I have a calling question
 

Our archery season is October 4th. I know thats pretty close to, but not close enough for pre-rut.

What works early in the season, bleats? Grunts?

RE: I have a calling question
 

Come Oct. 4 I wont be using any calls... as a matter of fact, Im not planning onusing any calls this year, I just dont see the purpose.

RE: I have a calling question
 

I heard the fawn bleat will be the only thing that will have any affect until mid November. I will use a grunt and can bleat. They have always worked for me.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Could be my lack of skill, I used a fawn bleat/distress all last year... nothing, not even when I had does in sight. they didnt care.

RE: I have a calling question
 

depends on their mood. It will not hurt to call as they are vocal all year round. Just not as aggresive until the rut starts. That will be sometime in Nov. depending on where you are located. Call softly and sparingly in the early season and it may work, if not no harm done, as far as I see it.

RE: I have a calling question
 

doe bleat. up until the rut. studies have shown that does are actually less vocal during the rut instead usingscent and bodu posture to show when they are ready. there was and article in deer and deer hunting i believe that elaborated on this using doe bleats. i have even used the in sucess during the early season. some times it happens fast and sometimes not. but its kinda like turkey hunting. your not actually trying to call them in just letting them know your there. Curiosity killed the cat!

RE: I have a calling question
 

We start our season about September 12th...I've had luck the first week or two with the fawn distress call but I prefer a doe bleat, mine is a Lohmann...Keep it short and fairly quiet, all she is doing is keeping up with the young...

By the first week in October, I have grunted bucks up, but not the agressive grunting just a short "bleat" grunt...Now...I have tried several different grunt tubes and I think most are too deep sounding...I use the one made by Woods Wise, I think its called Buck-n-Doe...It has both a buck and a doe bleat cartridge...I bought mine years ago and have 2 in reserve, still in the pack as backup...
I don't even know if these guys are still in business...

RE: I have a calling question
 

I must not be a good caller, because every time I try to do the fawn distress, I scare the does, instead of making them run to me.[&:]

RE: I have a calling question
 

In PA, I've grunted in bucks from the begining of the season to the end of the season. Contact grunts work year around if they are interested. Couple that with contact bleats in early season. I will NEVER enter a woods for the purpose of hunting without a grunt call.

RE: I have a calling question
 

X2
X3

RE: I have a calling question
 

Yorue bleat is going tobe your best choice of a call during any season. Theres a great story on bleat calls in the last issue of Deer & Deer Hunting.

RE: I have a calling question
 

What he said.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Your herd dynamics will be a big factor in determining whether or not calls will be successful, for you.

Around here.....having a buck respond to a grunt call is akin to asking Brad Pitt to leave Angelina, Marissa Miller, Jessica Biel and Pam Anderson .....for a tussle to gain the possible affections of a"mystery woman".

I'd take my chances with the sure things I was with if I were him, too;)

RE: I have a calling question
 

But they also don't hurt. In your woods I called to every buck I saw, roughly what 10 or so and only one responded enough to call. They all listened, did not spook but were just too busy to come. BUT that one that did, offered me a shot I wouldn't have had otherwise. They are not full proof, but they do work even in your neck of the woods. ;) At least one in 10 times it did. LOL

RE: I have a calling question
 

If you saw 10 bucks in one sit.....you saw more in my woods than I've ever seen in 2 sits, combined. See how I treat my friends!:D

I saw 4, total, last YEAR.[8D]

Honestly, Rob.....you made me nervous as hell with all the calling you were doing, that evening. The can call is absolutely still foreign, to me. I've tried it.....and it's just never been a producer.

I hope it works for you here, this fall. I'll end up taking my grunt call once or twice this year......maybe more ion the new properties.

I wish you luck!

RE: I have a calling question
 

Same here, couldn't have said it any better.

RE: I have a calling question
 

You sound allot like my brother Rob. My brother lives, eats, and drinks his deer calls. He's excellent with them and has had great success with them. I for one have had just the opposite luck. I've actually had better luck burping (Imitating a buck grunting) then I have using calls. This year I'm giving it my all being I went out and purchased a bunch of calls this winter. I picked up some MAD calls- Grunt Snort And Wheeze, Buck Growl, Heat Bleat. I am really interested in the Snort and Wheeze and Buck Growl and I plan on using them as the rut nears this fall if I'm still with out a buck yet come that time.

