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Deer Calls &
techniques
  
It seems that every year there comes a new and improved
product that pretty much guarantees that you will harvest
that doe or buck if you use their product correctly. Their
only half right in that claim.
A lot of
sportsmen become frustrated with the calls because they have come to expect
that it is going to work, just like the hunting videos seen on TV each week
where the host either rattles the horns, blows on the grunt tube or flips
the Promos can and in comes the deer on the run.
Here is the real truth behind the calls.
Deer like humans
have different tones in the voice. Some speak softly and others have a deep
strong voice. Deer are no different, so when it comes to mimicking that
sound with either the can or tube, you really can't go wrong. So why doesn't
the deer come running when I use them? Because like humans...deer have also
learned how to be vocal with each other in the patterns.
Buck Calls- In this category there are a
number of different variations:
Dominate Buck Grunt -
This has got to be one of the biggest sellers for most manufactures of grunt
calls. If you read most of the packages, it basically says by using this
call you are pretty assured of calling in that dominate buck on the property
you hunt.
Here is where
the issues arise...if your after any legal buck (In NYS its 3 inch antler)
then using this call will actually scare off anything less than the dominate
and even then...may scare the dominate buck in your area also.
Tending
Grunt - The tending grunt call is
basically a series of 8 to 10 short grunts on the tube. You are trying to
mimic a buck that is with a hot doe or close on her tail. When he is either
with her or close by, he will emit a series of short light grunts. If you
use this in combination with the doe in estrous call it can be a winning
adventure if another buck is close by and can hear it.
Subordinate
Grunt - This is the call I most
often use...why? Because I want to see what bucks I have in the area and
even the smallest will respond to this call. Prior to the rut, you will find
most bucks in bachelor groups just hanging out. Even during the rut, I have
seen smaller bucks running with larger ones. I start off by making 4 to 6
light grunts just in case a buck is already in the area I am hunting. I then
give it 10 minutes and start a series of 8 to 10 louder grunts giving time
in-between for the bucks to show up.
The place to
keep a close eye is downwind of where your sitting. Most often the buck will
try to swing around behind you to try and catch the sent of what is making
the grunts. I try and positing myself so that the buck would have to go out
into a clearing to do so. The majority of the bucks will stay clear of fully
exposing themselves and come in through the thickest part.
Searching -
When the buck has started into the
Rut, he will start making scrapes and will actually run the ridges and
valley's crossways of the doe's normal travel patterns. He does this to
cover as much ground as possible in a minimal amount of time. During this
time, he will make short and long grunts. If I am still hunting I will use
this technique of walking a ways and then using the grunt call to make 6 to
8 semi loud grunts.
Doe Calls -
The Cans...
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The New York Hunter
