Calling a buck out of his Bed

[Natenlsn2]

Ill never forget when I was probably 12 or 13, my brother dropped me off at a new hunting spot he recently got permission for and told me to walk in a couple hundred yards and find a spot on the ground to get settled in at. He recently bought me a grunt call, and he told me to use it about once every hour, it was around the last week of October. I remember getting settled in and it hadn't been 10 minutes and I was blowing on that thing like a trumpet, hahaha I couldn't resist. It couldn't of been 10 seconds later and it sounded like a train was coming through the thick brush behind me, and before I could comprehend want was going on this giant buck was within 5 yards of me. I was in such shock that i just sat there and stared at this deer , and which what seem liked minutes was in reality only a couple seconds and that buck knew something wasn't right and turned around and busted outta there. Hahaha I think for the rest of that hunt I was blowing on that thing every 10 minutes thinking that buck was gonna come back.

Anyways Dewey hit the nail on the head, most mature bucks that Ive since called at have usually circled around downwind first before they come in to investigate. I've also come to realize that a snort weeze is a very good option when calling at buck especially if he is a ways away or if it is windy out.

Hahahaha!! I bet that got you all sorts of fired up!

[Lockdown]

Ill never forget when I was probably 12 or 13, my brother dropped me off at a new hunting spot he recently got permission for and told me to walk in a couple hundred yards and find a spot on the ground to get settled in at. He recently bought me a grunt call, and he told me to use it about once every hour, it was around the last week of October. I remember getting settled in and it hadn't been 10 minutes and I was blowing on that thing like a trumpet, hahaha I couldn't resist. It couldn't of been 10 seconds later and it sounded like a train was coming through the thick brush behind me, and before I could comprehend want was going on this giant buck was within 5 yards of me. I was in such shock that i just sat there and stared at this deer , and which what seem liked minutes was in reality only a couple seconds and that buck knew something wasn't right and turned around and busted outta there. Hahaha I think for the rest of that hunt I was blowing on that thing every 10 minutes thinking that buck was gonna come back.

Anyways Dewey hit the nail on the head, most mature bucks that Ive since called at have usually circled around downwind first before they come in to investigate. I've also come to realize that a snort weeze is a very good option when calling at buck especially if he is a ways away or if it is windy out.

I bank on this. And I will not call to a buck if I’m in a bad position wind wise and he’s heading to a more advantageous position. Best case scenario he’s strait up wind. The buck I referred to in my first comment was mature and he came in charging, wind to back but hung up when he couldn’t see what made the noise. Bought a decoy later that night

I thought of another encounter where I was rattling with all kinds of thick cover in front of me, and open plowing with a slough edge behind me. A nice 3.5 year old popped out and came to me on a string. Fast walk from a couple hundred yards away. Instead of staying in the cover on the slew edge he angled down wind out in the wide open plowing and winded me when he was 50-60 yards out. It was 100% intentional and I knew he had me.

I think not calling at a buck you know isn’t going to come by is a huge mistake. My 2010 kill came down a corn edge and worked a scrape at a fence line intersection. Then he headed down the fence line in the opposite direction. A few grunts 180’d him and he worked the scrape again. He stopped and stared my way so I hit the grunt again. He walked strait to me... wind to back. Made good on the 30 yard shot.

My 2012 buck was another one I killed from desperation calls. He disappeared and I threw everything at him. Grunts, can, snort wheeze. Was just going to try rattling (super desperate) when he reappeared. He was circling around me and was getting super close to my wind so I gave him the mother of all guttural deep belly grunts. He couldn’t take it anymore and came in with the wind just off. Slam dunk 8 yard shot. He was mid 130’s my biggest MN buck at the time.

[Jackson Marsh]

Like anything in hunting calling needs to be a tool in your tool box. Three of the bucks on my wall I wouldn't have without calling. One came into light rattling (blind calling ) one came into grunts (saw him and called him in) and this year one came into a snort wheeze I used to scare off a blowing spike buck.

[JoeRE]

I have had some luck calling bucks out of their beds with a grunt or two or real light rattling. Light because I tend to think a knock down drag out right next to a bedded mature buck that wasn't expecting company would just freak him out...just my theory anyway. It is risky. Bucks almost always try to get downwind when hearing a call. and the mature ones that seen any pressure at all are super cautious responding to calls. They may come to the edge of the security cover around their bed but not beyond that. Still, if you can't get quite close enough to where the buck would normally travel to or from his bed its worth a try.

I killed a buck in 2006 doing that, it was sort of my first beast style kill...a few years before I knew what that term meant . I was set up on the edge of a bedding area in the morning in early october, clinked the horns together for a short sparing sequence and first light, and a real nice 9 point came circling right in and I got a good shot before he got downwind. On at least two other occasions I have done something similar and the buck came in downwind and smelled me before I could get a shot...so definitely risky but getting them to check you out seems to be pretty high odds, closing the deal is the tough part.

