jeepinxj

So to start off I cant wait to get in the tree!!!!! Season starts Oct 1st here in northern IL. Some quick questions for you guys, when do you start rattling? Calling? Bleet and grunt? Any advice is a help thanks.

YooperMike

I call VERY little, like pretty much not at all. In pressured areas, the deer have heard every product on the market, kind of like call-shy turkeys, and the calling seems to do more to put them on edge, rather than bring them in. Sure, there will be instances where the calls work, mostly based on time of year, but I like to stay quiet, especially where rattling is concerned. I do some grunting, and a little of doe bleating, but it's usually soft and short. I think that most hunters grunt WAYYY too loud from watching guys on TV blowing a hurricane through their buck roar/growl. I use a Buck Roar call, but I don't do the whole "roar" routine, just soft grunting. Of course, this is just my opinion, and if I had a wall of 180"s, it would probably mean more!

jeepinxj

Thanks for your input!!! I hunt both pressured and un pressured so just trying to figure whats best for both. That helps.

YooperMike

Not a problem. My lease I would put in the semi-pressured category. It's not real big, and I'm the only one on it, but the surrounding properties have a good bit of pressure on them, and that is what I take into consideration with my calling philosophy. Also, my lease is mainly a transition area, and doesn't "hold" very many deer, which I also think affects the efficacy of calling. Deer density increases the frequency of when a deer is going to hear vocalizations, so if i'm in an area where there are genrally low numbers, and all of a sudden 10/1/10 there is grunts and bleats a'plenty, it's going to seem out of place. Entirely possible i'm giving a deer wayyy more credit than it deserves too.