is there a wrong way to use a deer call?

John Y Cannuck

John Y Cannuck

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Here's a story to get this going.
At our hunt camp one year we had a young fellow who came just basically to watch over his grandad, and chauffeur him around. Not really a hunter at all, he did have a license, and a firearm, but only at the insistence of grandad. Grandad was 95.
Well, one day he wasn't feeling well, and decided to stay in camp. so i told him, if he got feeling better to try using a deer call out the back window, and gave him one.
When we returned after dark, the field behind the camp was full of does. I counted six.
His technique, was pretty much blowing the call like a whistle. Wheeeeeeeeze. He did so every ten minutes or so.
Deer showed up around 4pm, we had no doe tag.

Then there was another fellow, he came to a different camp I was in. He had no license, but wanted to sit in a tree stand with a camera. I gave him the same call, and the same instructions. He did better at calling, and had a four point under his stand for a good ten minutes. Lots of pics and video he got, until he dropped the call, and got to see and hear the deer's predicted response when it spotted him. This took place at 2:30 in the afternoon.

Both of these camps were hunting areas that were heavy bush, and not typically deer call favorable. The first one was in an area heavily hunted by camps using dogs.

Point?
If you think calling doesn't work, you are wrong.

However, I'll be the first to admit, it doesn't always work.
 
I think the only really wrong way to use a call is to use it too much. If a deer is coming and you blow the call repeatedly I think they get a bit suspicious of the "loudmouth" that won't shut up, and start being very careful which can lead to you getting busted. Calls work, but the issue with calls is the animal has to be in the right frame of mind to want to investigate. There are lots of things that will help that frame of mind, like being horny, or just plain curiosity (I've unintentionally called lots of deer with a predator call) but sometimes deer will just ignore a call they would come to at some other time. Calling to deer you can already see is a real education that will help make your calling more effective when just "cold calling". Take any opportunity to play with your deer calls and watch the results.
 
If you're hunting does, do you only use doe calls? And if you're hunting bucks do you use both or just one? Curious to what other people do
 
Mayday_ said:
If you're hunting does, do you only use doe calls? And if you're hunting bucks do you use both or just one? Curious to what other people do
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Use both. They both work on both ###es. However, the buck call is the one most likely to have negative effects if used too much IMO.
If you are watching deer and use the doe call, good chance they will not react at all, however, a buck call pretty much always gets at least a raise of the head.
Does not in heat get chased around by horny young bucks, and they don't like it. They will snort, stomp their feet, and finally run tail up for a few yards to get away at times. I've never seen them kick a young buck, but they likely do.
A horny doe, or just lonely, or curious may come in to either call. Likewise Bucks, but add that they may be in a fighting mood and respond quickly to a buck call, or sneak around trying to wind you.
My wife suckered a big buck right in close with a doe in heat can call the first season she tried it. She knew it was close, and muffled the can to make it quieter.
 
My first time using calls I had a rattle and a doe bleat. Rattled for about 3 minutes and then hit a few bleats. Every couple of minutes from then I would do a couple bleats and about 30 minutes later I had a good buck 200 yards into the tree line circling me until he caught my scent and booked. That was 3 years ago, and since then I haven’t had so much as that happen with calls so i would rarely ever use them, until last time I was out. I got to a good ridge where I could see lots of open ground left and right, and just below me was a good tree line with a quad trail through it, glassing showed nothing so what the heck, hit the doe bleat, and immediately heard a deer bounce in the trees below me. From my experience with calls and the fact the deer moved so suddenly after the call I was sure it got scared and bounced into the trees, so I decided to walk down to the tree line and get to the quad trail and cover some ground but just in case I made a couple more bleats as I slowly walked down the hill (not overly quiet) and before I got to the tree line a doe flew out into the open just as fast as any deer I’ve seen run away from me, followed cautiously (but not cautiously enough) by the buck that now sits in my freezer.
 
WDHkeen said:
My first time using calls I had a rattle and a doe bleat. Rattled for about 3 minutes and then hit a few bleats. Every couple of minutes from then I would do a couple bleats and about 30 minutes later I had a good buck 200 yards into the tree line circling me until he caught my scent and booked. That was 3 years ago, and since then I haven’t had so much as that happen with calls so i would rarely ever use them, until last time I was out. I got to a good ridge where I could see lots of open ground left and right, and just below me was a good tree line with a quad trail through it, glassing showed nothing so what the heck, hit the doe bleat, and immediately heard a deer bounce in the trees below me. From my experience with calls and the fact the deer moved so suddenly after the call I was sure it got scared and bounced into the trees, so I decided to walk down to the tree line and get to the quad trail and cover some ground but just in case I made a couple more bleats as I slowly walked down the hill (not overly quiet) and before I got to the tree line a doe flew out into the open just as fast as any deer I’ve seen run away from me, followed cautiously (but not cautiously enough) by the buck that now sits in my freezer.
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I don't think you called that buck. You were irrelevant to what was going on.
 
rral22 said:
I don't think you called that buck. You were irrelevant to what was going on.
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Well, seeing as how it was quiet for 10-15 minutes, and immediately after my call, movement starts, there’s probably a good chance I set something in motion, don’t you think? And if my call made that doe comfortable enough to fly out into the open so carelessly, followed by the buck, technically, I called that buck, don’t you think?
Who knows, maybe all of that was going to unfold as it did without my calls, but I wouldn’t have been able to walk down that hill without spooking those deer had I not called, so calling successful.
Either way I’m stoked I got a deer down after making some calls after years of thinking I was doing it all wrong.
 
the only call I use now for deer is a fawn bleat call
I use it when I know the deer are close to the stand but have held up for some reason
has led to favorable outcomes on more than one hunt but it's not like I use it in my regular hunting practice to try and attract deer to the stand.
I only use it in an attempt to convince an incoming deer that what spooked it's senses was just a fawn and not me in the treestand
 
I had a WT buck come in to three long hard lungsfull of air blown through my deer call like it was a New Year's Party horn.

