Grunt call advice

Travis299

Six Pointer
Need advice on using a grunt call. Is it effective and when do you use one. I appreciate suggestions & thanks.
 

TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
I use a doe contact grunt through out the season, once I see a lot more prerut scrapes and rubs show up I use a buck grunt


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rutnstrut

Ten Pointer
Yes it's effective. I have killed a few good bucks doing it. But just very soft short grunts if blind calling None of that crap you hear on tv. A snort wheeze can also be effective but I rarely use it all though one of the best hunts I ever had was after I snort wheezed
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
As Brian Fantana says "60% of the time it works every time".

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TravisLH

Old Mossy Horns
Ohh and if you do grunt don't try to sound like the biggest buck out there try to mimic a younger buck


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DRS

Old Mossy Horns
I have called a mature buck in by calling blind. It was when I was first experimenting with a call, probably close to 15 years ago. Now, I don't like to call blind, but I have called a many a buck back or called them in when I had barely glimpsed them. I have had a few not respond for whatever reason. I would say 80% came in to check out what was going on. I did spook a really nice buck, 130-140" ten pointer, the first week of Oct. I thought he was by himself, he seemed to be alone. I thought the bachelor group had busted up. I was wrong, they were just a few seconds behind him. I did get him the next year, but he was going down hill as he was at least 6 1/2 y.o. and only had 9 pt's and lost mass. Needless to say I don't grunt until later now, when I start seeing scrapes and bucks looking.

When I first started grunting I used a call. Now, I just grunt by mouth. One it sounds more real to me, second I don't have something else to be fumbling around with when I need to be trying to get a shot off.
 
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stiab

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
As far as I know I have never called a buck in with a grunt call. The doe bleat on the other hand seems to work really well for me. It did on the deer in my avatar.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
Killed a bunch of really nice deer with the grunt...
Both blind calling and targeted calling after I've seen them...
Like said above.... Not deep growling calls.mostly Light sequences

The only time I call "loud" is when I'm casting calls in big woods in the mountains.

Killed one deer this fall coming into blind grunts. You have to really pay attention cause they will come in downwind really slow and deliberately and sneak up on you. Have a system. Mine is 3-4 short sequences every 15 minutes.

If I see a deer with does, I'll hit him with drawn out "tending" grunts and it really gets them aggravated!!!

Killem up!
 

Doc

Twelve Pointer
Had lots of good luck in NC with grunts on small bucks up to giants... Short soft ones... 3-4 at a time when calling blind. They will creep in downwind and have you pretty pin pointed, so be ready.
 

badlandbucks

Ten Pointer
FWIW I quit blind calling all together about 3 years ago and my success went way up. Especially in NC...where deer get hunted hard you will scare off more deer than you bring in. I only call at a specific deer once I spot him, determine he is either one I want to shoot or I want a better look, and he is not coming my way already. I call less and less each year now...but the flipside of that is that when I do call, I have more success.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
FWIW I quit blind calling all together about 3 years ago and my success went way up. Especially in NC...where deer get hunted hard you will scare off more deer than you bring in. I only call at a specific deer once I spot him, determine he is either one I want to shoot or I want a better look, and he is not coming my way already. I call less and less each year now...but the flipside of that is that when I do call, I have more success.

^^^I shoulda edited my response to say......
I only blind call in big country where I know with about 99% certainty that I'm the only idiot in the woods with a grunt call...
Middle of Pisgah Natl Forest? Yes.
300 yards off the road somewhere like Jordan Lake? No thank you.

To that point... got one spot in mountains... Killed a big slick 6 up there this year...

Grunting works so good in that spot that we call the underside of the mountain "Power Alley"...
Blow that grunt tube and :donk:donk:donk:donk your gun, cause something's gonna come up that draw...
Sometimes it's a spike, and sometimes it's a stud......

