A buddy of mine has grunted in a couple of bucks, but all of my attempts have failed....either my calls are ignored or avoided.

I agree, it' s too early for that stuff (Tink would probably disagree). I tried some buck lure last night and when the does caught it, they ran the other way! Save all your calls and lures til the last week of season.

There are certain calls for certain times of the year. You can use doe bleats during the early part of the season, rattling during the pre-rut and rut. Lures such as Tinks69 or any other kind of doe estrus shouldn' t be used until the rut begins.

I also think it matters where you' re hunting, that is, private or regulated land vs. public. So much of our state forests and SGL' s are hit hard from opening day of bow to last day of gun season that deer just don' t respond to calls and lures like we' re told they' ll react. My one opportunity in late Oct on private land was quite an experience with lures, compared to state land.

from my past experience... I can never seem to call a deer in... I only use it to stop the running ones on a drive

I' ve had a little success with the grunt tube and my rattling bag. I' ve read in this thread about aggressiveness of deer in other states and that is important. When I call I am very passive and only call softly.

The grunt tube has only ever worked for me when I could see the buck I was calling to. The key is to use the call to direct him to you...not to turn him around once he has gone by. Don' t call alot. Just call enough to pique his interest.

The biggest mistake people make in our area (PA) with rattling antlers is to bang them together very loudly or too aggressively. That' s why I use a rattling bag. All you want to do is " tickle" them together real softly and for short interims. And, unlike the grunt tube, I only use it when I don' t see any deer. The only time I get aggressive with the antlers is in the peak of the rut when I am seeing no deer whatsoever.

Most importantly, I only ever call when I am in thick cover. My experiences show that deer expect to see deer when they hear deer-type sounds. They hold up out of range in light cover, but come in much closer in the thicker cover. And be ready once you call - then can show up in the blink of an eye.

Good Luck!