Trophy deer calls come in many shapes, sizes, and styles for you to pick from. Deer calls offer a wide range of sounds for the deer hunter to use and tempt trophy deer to come into your hunting area close enough for a shot. Some deer calls are good, some real good, and some very bad. I have basically found two reasons for the bad ones. The first reason is that some sound like duck calls, these tend to be very cheap. The second reason is that some will freeze up on you and won't be worth a dam when you really need it. More on those problems later.
A deer calls primary purpose is to get that trophy deer's attention. You want that deer curious, inquisitive, and walking your way relaxed. You want that deer to say to himself: "Who's that punk?", or "I wonder what's going on?" That whitetail deer needs to think, "Maybe she's hot; I better go check her out. She sounds lost and lonely. Is she calling for her lost, bleating fawn? Well, I need to help her make a new one."
My first trophy deer calling tip is; don't sound like a duck. You need to sound like a deer. Many cheap deer calls can sound like a duck.
My second trophy deer calling tip is; don't over do it. Deer are vocal, but not real vocal. A lost fawn may bleat a lot - "Eeahh, eeahh, eeahh, eeahh (using a soft "e" sound, the "e" is pronounced as if there is no vowel). They will make this sound as if they were crying. It is quite amazing how vocal one little fawn can be in this situation; searching for it's mother. A doe will answer it's lost fawn; "errahh, errahh", not loud, but in a low gruntal voice.
A deer calling technique I like to use that has been successful for me is to do two low, soft, gruntal doe sounds. A sound that seems say; "come here, come here." You don't want to alarm any deer in your hunting area with loud, unrealistic or alarming grunts from your deer call. Not yet anyway. Calling trophy deer, calling any deer is a subtle technique. A deer call is used for short ranges; up to a 100 - 150 yards. While on hunting stand, I do this calling technique about every 20 -30 minutes. Realize that most of the time, deer move very slowly, deer like to kind of linger as they move from feeding to bedding and vise versa.
If you can see a deer and it isn't coming towards you; you may need to be more aggressive in your grunting technique. A running, or fast moving deer may stop to an aggressive grunt call. Notice how the deer reacts to your calling. If you can stop it and get it to look in your direction, you should be able to call this deer into your shooting range. Deer are curious creatures, if not alarmed. If the deer starts coming your way, it will want to get down wind of you to get your scent, remember; "You Stink!". You may need to do some directional or muffled grunting to get this deer to think the deer it is coming to, has moving off in some other direction, but not far off.
During the rut a tending buck fallowing a doe, or on the trail of a doe in estrus, will make a lot of low gruntal sounds as it tries to catch up to that doe. It's really educational to listen to bucks in this state of desire. It is like the buck is saying, "Stop, stop, stop, please, please, please, stop please, stop please, stop please, please stop, please stop, please stop!" and so on. The sound they make is very similar to the doe sound of "errahh, errahh, errahh, errahh", maybe a little lower in tone, and almost continuous. With there noses to the ground, these guys are much more difficult to stop and you have to take the first shot you have available. You might say; they have a one track mind.
Deer calls come in many types and sizes. Some are even electronic. The types that I use and recommend are hand held ones that can easily fit into a shirt pocket for easy access, with minimal movement. Deer calls that sound authentic. Deer calls that won’t freeze up in the cold. There is nothing more frustrating then having a deer in sight, and you go to use your deer call and – nothing – it’s froze up. Cold weather is another reason to have more than one deer call with you while hunting. That is also a good reason to use a can type deer call, the one you just flip over and a diaphragm inside lets air escape and you get the sound of a deer. I do prefer the mouth blown deer calls because then I can control things like; volume, pitch, length or duration of call, and frequency of use.
The vocal sounds that deer make are; bleats, grunts, growls, and snorts. As deer hunters, we can purchase deer calls to imitate any of these. Some of the good deer calls sold will have an instructional DVD with it. If you are just introducing yourself to this aspect of trophy deer hunting; I would recommend buying one of these and do a lot of practicing. Each of these deer calls may be used by a trophy deer hunter for various and different situations. Bleats are young deer calling out; anything from contact calls to distress calls. Grunts are used by both bucks and does. These can vary in many ways. Some are contact; made for locating and signaling each other. Grunts are used for tending as mentioned above. Grunts are used to communicate dominance. Bucks will grunt at each other just before sparring or fighting. Growls are a relatively new phenomenon that we as hunters are just beginning to understand. A dominant trophy deer may growl at other bucks when protecting a tended doe. He may also use a growling sound when chasing smaller bucks away from a specific area he deems his territory. This sound is similar to a large dog growl, but very short. Snorts are used by deer to send warning and alarm signals. A hunter may use a snort call with a grunt call just before a doing a rattling sequence and/or get the attention of another buck.
Home • Whitetails • Strategies • Equipment • The Harvest • Info Guide • Link To Us
©Copyright 2006 www.the-deer-hunting-guide.com