Really gets you pumped up too... If the wind ain't blowing hard, you can hear them stomping up the holler from a long way off trying to get to your wind...Chop chop chop chop getting louder and louder, and you know it's a buck by the deliberate way they stomp into the call....

But, the only way they can cross your wind up there brings them out in your face broadside at 50 yards every time... Really cool place. Classic transition zone on a small saddle...

(Which I feel like is the most appropriate place to call in cruising bucks, but that may be because 90% of my *spots* in the mountains are transitions)
 

badlandbucks

Ten Pointer
^^^I shoulda edited my response to say......
I only blind call in big country where I know with about 99% certainty that I'm the only idiot in the woods with a grunt call...
Middle of Pisgah Natl Forest? Yes.
300 yards off the road somewhere like Jordan Lake? No thank you.

To that point... got one spot in mountains... Killed a big slick 6 up there this year...

Grunting works so good in that spot that we call the underside of the mountain "Power Alley"...
Blow that grunt tube and :donk:donk:donk:donk your gun, cause something's gonna come up that draw...
Sometimes it's a spike, and sometimes it's a stud......

Really gets you pumped up too... If the wind ain't blowing hard, you can hear them stomping up the holler from a long way off trying to get to your wind...Chop chop chop chop getting louder and louder, and you know it's a buck by the deliberate way they stomp into the call....

But, the only way they can cross your wind up there brings them out in your face broadside at 50 yards every time... Really cool place. Classic transition zone on a small saddle...

(Which I feel like is the most appropriate place to call in cruising bucks, but that may be because 90% of my *spots* in the mountains are transitions)

Yup those are the types of spots where calling works well. I still don't blind call at all, but that's just my preference. Maybe I overthink it, but I don't want to call a young buck to my tree. The more times a deer gets called at the less likely he will respond to it in the future. If it is a young buck that I don't want to shoot, I don't to risk educating him. I called at 5 deer last season. All 4+ year old deer. 3 came in to me (2 of which I missed), one was too far and didn't hear me, and one ignored me.
 

badlandbucks

Ten Pointer
guess your off season was spent working on either your marksmanship or your shot selection decisions?,,,,,

Absolutely. I made a poor shot choice through some horse weeds on the first one and got an old fashioned case of buck fever on the second and shot over him.


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woodmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Yeap,,,,stuff happens and the best we can do is to work to make sure it doesn't happen for us again - well try anyhow
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
Hahaha. Just looked at my last post......
Tried to type a synonym for rooster but I guess the filters picked it up.

I meant for it to show, "get ready and make your weapon ready to fire"

:)
 

HorNhnTr

Twelve Pointer
Call softly before the rut and get more aggressive during the rut. I'm not sure you can spook deer during the rut grunting. Deer (bucks) are so vocal that time of year they're always hearing rutting sounds from other deer in the herd.
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Just about the only time I'll use a grunt these days is if it's a deer in sight that's moving away. And then it's only a 50-50 chance that the deer will stop, come towards me, or high-tail it in the opposite direction.


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lbksmom

Banned
Usualy the last week of October thru November works great. Grunt every 15 min. blind or a tending if you spot one then sit still and wait. Good luck.
 

appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
Usualy the last week of October thru November works great. Grunt every 15 min. blind or a tending if you spot one then sit still and wait. Good luck.

Which is funny cause where I hunt in the mountains, it's the last week of November and first week of December...

vvvvvvvvv...

Except for one particular mountain where it's the 1st/2nd Week of November... IDK if that's due to elevation or what (over 5,300'), but grunting up there during those weeks reminds me of those old Larry Weishun videos when he hunted with a pistol in Texas and deer just run up to him at 30 yards.... Albeit it's normally spikes, 4-pts, etc. instead of 150" deer but still fun as heck...

I should add that it's a 2hr hike over 2 miles and about 1,200' elevation gain to get up into this particular little area... I've been hunting there for 8 years and have yet to see another boot track in the woods/snow/whatever...
 
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