Whitetail Deer Calling Tip # 1

Calling in deer is one of the more difficult and  most debated tactics in deer hunting circles. We all want to know how to bring the deer to us, but it’s easier said than done. So as the hunting season progresses I’ll be highlighting a couple different calling tips a week. We’ll start today with some basics and move on from there. Maybe one of these tips can be the difference between a buck walking by at 60 yards and the deer of your dreams dropping after only running 20.

1. What does a deer sound like? That’s a question I hear a lot. It might sound simple to some, but for a lot of beginner hunters the idea of imitating  deer vocalizations may seem daunting. So check out this video, in which Michael Waddell demonstrates several different types of calls, remember how they sound and then we’ll talk a little bit more about the right situations to use these methods.

So in this segment we heard the snort wheeze, the tending grunt and rattling. Now that you know how these calling methods are supposed to sound, you also need to know when to use them. We’ll cover rattling on a another day, so lets talk about the grunts.

• Snort Wheeze: This call imitates a dominant buck challenging another male, so this should be used during the pre-rut or rut to draw in those ultra-territorial dominant bucks as they try to stake down the does in their home area.
• Tending Grunt: This grunt call simulates the sound of a buck hot on the tail of a doe. Typically this call will be most effective in the days surrounding the rut, as lonely bucks will try to swoop in and steal the doe that is supposedly being courted by you, the “grunting buck.”

Like I said, although Michael covered rattling and scents, those are stories for another day. Hopefully for those of you new to calling in deer, hearing these two grunts will be helpful to you the next time you hit the woods. Definitely give deer calls a try, they are an awesome tool to have in your bag of tricks during the hunt.

Related posts:

1. Deer Calls for Dummies
2. Whitetail Deer Hunting Tutorial For The Short Attention Span
3. Whitetail Rattling Tips From the Expert