Rattling for bucks

well....i went this am...........got there right at light, so i was quiet going in. sat for an hour....hit the primos bleat can a few times....then a small doe walked to the tree line..stood there a few seconds then walked off. i rattled a few different serquences thru the day....left the woods at 3 this afternoon.....didnt see anything besides that lil doe. it needs to get cold again.......we need a cold front!!

 

Hang in there man, it'll come together on that buck. Thats why we call it huntin'.

 

Same here will. Got on stand at 7:30 and look out, another fun day.

Went through a grunt rattle sequence by 7:45.

At about 8 or so heard what sounded like deer in the thicket about 80 yds away. Very quiet in the woods today, very dry also.
Started another sequence at about 8:30 and didn't get to the horns when I heard one coming. Got ready and it was a great big spike...hehe. had about 3 inch spikes. Almost a girl.

He cruised through about 20 yds looking for me, stopped a few times and worked out of the area.

As soon as he cleared me by about 80 yds or so, a doe busted out of the same thicket heading away from me.
Thought the spike was away far enough to hit some more calls. Kinda thought another buck could be bumping around on that doe. I was right.

Hit the grunt couple times and here comes the stupid little spike back. Stood right behind me pissing, now thats free scent cover. He watched with ears back into the thicket and here came another buck.
Pretty nice 8, but wasn't sure I wanted to draw or not. Came out even with ears but prob 2 1/2 year old.

Heck with it, he walked behind a large oak perfect time to draw. Right before he stepped into a good lane the little spike ran over in front of him as to say naaanaaana boooboo. He set his ears back and turned away heading in a bad direction to shoot.

Tried to grunt him back but was too late. Don't think any of them caught any wind though.

Can't get back in till Sat. Hope I can sleep. Should give time for both sides of this property to forget I was there.

This is THE time of year to be a deer hunter! Had a ton of fun today. These stories are as much fun as actually killin.

 

at least you are seeing them buddy!! i'll be there again in the am.....hopefully, something resembling freezer meat will come out this time.

 

shoot straight and tell the story when you get back.

 

You can take 2 bucks in VA must be nice, here we can only harvest 1 buck PERIOD. As for does it depends on the county you hunt in how many you can take.
Has the rutt started in your area? Alot of the times I use a bleat call, like that of a young fawn. In most cases they check it out, but if they are being chased by a buck, hit and miss. I have had luck with a grunt, but then I get a buck to come in, and does along with him.
Find a well traveled trail, or location of a bedding/feeding area. One is bound to come along.
To be flat out honest, I really never had a need to try to get does to really "come in", for me they are "just their" and in most cases in pairs.
But remember this is private property, with very little or no pressure.

 

my kids lost the reed out of my fawn bleat. Need to get a new one. I forget what brand it is. But like longbow, I sometimes have success with a real long whiny scared bleat call. Only about 2 or 3 calls in a series though. And I never mix a fawn bleat in with any buck calling. Like longbow said it might bring in an old doe that isn't being pressured by a buck.
Most the time if you do call in an old doe, then you better have a perfect setup and be an exellent hunter cause those old does know to look up in a tree.

 

hey man.....not sure if you have tried it or not...but the estrus bleat cans work for both doe and buck, and you need a grunt call that has a fawn bleat. i hit my "true talker" last year.....the fawn bleat.......5 does came out looking for the baby. it was pretty cool, and it works pretty good to. just do a combo and see if it works for you.

 

we get 10 deer per year......5 bucks total for the whole year, but for does, as long as its a doe day........2 per day till you fill your quota.

 

well....went back this am....didnt see a thing. weather just isnt cooling off enough. it was relatively cool this morning, but got up to about 80 this afternoon. oh well.....i'll be back in the am again.

 

man alive, I think hoosiertaco and I are hunting in the wrong state. I can take 8 does total, but just 1 buck.
I won't get started on why this came all about....

 

well.....if ya'll ever decide to move down this way........ya'll have some land to hunt on. i aint got much, but ya'll can hunt it nonetheless.

 

cold front heading your way, clouding up outside right now. Be through here by tomorrow and heading to ya.

thats the number of does just for your county isn't It? I think we can still take the county quota in every county if you get real hungry and want to hunt in every county. Basically comes out to about 1000 does or so........

 

I believe you are right, never thought of it that way. Never really had the need to take 8, but a few years back they had that deal where you could donate deer, and they (state) processed it. That year was bad for me, did not do as good as I would of liked.
7 and a wake up.......

 

If anyone wants to donate deer to the hungry, these guys are across the country, and at sponsored lockers, they will pay for processing and deliver to those that need some food.
http://www.fhfh.org/

 

well....went again this am.......didnt see a thing, and i stayed til lunch time(12pm). windy as hell too.......front coming in, so its supposed to be cool in the am, so i'll be there early again, and i think the wifey is going with me this time. hope she's good luck like she was the other day when i got that doe!!

 

I went this morning too Will. Didn't see anything either. Only set till 10:30, had to go to work. Quite windy here as well.............

Hope its really cold when you take the wifey..........she may need to be kept real warm........

 

Yep, after I go to church.............hehe

Turkey dinner for thanksgiving
Are they out of season?

 

5 days and a wake up......... Seen 3 does and a small buck this afternoon. Started to spit some rain and they started moving. I wasn't hunting, just glassing.
We have a few hot spots around here, not alot of land, but when your glassing, a parking lot is a good place........
hoosiertaco, have you had your kids sit with you yet? My daughter is pleading to go, but I don't think she could sit for long periods of time yet.

 

Started turkey hunting in a blind when they were 4 yrs. old. My son went 6 hours, girl went for 4 hours. She is the impatient one.

For deer hunting, they got their hunter ed, a gun, and a buddy stand last year. They were 8. They did ok, but I chose the days we went hunting carefully. Mild weather, and most of the time evening hunts for about the last 2 or 3 or 4 hours of sun.

My suggestions for taking kids hunting:
#1 Don't take them every time they want to go. Let that kid say, oh come on, I want to go real bad. Then take them next time. Make sure you keep that burning desire in them going.
#2 Depending on the kids patience, be ready to leave between 15 and 30 minutes after the kid is ready to go. Watch for signs, they may not tell you when they are ready to go. The purpose of this imo is to not let them be the quiter, you be the one to say, lets go. Also don't make them stay if they want to go. I let them dictate how long we hunt. But don't worry, if you do step 1 first, then step 2 takes care of itself.

Indiana has youth hunts before the actual season, and we also have apprentice licenses now. Good job Indiana!