Calling Deer in the Rut

Archery season is fast approaching, and with it the peak of the 'rut'. The rut is the mating season for deer, and here in central New York it usually peaks between the last week of October and the first week of November (smack in the middle of archery season). During this time bucks are so focused on mating and fighting that they let their guard down somewhat. They become more active during the day and more likely to respond to calls; and this makes them a bit easier to hunt if you know what you're doing. In this post I want to share some information on deer calling that has helped me take advantage of the rut and become a much better hunter.

I used to think, as i suspect many hunters do, that a few short calls on my grunt and the occasional rattle from a set of old horns might attract an inquisitive rutting buck. I regarded deer sounds as simply noises rather than communication, and I thought it was impossible to call deer in the way you might call turkeys or coyotes for example.

Now I feel silly for having thought that way. It turns out that there are lots of great videos available online for learning about deer communication, and knowledge of just a few deer behaviors and sounds can help you call deer just like any other animal. After watching some of these videos I was able to confidently call in this buck I took last year:

Some of the best videos I found were by a group called Wild Talkers, and it is now my firm belief that the following videos should be required viewing for all archers. This first video is a fast paced overview covering several different deer calls and some deer body language during an exciting hunt. It is definitely a must-watch.

For more details on each of calls and behaviors illustrated in that first video, check out these followup videos. Each is much shorter than the first one, and each contains a 30 second intro that you'll want to fast forward through after you see it once.

• Mature bucks
• Contact grunt
• Calling in cover
• Buck body language
• Rattling
• New dominant buck
• Calling does
• Calling too much