Yeah,

Read the same article. The funniest part (but he claims it worked), is that he got busted from afar with movement in the tree and made owl noises and apparently it calmed the deer down to get them in range. I'm thinking a hoot owl rather than a screech owl.

The article made the following memorable points: (1) If the deer are on high alert spooked, snorting, flagging, etc., nothing is going to save you, so don't bother. (2) the woods are naturally noisy, with birds thrashing, squirrels jumping, acorns and limbs falling, trees creaking, and deer are often on edge naturally. If you know deer are in the area and they haven't spotted you and are not really spooked, then I'm thinking this strategy would work. As long as you don't give your position away with movement, mimicing a natural sound might work. I can also see a bunch of ways it can backfire.

It reminds me of an article I read by some hunter who said he had to use a cane due to injury, and due to the slowness of his movements, and the non-human walking sound (not a biped) he was able to sneak up on deer. I'm calling crap on that one. But the point is still the same, if your noises blend in better and are less obviously human, you up your chances of not being detected.

I compare this to hearing one of those noises at night in bed, the ones where your wife wants you to go check on it. If I start listening and can tell its the wind or the dog, or road noise, I relax, tell her its allright and go back to sleep. If not, I get a little on edge and go investigate.

I don't have any real world experience with this cover strategy. To me it would probably be more successful with stalking than stand hunting. But it brings up a good point about trying to blend into the natural world, and if I might try it if the conditions are just right.