What time of day should you call deer?
Grunts will work to call and attract deer, specifically bucks. If you need to bring them in those last few yards to bow range, a grunt call can do that. During the pre-rut, I won't start calling until the last 90 minutes of the evening or the first 90 minutes of the day.
A great time to utilize your buck grunt call is during the fall months and breeding season. During peak rut bucks are on the prowl, sparring with other bucks, rubbing trees and creating scrapes. They are eager seeking out does, as well as answering the calls of bucks looking to challenge their dominance.
Deer don't always respond right away. They may come in 5-10 minutes after you call. Don't let your guard down. Carry calls that allow you to make multiple sounds.
GRUNT CALL
You should look to only grunt periodically, every 15 minutes to 20 minutes. 'Blind calling' can work but it is best to make the calls subtle and sparingly because you don't know how close a deer might be to you. Grunt calls usually work best when a buck has been spotted.
Deer are most active during the twilight hours of dusk and dawn. Most sleep during the day. They typically feed in the early morning hours before sleeping and then again in the evening and through the night. However, deer can also be active during the day and even midday, especially during rut and around the full moon.
Time of Day: For whitetail deer the most active times typically occur around dawn and dusk, with periodic increases in activity overnight.
Bucks grunt during all phases of the rut, including when making scrapes, rubbing trees, fighting, and chasing does. Typically, it is a vocalization to project dominance over a doe or other bucks in the area. A soft grunt call is most effective when a buck is in sight but out of shooting range.
Doe Bleat Call
Does can use bleats to communicate to bucks that they are ready for a mate. Use this sound to bring in the bucks or other does. If you're not getting responses or reactions to a grunt, try a bleat. Keep your doe bleats higher pitched and short.
- In the Mornings. The greatest number of bucks (54 percent) in this study responded between 7:30 and 10:30 am, as opposed to midday (16 percent) or afternoon attempts (30 percent).
- On Cool, Cloudy Days with Light to No Wind. ...
- During Peak Rut, or Start of the Post Rut.
A well-done doe bleat can attract both does and bucks, which makes it great in terms of post-rut deer calls. But don't overcall – that's a common mistake many hunters make even when the deer are more receptive to it, and it can drive a wise whitetail away during the post-rut.
How far can deer hear a can call?
The Clancys ran the tests with the wind and against it. The “Katie Clancy Rattling-Volume Test” revealed that rattling devices could, on average, be heard 512 yards downwind and 223 yards upwind; or 2.3 times farther downwind than upwind.
Grunt at every buck, both shooters and small 4- or 6-points, that you see slipping down a ridge or ducking into cover up to 125 yards away. In my field-testing, a deer can hear your calls that far if the wind and terrain are right.

While deer do exhibit patterns, this doesn't always mean they do the same thing every day. In fact, a mature deer doing the same thing in daylight multiple days in a row is the exception, not the rule. It's much more common to see them pass through an area every few days.
Many rubs are never visited again by the bucks that made them or by other deer. However, some rubs are a little more special and are visited by multiple bucks and even does. Deer even visit these unique rubs across multiple years.
Hearing the signs
An angry squirrel barking or a blue jay sounding the alarm can often alert the hunter to an approaching deer. An experienced woodsman is always listening for changes in the sounds of the woods as other animals will often sound off when startled or angered by the presence of deer.
- Large temperature swings will often boost deer activity, especially if the temperature begins rapidly dropping. ( ...
- Freezing rain and sleet in the woods. (
Temperatures in the 40s and highs in the 60s might make for comfortable tree-stand vigils, such temperatures literally shutdown daytime deer activity. In fact, the weather's influence on deer activity has been scientifically documented as a major suppressor/stimulator of daytime deer activity.
The more time you or other hunters spend on the property, the less likely you are to see deer, especially older deer. Studies have shown that as hunting pressure increases, mature bucks move less during daylight. They also spend more time in thick cover, where you're less likely to see them even if they do move.
You're not changing with the wind.
The deer in the area may be smelling you long before you can see them. It is incredibly important that you pay attention to the wind and stay downwind of deer. If you plan to hunt feeding grounds, make sure the wind isn't blowing toward approaching deer.