RE: I have a calling question
 

There is probably a rule against this or something but here is a link to a couple of DVD's that i am selling on Ebay right now. One of them is called: The Art of Calling "A guide to calling deer".

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...m=150282898024

RE: I have a calling question
 

I used the buck growl along with a rattling sequence to call in 3 different bucks in less than2 hour. only one shooter but the fact that all this calling was done blind.

My thought is how do you know if its gonnawork you or not if ya dont try it first?

RE: I have a calling question
 

I hope I didn't give the wrong impression....because I KNOW they work.

I grunted in a P&Y caliber buck from over 100yds in PA.......and got him to 22yds. I know it works. Rob's herd dynamics are DRASTICALLY different than mine, also.

I have experimented with them, here, to no avail. Like I said.....my reasoning is (putting my deer hat on).....WHY would I leave a bunch of ladies I already have......for th e"possibility" of a tussle over one someone else already (seemingly) has?

I dunno.....I may be swayed to change my tactics.....and a piece of new land may do that. I just didn't want anyone to think I felt they were useless. I know better.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Its cool we know what ya mean.
and i'll be the first to admit THEY DONT ALWAYS WORK. i have one piece of land that i hunt that i have tried calling and it was not as successful as other places. but it was worth a try.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Hence , the name of the post....my question was not if some or all of yo believe in calls. Its which works this early in the season. I have ad great luck with buckgrunts and doe bleats in Mid November to Mid December, but Im concerned that not much will be reacting such early in the season other than maybe a fawn bleat to let a buck know a doe is aroud the corner....somewhere.

Maybe like some have said, do nothing, but Im bringing my A game the first day. If its a fawn bleat, Im gonna try it. I know rattling, tending grunts, even doe bleats are a little later on in the season.

My main concerns is what stages the deer are in. Woould this be considered pre-pre-rut? or just normal activity at this point in the game?

RE: I have a calling question
 

No.

RE: I have a calling question
 

If you remember, I saw more than I stopped counting deer at 75 in the one morning sit and two evening sits. I saw that buck in the am then at least 9 skirting to and fro in the edge of the park and such.

You did treat me well. :)

RE: I have a calling question
 

I bought my first deer call when I was 15, 26 years ago and at the time I don't even recall if grunts were available. The one I bought was a wooden call resembling a duck call and it was strictly a doe bleat. I called in an amazing amount of deer with it and I wish I still had it.

Almost ever single deer I've taken, and more specifically, ever deer I mounted came to the call and I may or may not have ever killed said animals without it. I've called bucks from over 250 yards walking away from me right to bow range. I've called does in, I've called in bucks only to let them walk away and call them back again. That 04 buck I missed twice and called him back in to kill him on the 3rd shot.

They don't work every time but when they do it can be like a magnet.

Most times it's two grunts, one to get their attention, the second to pull them in.

If I get a chance I'll make a calling tutorial, not HOW to but what works for me. I don't think there is a real HOW TO, but definately some successes.

RE: I have a calling question
 

One tactic that has produced bucks for me in the past during the pre rut or rut stage...

Take the estrus can and roll it over 3 times...Wait 3-4 minutes and give 3-4 grunts with your grunt tube...Don't make the long agressive grunt, go with the shorter grunt...What you are trying to do is mimic a doe saying, "I'm looking for you big boy, where are you?"...Then the buck comes looking and he is saying "I'm here darling, come on over..."

This works especially well near a cutover or a bedding area...I've had bucks get up from the bedding area and come looking for the hot lady...

RE: I have a calling question
 

Jeff, I just thought of something and it may or may not be the case, we'll never know but maybe the reason I did see so many bucks was the calling. They came looking but didn't commit. Who knows it could have been right place, right time but that was an exceptional 2 evenings in a treestand.

RE: I have a calling question
 

I too always have a grunt call with me, even in the early season/opening days. My buddy called in a buck last year the second week of September.

Even if you aren't blind calling early in the season...it's not a bad idea to have your call with you. You might just pull that buck in from 50-60 yards to 20-30 yards with a couple of soft, contact grunts. It can't hurtif you weren't going to get a shot anyways! ;)

RE: I have a calling question
 

simply put .....early season -2 doe bleats. it has always brought does in. of course if your looking for a buck it may not work as well.

