How educated have your deer become to deer calls?


Rhino

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Rattling horns in this area of the country have never really worked for anybody I know that tried them. I used them in other states with mixed results but they sure haven't worked around here.

I remember when they 1st came out with grunt calls (about 18 years ago now) that it wasn't that uncommon to have a buck respond to a call. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a buck come to a grunt call for sure. I've used it to stop them in their tracks but that's about all it seems to be good for now around here.

About 12 years ago I started using doe bleats for the 1st time. Back in those days the call I had was wrapped in a cloth camo tape and when you pulled it back it had little pink elephants on the side. Obviously a childs toy modified for deer hunting. It sure worked good though back then. For several years it worked better than a grunt call ever did. When more and more doe bleat calls came out on the market and everybody seemed to start using them and responses became fewer and farther apart. I even tried several different bleat calls but it didn't make a noticable difference. I really haven't had a positive response to a bleat call now for a few years.

About the only call I seem to get an occasional response from now is a wheeze and I just make that call with my mouth.

Have the deer in your area become educated to calls too?

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Re: How educated have your deer become to deer calls?

Without question. My two main spots are complete opposites, one is pressured and the other has deer that are really not hunted at all.

The difference is huge. I have never gotten pressured deer to responded to any call, the less pressured deer come running to rattling antlers.

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Guest deldeer

Re: How educated have your deer become to deer calls?

the "CAN" worked this year for me on a doe, but i let her go.around here everybody seems to have a grunt tube in their pocket, so i think the deer wised up pretty quick to it. horns are a scratch around here also, i think you have to have the right buck to doe ratio to be really successful with them, but i guess you can get the occasional "curiosity got the cat" deer. i have started to do a snort wheeze with my mouth and it seems to stop them in their tracks. some have walked over towards my stand & were stomping & snorting back at my location, but none seemed to be spooked by it. i have noticed it almost always seems to be the alpha doe....

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Re: How educated have your deer become to deer calls?

Have been using a grunt call for a long time. I try not to overcall. Have had several bucks come in and had a few cross the river over the years coming in looking for a fight.

I know others around here on properties behind us started using calls and that obviously has not helped in that I am sure the deer are somewhat educated. Seems for me so long as I use them right they can still be effective, I do use my grunt call quite a bit around the rut and the can some. I still get deer coming to my calling, some years are better than others.

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Re: How educated have your deer become to deer calls?

I've noticed that rattling is actually starting to work better over the last 3 or 4 years. I think a lot of that has to do with our increasing deer population.

Grunting, on the other hand, has had diminished results over the last 3 or so years.

There's one place where I won't even carry my rattle bag or my grunt tube, and that's down at The Dawes Arboretum where I've participated in a few controlled hunts. Down there, any noise spooks deer into high gear, and they're gone.

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Re: How educated have your deer become to deer calls?

Definitely!!!

Can Calls(easy estrus bleat) will stop deer but they dont come in. Grunt tubes I only use while walking into a new area to cover my walking noises...but they quit working years ago for bringing deer in when used alone from a stand.

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Re: How educated have your deer become to deer calls?

I think it just matters where you are at. I have hunted a couple nice tracks of land over the last several years and still get good results with my calls but there again I'm the only hunter for a couple miles pretty much. I've killed a few deer with a grunt tube but most of my deer were called in with a can call. As for rattling I have never shot one with it but have called a couple in.

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