Timbrhuntr

Umm ya thats it deer calls dont work ya thats it oh ya and neither do decoys so don't use them either lol

Almost every buck I have killed has been to a buck grunt or rattling and I have bleated in several does to investigate as was said previous. All animals use vocalization you just need to figure out when and what is best to use like everything else in hunting sometimes it works some tomes it don't but I feel naked without my grunt tube but not without my socks lol

mrbb

again I am NOT saying they NEVER work
its MY experience deer hunting 3+ months a yr for over 25 yrs, that I have a LOT of less than stellar results on them working, have seen them stop deer, have them look and then LEAVE, NOT come in, and what I feel I have done more times was let them KNOW something was in MY direction they wanted NOTHING to do with!
I have had decoys do the same things
some times they would; work, on the curiosity side, and MOST times they would seem to deter deer away, as they would get into staring contests and after the decoy would NEVER move or, they would figure out something wasn't quite right with it, and leave(I have had bears and coyotes knock them down which was cool!!)
I have also the same opinion on scents
some times they work, others IMO they just tell deer there are /is something there that may keep them , over attracting them in!

I spent THOUSANDS of dollars on these things over the yrs HOPING "X" product would be a tool worth having!

and to date, I am just as happy and successful NOT using any of them and rely more on hunting skills to get me where deer want to be! and trying to stay as scent free as possible and play the wind!

under again certain circumstances YES calls will work, as will decoy's and scents
I personally FOUND this again happens MOST in places that have more control over pressure on hunting lands, places where there is a good mix of OLDER Deer to younger deer.
when you/I hunt say public lands or higher pressure area's
let's face it, OLD mature bucks , ain';t that common place, and deer in general tend to be more wary IMO< due to having to dodge hunters and pressure from them more often

in places where things are NOT pressured and more natural, YES< sounds scents and even decoy's again WORK better, as deer have more age structure to been around longer to LEARN what sounds and scents mean more, and the less pressure, they are more relaxed and well, less likely to take sounds and scents as FAKE as much IMO!

yes they can work, I just won't waste my money on them anymore! I still kill deer without them just fine relying on skills I have learned over the yrs! and rather use them than gimmick's that may or may NOT work!

Erno86

I believe that a snort wheeze call (that I do with my voice) might make a doe stop in it's tracks for ya.

Timbrhuntr

See and thats the reason I responded I have a different perspective on calls and decoys. Sure they don't always work but in my experience they work more than not. I hunt highly pressured public and private land and have yet to meet an unpressured deer but most react the same to calls in my opinion. Telling a guy he is better off with a good pair of socks than a call just doesn't ring right to me . Sure a good pair of socks is important but so can a good call under the right circumstances. I have a different view on scent control as well. I have done the scent free stuff and the scent attractant stuff too. I agree that for me scent attractants do more harm than good but since I stopped worrying about trying to be totally scent free it seems to make no difference to my abitilty to get close to deer now wind thats a different story all together . I agree their are lots of gimmicks out there but like a theracell not all are just gimmicks some do actually work lol

grouch55

Of course a buck following 10 does will not respond to your calls ! I wouldn't either ! a guy has 10 hot horney girls around him why would he come to a grunt call ????? now turn this around 10 bucks chasing 1 doe ! Now let a out a few bleats or even a grunt or 2 see what happens A buck has to be horney !!! and alone or possibly turned down ! he will react ! Timing is everything, I am now having great luck during the breading phase !! A buck will be with a doe a day or so, what doe,s he do next ??? FIND ANOTHER HOT DOE !!!!! he will come running right now to a doe in heat bleat ! I have successfully used calls for many years and won,t leave home without them at the correct time

bronko22000

MRBB: I rarely if ever use scents. IMO no scent is the best scent. And I've seen too many hunters use scents incorrectly. Like apple cover up scent when there are no apple trees in the area, doe in heat scent in early archery season, etc. Its just not natural. When I do use a scent I've found that a buck scent is by far the best and have proven it to myself on several occasions. Especially from mid-Oct thru the end of Nov. During this time of year buck are extremely territorial and will check out every new buck in his area. And I also know that grunting will work on public land. I've witnessed it personally on several occasions. But again it is usually only during late oct thru nov.
Decoys - I've never had luck with them. I've had buck look at them then just ignore them and not come into bow range. And rattling, I've only ever had that work twice for me. And like you I've been hunting a long, long time. This will be my 54th year in the woods. Calls, scents and other items are no match for scouting and hunter knowledge/experience.

Timbrhuntr

I have a couple farms I hunt that are 40 acres it doesn't take much scouting but I have killed a couple nice bucks and had several come in to grunts, rattling and then see the decoy and charge in. On those properties all take the calls, decoys and other items everytime

toytruck

I have called in deer an stopped them for a shot in past years. Had a 8 point go by me several years ago out of range, with muzzleloader. I grunted at him several times, he walked away out of sight then came back right up to me an stopped and looked at my blind, bad mistake on his part! The best all around deer call I have used with success is a doe contact call, they will come out of the wood work sometimes, sometimes not so much...just have to try and that's the fun part of hunting.

Champlain Islander

I haven't had much luck calling deer. I have rattled in a few but it is always a low percentage success rate especially hunting Vermont.

dhasemann

I have had zero success with calling any deer with anything. I wouldn't waste my money. I've had tons of success playing the wind and doing my homework with cameras and food plots.