RE: I have a calling question
 

I carry my rattling horns with me from the second week of sept after the bucks are out of velvet they start sparing and testing each other to see what head gear each has and to form there pecking order. I don't do any agressive rattling until mid oct but will tinkle the horns together. I have also used grunt calls and "the can" to call several bucks in. Bucks do go into lock down and there seems to be a time when deer movment does slow some but if you don't try you'll never know.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Take the calls. You just never know what might raise enough curiosity to get a buck to close the gap. As a last resort, I pulled out a grunt call in Nebraska several years ago the first week of September! I had a good buck browsing in a hay field in front of me for most of the evening at over a hundred yards. As he started to exit the far side of the field I began grunting several times and he came right to me and I brought home a 135" 8pt. that weighed over 300 lbs. on the hoof. I have also rattled in bucks in early October. In '04 I took a 145" buck on Oct. 16, by rattling after he disappeared over a ridge. I use the calls as a last resort usually that early, but what do you have to lose if the deer is leaving anyway? Just use passive grunts and very light rattling if necessary and cross your fingers. Also, I think it is very important that you only call when the deer can not easily see your location. Wait until terrain or brush etc. obscures his view and NEVER call directly towards the deer.If he is in the wide open, wait until he looks away and call each time he looks away. That drives them nuts sometimes and even the big boys cant stand not coming closer for a better look. Good luck.

RE: I have a calling question
 

It was also the 1st time that woodlot had ever been hunted (to my knowledge.....and knowing the landowner).;)

Worth noting.

I've tried calling in similar, close proximity spots....to no avail.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Always the pessimest (sp) LOL, It was my sweet sweet calling and you know it. [8D]

Damn notable note. :D

RE: I have a calling question
 

Jeff's got to understand just because it don't work for him doesn't mean it won't work for someone else in the same woods. Rob you've been doing this for 26 years I think you said. Thats telling me you know what your doing when calling deer. Some of us don't have much luck with it, probably cause were not doing something right. I'm one of them but I plan on putting this arsenal into my hunting tactics and getting it down in the next few years.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Good idea Rob!

RE: I have a calling question
 

Here's a few excerpts from a thread we had a while back, Rob.....and why I say what I do (which you seemed to agree, in part;),with me on........back then).

ME:

ME, Again:

Rob:

I might have to adjust my thinking a bit......"If" we are to "assume" that the buck you shot at was the dominant buck. If you say he (that one....by your account) was coming to your calls......I believe you, 100%.;)

Interesting, for sure. Like I said....I may have to re-think this.

RE: I have a calling question
 

I had a buddy hunting with me, we were spot and stalking when we busted a group of deer. (too many years ago when I shot fingers and couldn't hit squat..lol). The deer blew and went and he said a few choice words. I said wait and I started calling. Out of the ruckus comes this 2.5 (I thought at the time) running right into us looking. Of course I missed with my buddy breathing on my neck. It was very cool experience seeing that buck charge into us. From that day forward, my buddy never questioned calling again.

Sorry, I can tell stories all day about calling.

I look at it this way as well, why not? I've never had a negative reaction to calling. (As long as your subtle) They are very vocal animals, more than we realize. It's not magic but when it does work, it seems like magic.

RE: I have a calling question
 

I still agree with you today with your herd dynamics. Calling won't work everytime. But the right time, the right place and it may make the difference in getting a shot vs just getting a sighting. We have nothing to lose when grunting a few times to a buck. He may only lift his head, wag his tail and be on his merry way BUT, he may also turn, strut in and take an arrow.

I've caused them to tear up trees, I've caused them to make scrapes, I've caused them to grunt back, snort/wheeze, urinate, run in, strut in ears layed back looking for a fight. I've also seen them look, twitch an ear and simply continue what they are doing.

I have never had one turn up tail and flee. In fact, just the opposite, I've stopped them dead cold from fleeing to look back and sometimes come back.

It's never going to work all the time anywhere, it may even work one out of 10 times like it did for me in NC but that one time. Yeah baby.

RE: I have a calling question
 

Got any pictures?[8D]

RE: I have a calling question
 

I think I can show you the arrow with that one hair on it. [&o] :( [8D]