I like to use my calls whenever I can and was wondering if people have specifics on what they do when calling. Post rut calling and rattling, people say its effective. I can say that it has never drawn in any good deer for me. It seems that deer in my area don't respond after rut. Even during the rut I seen a few big guys and they didn't even care. I tried everything when I realized they weren't coming my way.
FormulaLT1Power
New Member
I shot mine on 11/18...and I was grunting up a storm. Started at 4:00pm...by 4:30 I was grunting 5 quick times every few minutes because I heard deer movement. Around 5:00pm I had a nice 8 point step out, looking for the doe...needless to say he got arrowed.
I've had decent success with grunting, etc...but never rattling.
I've had decent success with grunting, etc...but never rattling.
bigbuckhunter88
PMA Member
I'm with Alti. I will every once in a while do some blind grunting and rattling and it has worked in my favor, but not too often. If I see a buck that has his mind made up where he's going I will throw him some calls to try to change his mind, but other than that I like to try to put myself where the deer are gonna be and keep quiet.
sep0667
Land of the Whitetail
I had good success with rattling this year. Now I can't say I've had one of those days where I see people post that they rattled in like 5 or more bucks, but I did rattle several times this year and a buck showed up anywhere from just seconds(didn't even get the horns hung up) to 10 minutes later. Grunting has not worked this year at all. Several times I had a buck going by and I could tell he was going away...through him a few grunts and the buck trots off/runs away. That happened multiple times this season with different bucks.
mightymouse
Member
Obviously different situations in terms of pressure and deer behavior for me here in Michigan vs for you guys in Iowa but I've had little success blind calling in terms of just grunting and bleating over the years. My brother inlaw swears by it but when you talk to him if he blind called and then something came in 5 or 10 minutes later he says he called it in. To me there is no way to say if he did or didn't and when it's me out there in that situation I wouldn't chalk that encounter up to my blind calls.
On the other hand I have had great success the last two years with the rattling antlers, which is a bit surprising here in Michigan. I only rattled three or four days this year and had deer show up twice, unfortunately neither were shooters. 50% success rate though. Last year I rattled in a small buck (came in like he thought he was the biggest boy on the block though) one morning and then the following morning I rattled in a group of bucks that all came in looking for the commotion.
I am pretty picky on which mornings I choose to blind rattle and will only do it on high pressure mornings when deer are likely to be on their feet and feeling frisky anyways. We see a lot of sparring in early season so if conditions are right I will try it even early in the year but will rattle very lightly. As the rut nears the intensity of the rattling picks up and is accompanied by a sequence of grunting and bleating to simulate chasing.
I have seen some chasing and "rut" activity during mid to late December here and I would assume the same techniques would still work if you caught the right deer.
On the other hand I have had great success the last two years with the rattling antlers, which is a bit surprising here in Michigan. I only rattled three or four days this year and had deer show up twice, unfortunately neither were shooters. 50% success rate though. Last year I rattled in a small buck (came in like he thought he was the biggest boy on the block though) one morning and then the following morning I rattled in a group of bucks that all came in looking for the commotion.
I am pretty picky on which mornings I choose to blind rattle and will only do it on high pressure mornings when deer are likely to be on their feet and feeling frisky anyways. We see a lot of sparring in early season so if conditions are right I will try it even early in the year but will rattle very lightly. As the rut nears the intensity of the rattling picks up and is accompanied by a sequence of grunting and bleating to simulate chasing.
I have seen some chasing and "rut" activity during mid to late December here and I would assume the same techniques would still work if you caught the right deer.