Calling Deer
How to Call in Mature Bucks
Calling bucks is one of my favorite ways to hunt mature whitetails. If done correctly, it can make for a really exciting and successful hunt. However, without a plan, calling can ruin a hunt and future hunts in the immediate area.
I grew up hunting giant white-tailed deer in vast native country of southeastern Kansas. Back then it was illegal to bait deer, and there weren’t agriculture fields where I hunted, so I had to figure out another way to kill these big mature bucks. I found the most effective way to kill big bucks was to call them in. I’ve also figured out, calling them in is an art that many hunters have yet to master.
There are several different factors that play into the success in calling in mature bucks including the time of year, the weather, types of calling, how to call, using a decoy, and when not to call.
What Time of Year to Call Deer
One crucial aspect of calling is knowing the best time of year to call. In my area, southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, I don’t typically start calling (blind calling specifically) until about October 25th or just before pre-rut. I generally only go hunting a few from then until the first of November. I like to call and see what kind of response I get, but pay careful attention to not “burn stands up” with too much presence.
Calling Deer During Pre-Rut
When I see a lot of fighting on trail cameras and several bucks have busted tines, I know pre-rut has set in and it’s prime time for calling. As you get into the first week of November, those older bucks are really fired up and they’re really ready for the rut, but the does aren’t. Those mature bucks have a lot of testosterone going, and they respond well to rattling and calling, thinking another buck in their territory has found the first receptive doe.
As you get into the first part of November I like to do a lot of bleats, grunts and rattling. I do a lot of rattling sequences up until you start seeing chasing- usually a week and a half into November. After that, I generally don’t get a lot of response from rattling during the peak of the rut. Pre-rut is my absolute favorite time of year to hunt.
Calling Deer During the Rut
Once the rut is in full swing, or mass chaos begins, they’re not as interested in fighting as they are running and scent-checking does. When the rut is in full swing I stop rattling but continue grunt calling and using the doe bleat- I’ve even taken the antlers off of the decoy and used it as a doe decoy. However, if you see a buck by himself during the rut, that IS an opportunity to pick up the antlers rattle to him.
Calling Deer During During Post Rut
Once you get past the peak of the rut and there are just a few does left that haven’t been bred, those bucks really start traveling more. During this time I will start to rattle again. This is usually the week around Thanksgiving in my area. In my experience, activity really starts to tail off after that, making hunting more difficult. There are does that do get bred in December and January- the latest I’ve seen a buck breed a doe on camera was in March. But these are few and far between, and I don’t count on those few does to setup my calling strategy.
Does Weather Affect Calling Deer?
Weather plays a pretty big role in calling. Deer can’t hear very well on really windy days. They can’t pinpoint the location of calls even if they do hear them- so they usually don’t commit as much. I don’t call if the wind is sustained over 15 mph. On days the wind is relatively calm, with a few gusts here and there, you can call in between gusts with success. I tend to call on calm days, so that not only can they hear my calling, I can hear the deer approaching me.
Blind Calling Deer
Blind calling, one of two ways of calling deer, is when you can’t see the deer you are calling. I like to blind call from cover because they have to get close to you to see if there is another deer that’s actually making those calls. You can blind call in semi-open areas as long as the deer can’t see from a long distance that there are no deer present in the area you are calling from. If a buck can see from 80 yards off and knows 100% there isn’t a deer standing where he hears the calls coming from, he’s not likely to commit and come into bow range for you.
When I blind call, I typically wait until after first light, when I feel like I have a decent idea if there are deer around me, and get a sense of the movement that day. If you’ve been sitting there a while after daylight and haven’t seen much movement, you can try calling.
I blind call a lot with a decoy in open areas. Here in Southern Kansas and northern Oklahoma, I like to setup where they can see the decoy from 150 yards, and sometimes further. It gives bucks something to key in on, making it more believable. They’ll want to get downwind of the decoy, so make sure your decoy placement allows you a shot without them getting downwind of you.
Spotting and Calling Bucks
The second type of calling is spot and calling, when you can see the deer you are calling. If you are in an area where you can see a buck traveling that is clearly not going to come into range, spot and calling is a great tactic to increase your odds.
