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From: keith@clodii.columbiasc.NCR.COM
Newsgroups: rec.hunting
Subject: Deer Calls
Message-ID: <538@erb1.engr.wisc.edu>
Date: 16 Apr 91 12:26:42 GMT
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Approved: hunting@osnome.che.wisc.edu


  Hello,
   I would like to open up a discussion concerning using grunt and
bleat calls to attract/distract deer mostly while hunting them but
other instances would apply also I think. Deer calls have gained
popularity here in the South in the last 2 or 3 years and now just
about every hunter will have one strung around his neck. I purchased a
Ben Lee grunt call for about $7 dollars in Oct.  of '89 and still use
it though I have "worked" on it some to get it to sound the way it
should. Some years before that I bought a bleat call from P.S. Olt but
it sounded kind of "unusual" I thought. Let me relate two experiences
I had using both of these calls. The first time I used the P.S. Olt
call was one day that I got to my hunt spot about 1 hr. before dark.
Just enough time to walk in quietly and set down and watch a small
clearing. Shortly before dark I could hear a deer moving just in the
woods on the other side of the clearing but I could not see it. I
decided to try the call and so I blew the bleat call once softly like
the instructions said and guess what? It spooked the deer and it took
off running and snorting and didn't stop till it got to the next
county!  Never got to see that deer. Needless to say, I have never
used this call again.

  The second event turned out to be pretty incredible I thought. I was
hunting a small field about 120 yds long by 30 or so yds wide. There
were hardwood hollowson either side of the field and the deer crossed
there frequently searching for acorns. About 9:00 am a small buck
crossed the field from left to right and got into some short pines
before I could get the scope on him. I immediately tried the Ben Lee
grunt call thinking I had nothing to lose and blew one soft grunt with
it. The deer was completely out of my view and about 45 yds from me
when I did it, but guess what? This buck came charging back across the
field almost directly towards the tree I was sitting in! I shot him in
the right shoulder about 15 yds from my tree after I regained my
senses. It was a small 115 lb.  8-ptr. that thought he was a lot
bigger, I guess. ( What would I have done had I been sitting on the
ground? Don't know.) Why did the buck come charging like that? Was he
looking for another buck to fight or a doe to make whoopee with?  (I
shot another buck (160 lb 8-ptr) from the same spot later on that I
feel was the dominant buck in that area) I have heard both bucks and
does grunt before.

  I have used the grunt call since then and learned that only rarely
will it call in a deer like that. It should not be used with that
intention. I have alsonoticed that it seems to help "calm" deer down
that are skittish. It will also stop deer sometimes long enough to get
a shot but then so will a loud whistle.

  I would be very interested in reading about any experiences that any
other deer hunters in the group have had using deer calls. Comments,
discussion, and input are welcome. Thanks!!
                                                        Keith Boyd

P.S. I would like to limit this to whitetail deer since I feel that
     results may not necessarily apply to all species of big game.
     (ie. Bugling for Elk is something totally different IMHO.)
 
---
| Keith M. Boyd  (NCR E+M Cola.) |  Nothing could be fina' than huntin' and  |
| 3325 Platt Springs Rd.         |  fishin' in South Carolina!  -Me-         |
| West Cola., S.C. 29170   |  Fax: 791-6998 |  keith@clodII.Columbia.NCR.COM |
| Vp: 803-791-6419  |  From uunet: !uunet!ncrlink!ncrcae!sauron!clodII!keith |