Hey guys im new to these forums and i have only been hunting for about 2 years...

we leased 1700 acres in alabama last year and this year we are doing the same.... last year we never saw a buck out of our whole hutning club ( only 10 members).... but this year I found a field no one has found so i bush hogged and put up my game cam.... i found plenty of bucks up there.... a few 8pnts. a 10pnt. and a few crooked horns( you know how its a defect and the antler is actuallycrooked to one side)along with plenty of does. I took a hog and bobcat the 1st weekend and last weekend i took a crooked horn 6pnt.

so i was wondering if i should begin to use calls, scents, and decoys. I know u dont really use scents until rut but what about use calls prior to rut?... do any of yall use calls right now... a month prior to rut.

any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated.

(PS. i included a pic of bucks we got on our game cam)

Yes I do use calls decoys and scents

October 1-15 (no calling) just watching im in michigan by the way

October 15-November 25 grunting estrus bleats and rattiling maybe decoys with a buck and doe from october 15-nov 14 (gun season opens on the 15 of november)

November 25th - JAN 1st ill normally just stalk with fresh snow maybe a few estrus bleats after the rut cause all the young does/ yearlings and all does that were breed late last year will come into estrus so just try to find little does and maybe a big boy behind him.

1. calls: I've had very limited success. Far more often than not, the deer either ignore them or leave. I've killed 2 deer that I can say for sure came to the grunt call. I take antlers to the woods in the early season.
2. Scents: I'm too cheap. I take two 35mm film canisters with me to the woods and take the urine from deer I've killed, if there is any, and mix it 50/50 with water. I freeze leftovers for next year.
3. decoys: I'm too lazy and too cheap.

Good luck.

i've had very good sucess using calls and rattiling. i use my calls every time i go into the woods. sometimes they work but other times they don't but then agian sometimes i see deer and sometimes i don't it depends really on how the deer feel if jumpy and hunted hard problay won't work but if there is low hunting persure then i feel it will up ur odds. as far as scents no real luck there but i did try doc's deer scents and had a doe come right into it this year i think it was called sweet dreams or dismes something like that but that was in the the eraly part of oct.

You can use them all.
Pre rut use urine, grunts, fawn bawls.
Rut use Tending grunts, estrus bleats, estrus urine, dominant buck urine.
Post rut go back to urine and grunts. If you see fresh scrapes then some does are in estrus.
I used a doe decoy once and a buck saw it, he made a wide arch around the decoy and left.
One more thing it looks like you are using corn in the pic. Just to let you know corn is illegal in Alabama.

How do you know when they are in rut? In Indiana, is the rut pretty much over? I was thinking about getting a "can" call, but didn't know what would work best during shotgun season. Is there a better option for call?

you know when the rut starts whe you start seeing bucks with does not just little bucks but big bucks and chasing. and I really doubt if the rut is over in Indiana im in michigan and there still going strong around here. try concentrating on the young deer and yearling does they will come into estrus soon

ok well about whoever was talking about when is rut i know that here in alabama it is late december thourgh mid january... i dont know about anywhere else....

ok but anyways this afternoon i was hutning and took a knight and hale ez grunter plus.... i didnt see a da gum thing.... i would grunt 3-5 times then wait 15 min. and do it again.... nothing came out.... nothing made a sound in the woods.... soooo....

the temp. was about 50Degrees so did that play a factor???

like do deer move when its colder and cloudy or sunny or hot or what???

.... thanx again guys

so a grunt call brings in bucks? right? and what is the purpose of the doe bleat and the other types of calls? I've never used them or seen anybody use them.