Are deer calls used for does ever?
 

Are calls just for bucks?

No.

-Jake

fawn bleat calls have been known to attract doe,s , I have had some success, once bringing a doe quite a ways across an open field to investigate, was fun

Well that was short and sweet! LOL
Actually does will respond to fawn bleats and occasionally to doe grunts (yes does do grunt too). I've gone into heavy cover (that stuff that looks like bamboo abouit 7-8' tall) in late May / early June and just used my voice as a bleat and almost been run over by does coming in to protect their fawn. I've also had young deer under my stand in early archery season bleat several times and then trot off to a doe in the distance I didn't see. She probably answered her yearling but I didn't hear it.

IMO calls are more of a waste of money than anything, unless your on very prime land, where you have a lot of control over hunting pressure and deer age structure
there more about marketing gizzismo's that they sell to sucker hunters thinking it will be some magic tool that will get them a deer
can they work , YES they CAN
but some folks win the lottery buying a ticket,. but most DON"T
your IMO< way better off, spending time scouting a better area, and or learning how to become a better hunter than counting on any gadget to get you a deer, buck or doe!
save your money, buy better socks LOL
staying warm and comfortable , will keep you sitting longer and more still and increase your odds WAY more than a deer call ever will IMO!

I'm guessing Doe have more vocalizations than I've noticed. But the only two I've ever really noticed are a warning bark and a I'm horny bleat.

I've had Doe come in to see what the hubbub is about when I've tried rattling antlers.

I did have an instance where I rattled in a hot doe and her yearling (one late October afternoon) from across a 100 yard wide lake arm
I heard a kersplash while in my treestand an bowhunting with my compound bow. After that...I saw this giant wake coming directly towards me. An 18" tree was blocking who was making the wake in the water; though I was having high hopes that it was a giant buck.

I couldn't seem them climb out of the water an onto the bank...but I did hear them shake off the water like a dog does. Then they ran up to my treestand from about 70 yards from the waterline, stopped about 20 yards away downwind...smelled me...then snorted an spooked.

Does love to watch bucks fight...

Fawn bleats & bawling screams will not only bring in does...but predators come a runnin' in such as well --- like mountain lions, wolves, coyotes and bears.

Bronk, only had a few spare minutes before heading into work lol.

Doe, especially young doe, are curious critters and will come in to check out what's going on.

-Jake

Unlike mrbb I've found that deer calls do work. But only on certain occasions. Although I always carry a grunt call with me I only use it sparingly and only from late Oct to mid Nov. And you need to know how to use one and not just blow into it. Two seasons ago after getting into my stand after a rain at 1:00 in the afternoon and waiting 15 mins or so for the area to "calm down" I gave a couple grunts on my tube and use my rattling bag to simulate a fight. A couple of grunts during the rattling and then 2 more after the 30 second sequence. Within 3-5 mins a very nice buck came in to within 30 yards and stood behind a bush for the longest time looking for those 2 buck. He finally came closer and offered me a good shot and by 1:45 I was putting my tag on him. The year prior I had 2 good buck come past me out of bow range and when they got into some cover I let out a long slow grunt about maybe 5 seconds. They came back out and were looking all over but never saw me in my tree stand. They turned and went back into the cover and again I grunted them back out. This went on for about an hour before they finally gave up on looking and disappeared. One of these buck was a nice 8 pt and the other a beautiful 10 or 11 pt. And I hunt exclusively on public land.
Now don't get me wrong. They don't always work. I already grunted at a smaller buck and he took off like a scalded cat. I guess he must have gotten his butt kicked earlier.

This has been a lot of my experience. Big bucks just ignoring calls unless they are flat out on a hot doe to push off competition. I have seen 10 does and 1 buck following them grunting, I grunt, he ignores me and the entire doe herd looks toward my stand.
I have watched a lot of bucks on the prowl 75 yards from my stand in bow season and stop when I call, but not turn direction.

My buddy swears they work, I am not convinced.

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

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!

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

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

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

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.

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 ;) :p

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.

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.

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.

i have called in three deer, one buck, one doe , one not sure.

Shot a buck that was passing at 100 yards, flipped the can call over and he changed direction, every time he wandered in the wrong path, flipped it agian and shot him at 10 yards.

Called a doe in by softly blowlng in the hole in the bottom of the can, makes a much quieter bleat.

Read about a "panic" call you can make, flipped the can over and over and over quickly about 10 times, heard one come crashing down the hill on the run, it stopped just out of site never saw it