Rob/PA Bowyer

Yes!

peakrut

All I know is I got me a new one from rivervalleygamecalls.com called a deer flute and cant wait to put
that baby to good use this fall.
Answer, yes!

blackjeep04

Where I hunt thebucks are young. Grunt calls scare them away and decoys freak them out. Go figure..

mohunter82

I will never go to the woods with out my buck growl ever again. of course all calls have a certain day or time they will work. but most grunts will work best toward the rut. and usually better with a rattlin sequence. dont call when they are in close though. Then they will know right where ya are.

GMMAT

What are your herd dynamics?

I'd wanna know that before I could give you an honest assessment. Around here.....they're (calls) about as useless as tits on a boar hog.

Philg

deer calls work under the right conditions.Workwith it to get it right and it will sale itself. good luck

Rob/PA Bowyer

The question was, do deer calls really work, simple answer. Yes.

No of course they don't work all the time and in every situation.

Take Jeff's herd dynamics, I called a pile of bucks, most were "useless" to a point. I got reaction but they did not come. I wouldn't call that "useless" as I got feedback. Under the right condition even in that dynamic, it could work. I didn't scare any so it's worth a shot if an animal is out of range.

Late one evening in Jeff's woods I saw a decent buck working the park edge and I called to it, it eventually made it's way down the knee high fence seperating the park from private ground and went through the opening where a tree fell on the fence. Calling to it, it turned and came down the fence line to me. I missed. (Miss NC) as I hit some branches that I did not see. Even in the worst conditions they are worth trying if no shot would present itself anyway. (Jeff )

GMMAT

That's one take. "MY" take is it only gives the illsuion that there might be another buck in the area. Once he sees there isn't (where's the deer that's supposed to be making that sound?)......he may not come by your stand. May never have....but who can say, definitively?

No one can say what would have happened if you'd kept your flute in your pocket

I saw280 doe sightings in '06 and 46 buck sightings. WHY IN THE WORLD (IMO) would a buck go looking for a fight when there's this many does to service and no fight necessary? In '07 it got worse. 190 doe sightings and 17 bucks.

Real-life experiences with me in my woods......I don't use them. I "think" I took mine on 3-4 hunts, last year, and blew it, once.

It worked wonderfully in PA......UNTIL he came close enough that he didn't see the deer that was supposed ot be making the noise.....and IMO he spooked at that. Different herd.....different herd dynamics.

If you think it helps you.....by all mean employ the tactic.

IAhuntr

Sure calls work. There is more video evidence to support that fact than you can shake a stick at. But in my personal experience other than the actual peak rut, calling for deer is reallydependent on location. If you call to a deer, you need to be in a thick cover set-up where he has to come incloser tofind the "deer" he thinks he heard, and he has to have a reason to want tofind that deer.Often if you are set-upin open timber, on a field edge, oron aCRPfield during early or late season or during the pre-rut where the deer canlikely see there is no other deer from a distance, then caution will usually over-ride curiosity and he will not come in any closer or he will simply circle down wind and the gig is up. The exception is those magical few days when the bucks are so intoxicated by the rut that they lose their senses and start thinking with the wrong head and will often charge in to a bleat or tending grunt with no regard to the wind.
In any case, I usually only usecalls at times when the deer don't otherwise seem to be moving, or as a last attempt to try toget a big buck to change his course and come my way. If you spook a mature buck with over-calling or by getting winded when he circles you,most likely he willavoid the area for several days if not longer.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Oh perhaps, but he was all ready in range and without a call all you could do is watch him walk away. That's all I'm saying.

Without a call, your dead in the water if they walk away. With a call, you can bring them right in at times.

Plus, I've called bucks back in several times when they've "spooked" cause they didn't see that animal. They are not that "smart" at times.

Also, let's not forget the one I called in for a 3rd shot.

Calls work, not all the time, when they do it's magic, when they don't, your not out anything.

I will never be in the woods without one, anywhere in this country including NC. [8D]