[cattailcrusher]

What is the earliest that you guys will call at buck?

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I just saw a guy post on the beast Facebook page (Vincen Brown) and his story of how he shot his buck really struck me! He set up within earshot of the bedded buck and rattled....the buck got up and came to him. I had never even thought of this before but have you guys ever tried this tactic?

search the old posts here by a guy named "arrow bender" if you can find them, that was the way he killed a lot of his bucks (more with a grunt than a rattle though) There are some good posts on it buried.

Here are arrowbenders thoughts on the subject from his profile thread I think. Good stuff

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7502&hilit=grunt

[Arrowbender]

I do like to Blind (not sure if it is really blind calling if you suspect a buck is in the bedding area) call near known buck bedding.

I have had many different reactions. I think that early season is by far the best time to have them react in a non-aggressive manner but that is not a guarantee. I also disagree with many posters about bucks circling downwind when called to. I just have not seen it as the rule. Quite the opposite actually.
Yes, when calling aggressively to heavily pressured bucks you will see them be ultra cautious and sometimes try to wind you.

I really think that the closer you are to them when they initially hear the call; the less likely they will be suspicious. In fact, I believe that most of the deer I have called are so duped that the vocalization is from another deer, that they don't even suspect it is anything but. So unless they are insecure about whether they will lose a fight, why would they circle. To me, they seem to be doing nothing more than being curious as to who this voice that is not recognized is doing so close.

I find it curious that so many of us find the "Beast" ways of hunting so far out of the box and yet try it; usually with limited immediate success; yet are SO reluctant to try calling to bedded bucks or blind calling for cruising bucks. Especially since almost everyone of us have an experience(s) to reinforce that it is not that far out of the box!

[Arrowbender]

As far as calling near bedding....I hunt almost exclusively on private. This is not to be confused with managed private, but mostly heavily pressured small parcel private. I like to try to call the bedded buck from a just-off wind to an area that is not on his normal path from bedding to food. This gives me a chance that if he is not home he may not be alerted to my intrusion.

I hunt very mobile, even though on small private parcels. So even though the number of known bedding areas are minimal, I can hunt them more than once (usually too many times if unsuccessful the first few sits I'm sure).

My early season regimen is to let everything settle down after set up. I may call once or twice prior to the closing hour, then down the home stretch I like to call once then wait a minute; call once again, then wait nine or ten minutes and repeat until the last 15 minutes or so.

I use a simple grunt call and try to sound like a feeding doe group or young buck.

I am not going to lie, I call in way more non-shooters than anything.

I will also admit that prior to my my Beast indoctrination I used to call way more than I do now, and really enjoyed the activity.
I am still learning and adapting.

[Arrowbender]

I really enjoy calling to rutting bucks in the morning. I start nearly immediately at shooting light and call quite aggressively all morning long (I still follow my 10 minutes of silence between sequences if I can stay vigilante).

I will allow nearly hour long breaks of no calling if I plan on sitting all day, but not so much if I am just doing a morning hunt.

I also adjust my calling to the parcel if I have had encounters there. Meaning that if I have had a close encounter with a shooter that involved being called to....I quit calling to him for the season; at least near that bedding area on larger parcels.

[CarolinaKid]

I also have killed 2 bucks with light grunts pulling from beds. Never with rattling, but grunts (& some luck) during those hunts seemed to do the trick. I wait until the first decent cold front moves through to start calling however. Normally around mid October.

[UofLbowhunter]

Great posts arrowbender! Points taking, i have gotten to where i dont even want to call unless its a last ditch effort. Knowing when and not to call is the main key. Pressured mature bucks are very wise!

[MikePerry]

I remember when I was first getting into bowhunting seriously in the mid to late 80’s and early 90’s that Myles Keller would get in close to bedding and if I remember correctly either grunt softly or rake a horn against the bark on a tree to get a mature buck to come in. I have tried both methods back in the day and would occasionally have a mature buck sighting. Back then I was learning the importance of bedding and all my scouting and hunting was revolving around bedding but it was not refined to just buck bedding especially not just mature buck bedding. I was simply looking for bedding areas and mostly concerned with doe bedding to hunt during the rut so back then I honestly was not settling up in the right type of bedding or close enough to the beds for calling to work constantly. I no longer blind call unless I have a setup that will not allow a buck to get my wind. I may try this a little this year. As I write this I’m thinking of a few good (what I think ) are mature buck beds that I may be able to try this tactic at.

[tgreeno]

I do like to Blind (not sure if it is really blind calling if you suspect a buck is in the bedding area) call near known buck bedding.

