Can anyone tell me anything about calling deer before the rut. I've read about calling during the rut with grunts, doe bleats or antler rattling. What would a person use at the beginning of the season? I've seen a "social call" in one of the sports stores for about $25-30. Is that a good price and is it something that would be useful at the beginning of the season? Thanks.

25-30buck man that is expisive,,i think my all my calls where under $20 from walmart,,course i did use them much last year cause i was afriad too,,plan on triying it this year

once the pre rut starts which is soon after the bucks shed velvet you can start using the grunt call to help bring in deer
I have never used a doe bleat and have never heard of such a thing as a "social call" because grunting has worked for me
My deer season doesn't start until Oct. 1 so usualy by then the pre rut has started to slowly swing into action and most deer will react to the grunt call if they can hear it and will come in to investigate who is in the area
But also $25-30 seems extremely high i just bought a new primos grunt call which has a nice deep mellow grunt and it only cost $10.00 with sales tax and i think that a good grunt call would be all you need before the rut starts to come into swing

don't quote me on this, but isn't rattling most effective before the rut? when the bucks are fighting for territory? I suppose now that i think about it, it would be equally effective during the rut.

i think that rattling is effective before the rut.. but most effective during the rut. because when u have a mature buck in the area and he has his eyes on these does.. and he hears rattling and knows that there is fighting going on he is going to come investigate what kind of deer are on his land