats, tending grunts and growls to the mix.
Tending grunts, also referred to as breeding grunts by some are long drawn out grunts that indicate breeding. The folks at Illusion game call systems do a great job explaining how to mimic the sound of a tending and breeding grunt. Growls are short loud guttural roars. Here you can watch and learn how a buck growl really sounds. I have heard growls twice. Once when a doe wasn't being receptive to a buck’s advances, and once when a buck was pissed off at another buck. Exactly what it means, I do not know. I do know it's a very aggressive sound bucks make and it gets the attention of all the other deer in the area. I will use the growl to do just that, get the attention of a passing buck. From there I will use the long tending grunts mixed in with doe bleats trying to mimic a breeding session in progress.
Another type of calling I will do mimics a chase in progress. It's random, short grunts (urp,urp,urp), with bleats thrown in. I will do this for roughly 30 seconds. As I'm calling, I will turn and face different directions to add realism. This is the only calling I do without seeing a deer. I will only do it if my downwind side is to an open field or other obstruction that won't let the buck get downwind of me before I can get a shot. There are times I will use buck and doe urine to enhance the situation. Check out this article on Whitetail Scents and Lures: Do They Really Help for more insight.
Post-Rut
I call very little in late season due to the pressure already received. When I do use calls, it’s non-aggressive grunts and bleats. Again, it's a calming factor. The calls this time of year are saying; “Hey, I'm out here feeding, it's safe.” If you are hunting late in the year and happen to see a flurry of chasing going on, by all means, revert back to the rut methods mentioned above and try to get him killed.
Final Thoughts
Studies have shown that deer are way more vocal than we originally thought. We talk grunts, growls and bleats, trying to interpret what they mean. We take guesses based on our observations in the field and hope what we see one day will help us the next. When calling deer there is no right answer or magic formula to make it work. Deer are just like people in the sense that they all have different personalities. Some want to fight, some don't. Some are aggressive, while others aren't. All of this has an affect on how deer will respond. Deer in heavily hunted areas, where they get called to regularly, won't act the way deer do on lightly pressured ground. So, just like every other aspect of hunting, you just have to go do it. Find out what works for you and your area. Don't be afraid to fail or screw things up. When it works, it's one of the best ways to hunt.
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