I have had many different reactions. I think that early season is by far the best time to have them react in a non-aggressive manner but that is not a guarantee. I also disagree with many posters about bucks circling downwind when called to. I just have not seen it as the rule. Quite the opposite actually.
Yes, when calling aggressively to heavily pressured bucks you will see them be ultra cautious and sometimes try to wind you.

I really think that the closer you are to them when they initially hear the call; the less likely they will be suspicious. In fact, I believe that most of the deer I have called are so duped that the vocalization is from another deer, that they don't even suspect it is anything but. So unless they are insecure about whether they will lose a fight, why would they circle. To me, they seem to be doing nothing more than being curious as to who this voice that is not recognized is doing so close.

I find it curious that so many of us find the "Beast" ways of hunting so far out of the box and yet try it; usually with limited immediate success; yet are SO reluctant to try calling to bedded bucks or blind calling for cruising bucks. Especially since almost everyone of us have an experience(s) to reinforce that it is not that far out of the box!

Great post Arrowbender! I have always been nervous about giving up my position to bedded bucks. Since I so painstakingly try to get set-up without making a sound. But this may be a new technique I try this season.

[Kraftd]

This was one of the first thoughts I had too when I first found the beast and was also directed towards Arrowbender, who has some great information in his last posts. I've had a lot of success historically with calling. I've not yet connected on pulling a mature buck from a bed with calling similar to the way AB describes, but have come close enough that I still give it a try often.

Blind calling for cruisers during the rut is also something I've had success with, but this is where I've been more likely to get looped around on, so have taken to only doing this on proper set-ups. Where it's feasible, a decoy can be HUGE to making a set-up possible. I have had many mature bucks hang up just out of range when calling because the area I'm in is too open and they can't see the other deer. This has honestly been more consistent to me than them looping downwind. I've tried to adjust and usually try to be positioned in thick enough stuff where the buck may tolerate not getting a visual but still be in bow range or putting a decoy out. It honestly seems like every time I push this, I end up calling in a good buck that hangs up just out of range and eventually moves off before offering a shot. Just last year I rattled in a buck that may have been net B&C to about 35-40 yards. He was straight downwind for about a minute, but facing me so no ethical shot at that distance. After about a minute he didn't see anything because I got lazy and didn't bring a decoy and then lifted his nose and booked it. I'm dead convinced with a decoy I could have either kept him out of my wind and gotten a shot, or had him move through my scent cone and offer a shot, depending on set-up. This obviously isn't terribly feasible for a two mile hump through a marsh to hunt a bed, but where you can pull it off, can be deadly. I've killed three bucks with decoys out calling. It's fun.

[Lockdown]

This was one of the first thoughts I had too when I first found the beast and was also directed towards Arrowbender, who has some great information in his last posts. I've had a lot of success historically with calling. I've not yet connected on pulling a mature buck from a bed with calling similar to the way AB describes, but have come close enough that I still give it a try often.

Blind calling for cruisers during the rut is also something I've had success with, but this is where I've been more likely to get looped around on, so have taken to only doing this on proper set-ups. Where it's feasible, a decoy can be HUGE to making a set-up possible. I have had many mature bucks hang up just out of range when calling because the area I'm in is too open and they can't see the other deer. This has honestly been more consistent to me than them looping downwind. I've tried to adjust and usually try to be positioned in thick enough stuff where the buck may tolerate not getting a visual but still be in bow range or putting a decoy out. It honestly seems like every time I push this, I end up calling in a good buck that hangs up just out of range and eventually moves off before offering a shot. Just last year I rattled in a buck that may have been net B&C to about 35-40 yards. He was straight downwind for about a minute, but facing me so no ethical shot at that distance. After about a minute he didn't see anything because I got lazy and didn't bring a decoy and then lifted his nose and booked it. I'm dead convinced with a decoy I could have either kept him out of my wind and gotten a shot, or had him move through my scent cone and offer a shot, depending on set-up. This obviously isn't terribly feasible for a two mile hump through a marsh to hunt a bed, but where you can pull it off, can be deadly. I've killed three bucks with decoys out calling. It's fun.

Dave your post basically mirrors my experiences. I’ve talked recently about the half rack I canned in while hunting SD in ‘09. That sucker came running. Then he got on a little knoll where he could see good and put on the brakes. He KNEW he could see good enough to see the deer that made that sound. He was 20 yards facing me and directly on the backside of my tree. No shot. After a minute or two he turned quick and started walking strait back the way he came from. When I grunted he bolted.

You can’t tell me if I had a decoy out he wouldn’t have come further. Not only that it would have soaked up all of his attention.

Everything arrowbender said makes perfect sense to me. I can see how stealthily sneaking in on a buck then calling near his bed would keep him comfortable enough to head strait to the sound. I can also see how a buck out cruising, quite possibly I’m not so familiar territory, wants to loop downwind before committing. Like AB said they’re less suspicious when calling them from a bed. They’ve been laying there monitoring things all day.

Great posts. Great topic.