Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Deer Calls...Whats worked for you?

Deer Season has begun for some of us and for others its only a few weeks away. What types of calls ( Brands) have you used in previous seasons with success and failure with regards to your pursuit of Deer?

I've used a grunt call with some success in the past.

My strategy has been to use a non-descript mid-range grunt. The idea is to put a question mark in the deer's head. Was that a buck? Was that a doe? Was that a greeting or a warning? Curiosity takes over and I've had a few deer come in.

Two of my largest deer did just that. Both times, I let out a grunt early in the morning and got an angry, aggressive return call from the buck. He wanted a piece of me and he was coming to teach me a lesson.

How much do I call? Hardly at all.

I rattle a lot and will use a grunt call while rattling. I've had pretty good success. I've used the Primos "Can" as well and had success.

Acorns, water, bedding areas and where the girls hang out.

The sound of a feeder works good....

"The Can"

Waaaaaaaay over thinking it. lol

I've grunted in a bunch of big bucks during rut, many were coming in ready for a fight. Find their bedroom and hunt the wind. Rattling is golden at the right time as well. I've seen mature bucks cover some serious ground to come to rattling, but most times they don't pay it much attention.

I've only had an estrus bleat work twice, but that's enough for me to keep carrying one.

Primos “can” is my most favorite
I also use a grunt too, it works when the deer is in the mood.

I grunted in a 7pt. buck just at dusk during the peak of the rut once, that was the only success I've had with a grunt call. I have also used the can and rattling with no success with either.

Turned two nice bucks right around and brought them in on a string with a Knight & Hale Ez-Grunt-Er.

The only deer call I have used, is a yellow cedar call, made by a native friend in SE Alaska! Called blacktail with them on the islands! I've tried calling Oregon blacktail , with 0 success! Calling whitetail sounds interesting!

I like rattling best but you really need to understand that bucks often don’t come into your rattling, but they get on their rub lines checking things out. Get your self on a ridgetop with a good view is some edges and rattle as loud as you can and if you can sit long enough you will see one. Sometimes they do charge you when you hit horn.

I have bleated in a pile of bucks. Bigger ones will be trailing a doe with the way I call .

I like the story a friend of mine told about rattling from way back in the thick stuff that he knew was surrounded with other hunters. They got off their stands and stalked the "buck fight" and he had an instant deer drive. With 600,000 of us out there on opening day, a guy needs to be real creative to get away from other hunters on public land.

I called in a doe once with a Burnham Bros distress call, and grunted in a small buck with some tube or other. My son has rattled in one or two in VA. So, it can work, but I don't hang my hat on it, and reserve it for times when I'm bored and/or desperate to see something. A potential bonus for a distress call is it might bring in a predator.

I never go deer hunting without a grunt call. Can't count the number of times that I've turned around a buck that was out of bow range and headed away from me, and had them come in on a string. Also, works great to bring attention to a decoy if your using one. Of course, I've had other deer stop and listen and keep on trucking. My favorite is still the old Hunters Specialties True Talker. A little bit on the large size but simple and seems to work on the deer and doesn't freeze up. I think they actually just started making it again.

I have called in many does with a predator call both whitetail and mule. The grunt call has worked for younger bucks but the main use I have for it is to stop a deer as it hot foots across a sendero. Just about any call or even a whistle can work but the grunt call may be less likely to spook them.

I think it is like rattling in that there are only a few optimal windows when it will work. Also the buck to doe ratio is critical with usually the closer the better it works.

I holler hey. They come right to me!

Timing seems to be the key, I too had a small 6 point buck going away crunching in the leaves, but out of sight. A grunt call brought him right back and that was pre-rut October 31. Three does were walking along another time and I blew the same grunt call and they couldn't have left any faster than if I'd hit them with a paddle. The Can sounds good to me, but it never worked on an actual deer in my experience. I have called does with my voice by baaing like a sheep or maybe a deer I guess.