When you see a buck traveling away from you, I like to start with a contact grunt. I’ll try to get his attention with this initial, faint grunt. Try this contact grunt when the buck is stopped and not looking in your direction. When they’re stopped, they can hear much better and you won’t have to call so loud. When you call really loud at a buck, they can pinpoint your exact location, circle down wind, and many times bust you before getting a shot. I’ll contact grunt 3 or 4 times to get his attention, I know he’s heard me when he picks his head up and looks around- he may not look right in my direction, but I know he’s heard me. Then I’ll judge his reaction, if I think he didn’t like it, if it put him on full alert, I generally won’t call again right away. I do continue to call if he keeps moving in the direction he was going, I may grunt a little louder, or a little more directly at him to try and get his attention. I’ve had deer look at me 2 to 3 times and it wasn’t until the next grunt when he decided to change paths come my direction to check things out.
If they don’t respond to the grunts, and it’s the right time of year, you can use your rattling antlers to try and get his attention. When you start rattling just know that he will probably circle downwind of you. Make sure you have an opportunity to shoot before he gets downwind. If he’s already close to downwind of you, I wouldn’t advise calling, I would allow the deer to move off, away from your wind funnel before I would call at him again. Make him circle further instead of giving him an easy route to get immediately downwind of you.
How to Call Deer
I like to start out calling with a few estrus bleats. I use a can call, but there are other estrus bleats on the market. I’ll bleat two to three times, wait 5 to 10 minutes, and then I’ll do 3 more bleats again if I don’t get a response. After the second set of bleats, I’ll give some tending grunts, like a buck coming in to check out the set of bleats he heard 10 minutes ago.
Sequence of Calling Bucks
Bleats – Break - Bleats/Grunt - Break
If there is no response, amp up the intensity and volume of calls. I don’t use the bleats as much if I don’t get response to the call. This means there probably isn’t a deer close enough to hear the faint bleat calls. After that, I start with a grunt, a pretty loud grunt, like a buck is really blowing in to check a doe, followed by several smaller grunts, like he’s chasing a doe.
Sequence of Calling Bucks
Loud Grunt - Severn Smaller Grunts
If there is still no response, and it’s the right time of year, start rattling. I use intense rattling sequences, usually 4-5 minutes. After studying hundreds of thousands of trail camera photos, bucks generally fight for longer than 10 minutes. The times I’ve heard them in the woods, they went on and on, they were loud and long fights.
Growing up hunting I’d get bored, I remember one time grunting at a spike for a really long time, lots of grunts, he didn’t really respond, but as I was watching him, two mature bucks flew in within about 40 yards of me and caught me completely off guard. That’s when I realized bucks never really committed until I kept calling and kept calling. Another time, the last day of a hunt, I grunted a lot at a buck and it somewhat changed his travel and he came a little closer but then kind of hung up. So I snort-wheezed to try and get him to cross a creek. He hung out for a while, but I could tell he didn’t really like the situation. I snort wheezed 7 or 8 times at him, what I thought was really excessive. About 5 minutes later a big mature buck, that I had no clue was in the area, worked his way in and I harvested him with my bow. These bigger deer don’t always respond to the first call, a lot of times you need to keep calling.
Response to calls varies with the densities of deer in an area. Generally, the lower density areas have greater response to calls, versus higher density populations.
Calling to Bucks with A Decoy
Although packing decoys into an area can be physically taxing and limit the locations you can use them, they do offer a big opportunity for calling. I tend to call more frequently with a decoy, usually every 10 minutes with the exception of rattling, I space my rattles out at least 30 minutes. I grunt more frequently, every 5 minutes, especially when using a decoy.
Does don’t typically like buck decoys. If you’re in a spot where there are a lot of does that come through, a decoy isn’t the best option. Does will blow and stomp at the decoy and cause a ruckus. Even though this can actually call bucks in, it doesn’t make you feel as confident in your hunt with deer constantly blowing at you. When using the decoy I make sure I have the wind in my favor. I’ll setup against a feature where it’s very unlikely for them to circle downwind of me. That may be 40 to 50 yards off of a general trail- but when I use a decoy my goal is to pull that buck off of the trail. When I have a decoy out, it’s strictly about the calling. I don’t like to setup a decoy in an area where I think I’m going to get a lot of organic movement, where deer will come really close to the decoy.
Recap
Calling can highly increase your opportunity to harvest a mature buck, if done right. We see a lot of people getting excited when deer season opens and hunt day in and day out early in the season. Be very cautious not to burn your stands up too early. We find calling works best during pre-rut, which is our favorite time to hunt. When rut is in full swing, put the antlers down. While we like to continue with bleats and grunting, bucks don’t seem interested in fighting during the rut. We do however, like to rattle again for about a week after the rut ends. This is usually the week around Thanksgiving. When it comes down to actually calling, be strategic. Remember, when you call at a deer, the roles reverse and they come to find you, be ready!
Good luck out there, and as always be safe.
