bowhunterjohn

Being relativetly new, 4 real seasons, to whitetail hunting I think your right.

I've tried calls, rattles and scents. tried a lot, little success.

I have rattled 3 bucks , all but one got downwind and never presented a shot.

I've had success with the doe bleat can call when I see deer, most success is on does anytime of the year and on some bucks in the chasing phase of the rut.

I've found better luck with just doing your homework, scenting out properly, gettting to my stand undetected and just being quiet. Let the deer make the first move. Now I hunt in NE Indiana and its pretty dense in the cover department. Maybe deer came to calls and I didn't see them, but I feel its better to let the deer make the first move.

I am leaning that in turkey hunting also. Seems the more you call to that old Tom the less likely he is to come close.

I've had guys tell me how well the snort, snort , wheeze works. I tried it on two bucks this year, the one started shaking looked everywhere and nervously walked away. The other looked my way and just walked off.

vc1111

For me the jury is still out on the Growl thing. I've had great things happen with the snort wheeze call.

I try to keep an open mind but a tightly held wallet.

The upside is that makers of this stuff are trying to find newer better ways to tilt the odds...which usually favor the mature animals.

Sliverflicker

Rob and Germ are trouble makers, Rob and Germ are trouble makers. OK I got that out of the way!! Now I said it befor, I'll say it again, Deer have been makeing these vocalizations since any of us were around. Thay Growl/Roar (loud, aggressive, grunt), Grunt, Snort,Weeze, Click, Blow, Doe's have a Fawn calling call, Fawns have a distress call, Thay cough, sneese, belch and Fart, (although a fart may not be considerd a vocalization because it comes from a differnt set of lips).I had a an article published in a Bowhunting magazine 10 or 11 years ago on Grunt calls, And explaned several Vocalizations, Extreamly Loud, ShortGrunt,(I just wasen't smart enough to name it Growl/Roar) and Clicking were in this article. So no one Made these things up as a marketing ploy. I have been discussing these same vocalizations with some other Bowhunters for 25 years. I don't even wan't to get into why 4 bowhunters with over 100 years expierance haven't herd this, but if you go back to Oct and look up Clicking, I give an explanation on almost this same subject. Now as far as scents, and lures go, Their the same as grunt calls, thay have a time and a place, sometimes itwork's sometimes itdon't!!I have had Bucks bolt at the smell of some, and seen another one stand there and Ejaculate while sniffing it!! ( I would say that one worked) I have done best with glandular type gells, and I get my Deer urine stright from a farm by the gallon so it can be taken care of properly. (Biggest problem with Urine!!) My Wife has her own special deer lure that is so simpleit would make you slap yourself, it has to do with food, but not bait, and thats all I'm saying becacse She will Gut me if I tell!!! Well thats about enough for now so I'll end with this, Indians used Scents and calls to harvest the Whitetail for Survival, not as a hobbie, and that will work for me. I would rather leave my TP at home, and have to drag my Hind Quarters through the leaves and accross stumps to clean myself up, than leave my grunt call at home. Oh and I don't have a Growl/Roar call, the one I have doe's it all.

GMMAT

A friend of mine said he ordered a roach killer one time. When he got it.....it was 2 thin blocks of wood and a wooden mallet. The directions said to place block No. 1 on the ground. Place roach on block no. 1. Place block no. 2 on top of roach. Strike with mallet.

The snort-wheeze is pretty simple to make by using your mouth, isn't it????

Pardon me while my mind envisions a certain board member "roaring" in his trophy.

Jeff

Lord....I apoogize....

furgitter

I sat this year more than i ever have in my life.Ive heard about the bucks running after each other on those three magical days out of the year and i alwayse missed them.I didnt this year!During three days i must have seen every buck in the county.They were everywhere!I heard alot of grunting,wheezing,etc.Early in the seasion,i scared alot of deer with a call,so i didnt try it any more,why bother,they came by every 10 minutes.One day as the sun was going down,I heard what sounded like a pig-i would say a bear-but im not too savey about bears.It would go off and there was crashing,snorting wheezing,5 minutes later it went off again.Over and over.Im sure nobody else was in the woods,Im pretty sure they were deer,And im real sure the hair on my neck stood up!That was a long walk back to the truck that night.

GMMAT

My mind also wanders to the scene you PA guys describe with the "orange army"......and wonder how many times these guys "roar" and "growl" back and forth at each other....lol.

davidmil

It's just like scents. People spray and drag the crap all over the woods and hang a stand. Well, if you've got half a brain to begin with you hung the stand in an area deer frequent and are likely to pass through. So along comes a deer and the guy say, boy he came right to the XYZ Stinko Outlandish Lure. When in fact, the deer was heading that way and passing through that section of woods for a month to get to his secure little bedding area where the girls hang out. Probably 99% of the deer claimed to have fallen to a lure would have fallen to stinky free that day too.

Germ

Hay, LOL
Silver the deer I want to shoot there is no sense roaring at them. They are the king of the woods and know it.

I would view calling and scents different if MI had a good Buck to Doe ratio. For the deer I want to shoot I am only giving away my position if I used them. If you enjoy it and it is working I wish you all the luck. God knows hunting in Northen LP you need it these days.

My family ended up with6 deer this year in Glennie, best year in the last 10 years for us. My cousin grunted one in

GMMAT

LOL, David.....

My cousin was teaching me duck calling when he told me something I'll never forget. He said..."Jeff....the secret to being a good caller....of ANYTHING.....is being where they wanna come".

buttonbuckmaster

I used my buck growl to call in my buck this year. I'm still skeptical if it works or not, but it did work on that particular deer. I've never heard anything that remotely sounds like a growl in the woods. I look at it as another tool in m arsenal....its not like I don't have 50 turkey calls that don't work either lol.