How to Convince Bucks to Come in and Investigate

[The Silence]

My friend and I have experienced the same thing 4-5 times the last couple of years. When bucks are traveling near doe bedding area, often times they will stop and visually inspect that area to see if any does are around. Or if we call to them, they will stop and do the same thing. They will stop to investigate where the sound is coming from and if they can't confirm anything they will move on. Do you guys use any tactics such as decoys of other things that may help draw these buck within shooting range? I also heard of a tactic a guy uses where he tied a rope to a piece of wood at the base of the tree and when the buck is scanning the area he moved it up and down (to produce the sound of an animal moving) as another piece of evidence that would convince bucks to come in and investigate. He said it really helps if the deer have at least 2 proofs that there is actually something there to check out.

 

[meyeri]

A lot of it depends on the deer's personality. If a buck is 3 1/2 and younger, or aggressive, then he's easier to call in, if he's passive, then he may run the other way. If it's a highly pressured area like mine, then the deer are educated by the "over caller hunters", so I try to avoid calling if at all possible. I've used a decoy in the past and I had just as many deer spook at it as came in to it. I'm thinking about getting a heads up decoy to try for open terrain hunting, but I won't use it for woodland settings. I generally just try to put my stands in places where I'll get a shot at it if I can see it. I sometimes can't see as far in the timber as I would like, but there's a trade off either way.

 

[LYON]

I've thought about using a rope tactic tied to a bush or something to create a visual. Especially if you are using rattling to bring them in, I could see where a shaking bush would be the icing on the cake. Just last year I began using a buck decoy and had some great success with it. It certainly helped bring some bucks closer that otherwise would have never bothered coming my way. But in the end, it all depends on the particular deer.

 

[Daver]

Just taking a guess here...but when you or your friends are calling to a buck are you careful to "throw" the sound so as not to let them zero in on your location and/or start softly and increase volume only if it is apparent that they can't hear it? In my experience, bucks already looking around on their own are the easiest to call.

I also make a point of placing stands in areas that there is some sort of terrain feature present that obligates a buck to come close to the stand to be able to see everything. For instance, one stand I am thinking of right off is at the top of a fairly steep drop off. So a buck that is upwind of me there, and downwind of a known doe bedding area, would have to come over to within a few yards of our stand to be able to see down the hill behind the stand.

We have called several bucks right in to chip shot distance there and to my recollection, all have been looking past the stand tree, downhill. If you were in a place that the deer can see all around, like flat ground, then I could definitely see them hanging up as they probably feel as though they can see everything well enough to not then go walking over to investigate. Just throwing some ideas out there...good luck.

 

[The Silence]

That's one of the reasons I created this thread. I hunt in wide open, rolling hills, cattle country with drainages throughout the place. Often times the bucks are out moving in the open and need to be brought in closer. I've thought about the Heads Up decoy myself for the portability factor.

 

[BDAHMS]

Decoys can be touch and go- could blow some of the deer away when they dont like what they see- and others will come investigate right away or even some bucks will blow your decoy right over. I personally love hunting with a decoy- especially when I am seeing rut activity because it gives the buck a reason to come over and scare off his "competition" I use the decoy in more open visible areas when the decoy right on the edge in the open but a backdrop of some trees get some awesome action i also spray my decoy down with scent eliminator and then once set up I hit it with a buck bomb

 

[moosehunter]

I always have access to a small branch, finger size. I've drawn the interest of several deer by snapping the stick, similating a stick getting stepped on. Mostly have used this when either rattling or grunting when the deer is visible.