Sometimes, I figure, it's just a case of curiosity.
 
i think over calling is always going to fail.
however we are told with red stag roars to just try and make best sound you can no matter what it sounds like.....

the more you are out in the roar, or rut of any deer, the more weirder toned or pitched noises you hear and think wtf, did that just make that.

i guess we dont know the lingo, the random caller dude wheezing , may of imitated a deer? they felt safe to be out.
the young buck came in as a young buck would in two scenerios- thinks a buck has does, or curiosity, which killed the cat.


ive tried with grunt calls modified for fallow deer grunting/croaking... somewat success early but now im not sure.. ahaha
 
WDHkeen said:
Well, seeing as how it was quiet for 10-15 minutes, and immediately after my call, movement starts, there’s probably a good chance I set something in motion, don’t you think? And if my call made that doe comfortable enough to fly out into the open so carelessly, followed by the buck, technically, I called that buck, don’t you think?
Who knows, maybe all of that was going to unfold as it did without my calls, but I wouldn’t have been able to walk down that hill without spooking those deer had I not called, so calling successful.
Either way I’m stoked I got a deer down after making some calls after years of thinking I was doing it all wrong.
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So, after years of nothing, one situation convinces you that you're finally doing it right? That's how superstitions are all born; something happens after something else happens so that something else MUST be the cause of what happened - right? You should Google "post hoc ergo propter hoc"

Your story makes me think the doe was trying to "avoid" the buck, and the buck was just being persistent and distracted, like any horny buck often is. But, carry on being "stoked" about your calling "success". Calling does work, if done correctly, in the right circumstances.
 
Probably there is a wrong way. For what it is worth I called in 2 bucks with a grunt just doing random calls with random intervals, I only learned what deer actually sounded like quite a long time after once Youtube became popular.
 
Ok, I was out with the crossbow (no BP hunt here :( ) night before last.
I had tired of moving from stand to stand, and decided to go for a ground hunt over on the neighbors property. He doesn't bow hunt, so gave me permission. Has no stands though, and his property is mostly open beech.
That's tough to bow hunt in. Lots of beech whips around, and no place to hide. It has some black spruce in spots, but too thick.

So I found a migration trail and moved down wind found a spot with an old stump behind me I could pretend to be part of, and exercised my ability to sit perfectly still for three hours.
As dusk fell, a doe and three fawns popped out from behind one of those big glacial erratic boulders that are all over the place 'round here.

The big old doe spotted me immediately, and after studying me for a moment, turned and vanished tail up, with her entourage into the patch of Black spruce she emerged from behind the boulder. She did so with no snorting at all!

Then, not five minutes later, a yearling doe appears from behind me. She's down wind?? Anyway, this time I was able to get my head down when I heard her coming so she saw the bow, and a big green lump for the rest of me. She studied me for a bit, then moved closer, gradually losing any visible fear, she's at 20 feet. After a bit, she moves out a bit and her head goes behind a tree. I decide to play. Using the "true talker" I do the quietest buck grunt I can manage. Her head snaps up, and she looks around. Then puts it back down and calls herself. A short nasal bleat, very quiet.

pleased with that, I figure I've got a live decoy and I make no more calls.

But she does!
She continues that quiet bleat every 10 to 15 seconds for what seemed like the next ten minutes.
She walked over to my trail and sniffs my track. I was wearing leather boots, but she didn't react to the track at all.
She gradually moved away, to maybe 60 yards, still bleating. It was too dark then, and when I stood to leave, she simply walked over to that same patch of black spruce and vanished.

I've used my doe tag for a freezer doe, and am now just buck hunting. It's time I use to experiment, and just have fun. I'm getting too damned old to park my ass on one of those folding stools with no back rest. The nice thing about it is that you can stand up easily and quietly from it. The bad part is that my back is killing me, and I think the bars on the sides of the seat have branded my butt for life.
 
I have found a buck call will push does away more than attract & that also depends on whether it's the beginning or ending of the season. I have also found to aggressive a rattle will usually produce nothing. Imitating an immature one has been my best luck. And for chits & giggles: One year outside of Lodge Pole at about 8 am I rattled in a wolf & caused two sets of packs in different areas to go ape with howling. My partner and I, were just standing there in disbelief!!!
 
When it comes to calling deer it's all about location and timing.

I won't call the same in Saskatchewan as I do in Quebec. Also, I don't call/rattle the same way in mid-Oct as I do in late Nov.

Calling DOES work when done right but it's not a magical thing, if the deer aren't there, it won't work. I think most guys watch today's hunting shows, buy a fancy grunt tube with rattling antlers and give 'er like they do on shows with high buck/doe ratio areas expecting it to be a magical solution. Here's the thing, shooting a 150 inch deer in the prairies is the equivalent of shooting a 120/130 inch deer, or even a doe, in most eastern provinces. If done wrong, calling will hurt you more than anything.
 
WhelanLad said:
i think over calling is always going to fail.
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No it isn't... with WT and moose, there are times when there is no such thing as overcalling. I have observed both species calling "without" ceasing... in both cases, during breeding activity. I have listened to cow moose bawling for three hours straight without a break, and whitetail bucks and does, vocalizing from the time they walked into hearing range until they walked out of hearing range.

Occasionally, when all else fails with the "normal" calling protocols, I ramp it up and call like a mad man... this has resulted in a few bucks and bulls over the years.
 
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