Lets talk deer calling on the east coast

thehunterman

thehunterman

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Hey All , this year due to a more hectic work schedule ive been unable to do much scouting or putting up of stands, as such my approach will have to be a little different with a lot less full days to spend sitting . Planning a bit more of an agressive approach with shorter sits combined with calling /rattling . Would be interested in hearing from any other east coasters that use calling strategies in the thick woods as far as what works and what doesnt!
Thanks.
 
Not a hunter either ... just another CGN jackass , but I can tell you that out here on the West Coast we don’t call the deer . We cull them .
 
Some great feedback so far from two apparent non hunters browsing the hunting forum... having hunted both out west and here in New Brunswick I can say that they may just be speaking a different language. Here Very thick territory and thin deer populations, due to large hunting pressure and small deer populations make the few mature bucks here very educated. most deer are shot over bait or while watching cuts or powerlines for rutting bucks on the roam and calling deer is a bit of a foreign subject. Hence me seeing if there happened to be anyone on here with input on the subject .
 
thehunterman, .... and you want to call in a buck right? Not a doe .... ?

I once fabricated what was supposed to be a "hare in distress call" from a piece of thin birchbark sandwiched in a split piece of wood ... and according to a design by Mors Kochanski.

When I tried it out at the edge of a clearing ... Well, instead of a coyote I had two does come running at me .... lol

Once they realized that I was not a fawn ... they were gone as fast as they came in .....

I guess my "hare in distress call" was more a "fawn in distress call" ..... :rolleyes:

Sorry, can't help with calling a buck ....
 
Rattling/calling can be very productive. It can also often seem like a huge wasted effort. Old mature bucks will often try and circle downwind and catch the scent before they come in so it can be most productive to put open ground, or a body of water they'd have to swim on your downwind side or a hunting buddy a few hundred yards away. Does and young bucks can be more easily deceived although I have had a couple old matriarch of the woods does that put any buck to shame for being able to figure out when there was a con on. Put as much effort and took as much pride in outsmarting them as I have any buck.
 
Used a primos original doe in a can to call in a young buck i got last year. I could see him in the adjacent field that i was in and he came right over after hearing it.

Ive also had a buck get pissed off at my grunt after i sneezed in a tree stand and spook a doe. I grunted after my sneeze to get her to stop hoping that she would think it was a buck that made the noise. It worked, and it also made the buck that was behind a bunch of sticks raise his head and growl (clicking growl like the predator movies).

Ive also heard tending grunts behind me in the thick stuff, the quick paced "grunt grunt grunt" of a buck walking after a doe.

I am a firm believer that calling can work. Granted this is in ontario but white tail deer are white tail deer.
 
When I started hunting, I bought all the calls and used them wildly, because I was learning on my own

When they didn't work as I expected, I shelved them for years.

Now, I have started trying them again. I think they're better id you can actually see the deer. My brother-in-law shot a buck that came into a grunt tube in NB last year.

Some older guys here swear by rattling. Younger guys who hunt a lot will tell you its a waste of time, that there aren't enough dominant bucks around anymore. Buck/doe ratios are so out of whack in NB that most male deer have never experienced a good scrap before.

I used to believe that, but now I have several seasons with photos of bucks scrapping on camera ...
 
Appreciate the info guys , had an opportunity to get out for about an hour and a half the other day and chose to slowly still hunt some new ground for me . Was moving very slowly in a light rain using both a grunt tube and a doe bleat can occasionally in the hopes that it would reduce any alarm of a deer hearing me . It ended up working perfectly and I was able to get within 25 yards of a bedded doe and spent until dark watching her in the hopes she would have a male companion. No luck but a interesting experience nonetheless!
 
I've never had a call work but i've rattled in several bucks . The largest buck i ever shot was rattled . Peak of the rut . Best to clash the rattling antlers together and then shove them on one another and push some brush around . Not too much actual rattling , more like a shoving match through the brush . Watch your wind . Have your gun set up where you don't have to make large movements to get it . Studies show that in the rut if a buck hears the rattle and decides to come in he'll probably be there within 20 minutes . Rattle 3 or 4 minutes and stop 3 or 4 . Does are very curious also . Get into your spot and let the bush settle down before rattling . It won't work in areas where there are hunters walking all over the place . Start your rattling fairly soft in case there is a buck in the immediate area for a minute or two and then go louder for a minute or two and then taper it off to nothing for a few minutes and watch . If you spot a buck coming but he's stopping short or standing in thicker bush start rattling quietly softly again to draw him in . I use a smaller antler set from a 6 point buck but the hard plastic ones sold in sporting stores sound exactly the same . I've rattled them from north western Ontario to south eastern Ontario and have been more successful in the north because where i hunt there are no other hunters within 2 or 3 km . Wear dark gloves and a dark neck gaiter pulled up over your face instead of flashing white hands and a white face around which is the extreme danger signal to whitetails . That's why they flash that white tail as it signals extreme danger to every other deer . If nothing comes in 20 minutes stop for the next half hour or move 500 yards and start over . If you want to get into position an hour before first light buy a 3 cell D cell Maglite and the red lens kit . White light in the bush before first light spooks deer but the red lens pointed down in front of you doesn't . Be quiet . Hope it helps and good luck .
 
thehunterman said:
Appreciate the info guys , had an opportunity to get out for about an hour and a half the other day and chose to slowly still hunt some new ground for me . Was moving very slowly in a light rain using both a grunt tube and a doe bleat can occasionally in the hopes that it would reduce any alarm of a deer hearing me . It ended up working perfectly and I was able to get within 25 yards of a bedded doe and spent until dark watching her in the hopes she would have a male companion. No luck but a interesting experience nonetheless!
Click to expand...

I have indeed tried that trick a few times over the years, but I suspect you'd find the rain had more to do with the sneaking success than the call. Or maybe not. Hunting is hard to say anything definitively, unless you have a dead deer on the ground.
 
Calling can be amazingly effective, or totally worthless. Why? that's white tail hunting.

Does I have watched while calling sometimes give no more than an ear flick to a doe call, and the same for a buck call. Other times they come right in, particularly if they are alone. I even had one answer me, and then come back several times to calls. Bucks I think the young ones are easiest, the big ones, only if they are puffed up and aggressive in rut.

But always remember white tails are unpredictable, and sometimes curious.
 
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