Deer tend to sleep during the day, roughly between the hours of 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm. A night scope for AR15 will definitely come in handy during these hours. Deer are highly active during the hours just before dark. When they wake up between 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, their first priority is food.
How long should I buck grunt for?
Use 5- to 10-second sequences. A buck might come to what he thinks is a rival trailing a doe.
When blind calling deer blow your grunt call two or three times every 30 minutes. Your notes should vary from short to long. Rattling is another popular form of calling used by hunters. Rattling antlers are used to mimic bucks fighting.
Follow the normal deer calling rules when using doe bleats or grunt calls. A tip-over call or mouth-blown doe bleater should be used sparingly. Produce a couple of bleats every 20 or 30 minutes at most, and watch down wind for bucks to sneak in and attempt to smell the doe.
The general rule of thumb is to use a short sequence of bleats or grunts about every thirty minutes or so. Call for about 30 seconds and then take a moment to observe any reactions. It's also helpful to start out on the softer side with a call, gradually increasing volume as needed.
Grunts are most effective during the rut and are not used often outside of the rut. It doesn't hurt to breakup a slow day of hunting however by using a grunt call. A buck may hear the call and decide to run you out of his area.
It doesn't matter what month of the year you are talking about, pretty much every study out there shows that the time of day bucks are most active is at sunrise and sunset. Can you kill a mature buck during the middle of the day? Sure. But if you want to hedge your bet, be in a stand during those magic hours.
Early Morning and Late Afternoon
No matter what the conditions, deer move best early of a morning and late of an afternoon. That's when they're wired to move most. It's when their eyesight is most effective. And there are few things that impact this movement, other than hunting pressure.
The research shows that mature bucks move most at dawn and dusk. There's no changing that. And the data suggests that'll always be true regardless of time of year, hunting pressure, etc. While midday hunts can be very effective, your best odds of killing are still in that first and last hour of legal shooting light.
More than likely, he won't hear you, no matter how loudly you blow a grunt or a bleat call. If a buck can't hear the call, he can't respond. * you pick a region with no deer in it during the time you're calling. Then you'll have no response from deer.
Deer can usually tell if another deer is around. If they suddenly hear a loud grunt and have not seen a deer close by, they become suspicious. It may even scare them. This is especially true of mature bucks that are suspicious and cautious by nature.
Does talking scare deer away?
The recently published study shows that the sound of people talking is much more likely to spook deer than the sound of any other predator, including wolves, coyotes, dogs, and cougars.
In many parts of the West, in fact, whitetails routinely make treks of 2-3 miles between preferred bedding areas in timbered hills to feed on alfalfa in the lowlands. The deer make that long-distance hike each way daily. It's hard to put a number of acres on a home range when deer are taking such long strolls.
If a branch breaks in the woods, deer within earshot are semi-alerted. However, if they hear metal clanging, a cell phone going off, or a plastic bucket clunk, it's immediate high alert for all deer, but especially mature bucks.
Before you go running to the corner mart to pick up a bag of leaf, there are several things to consider. Tobacco spit is a foreign odor. It could alarm deer, particularly if they learn to associate it with humans. It might also sometimes function as a curiosity scent, like vanilla or anise oil.
Description | |
---|---|
Active | During dawn, late afternoon and dusk |
Recommended Equipment | Class 4 Ammo, Deer "Bleat" Caller, Deer "Grunt" Caller, Whitetail Deer Scent |
Species | Odocoileus virginianus |
Difficulty | Average |
- A buck is coming towards you. ...
- Deer, and certainly bucks, that are just out of range but on alert should not be called to. ...
- At times, a buck may not be interested in any of your deer calling.
A tip-over call or mouth-blown doe bleater should be used sparingly. Produce a couple of bleats every 20 or 30 minutes at most, and watch down wind for bucks to sneak in and attempt to smell the doe.
References
- https://www.bonecollector.com/deer-calls-deer-calling-tips-michael-waddell/
- https://schuntingranch.com/blog/Why-am-I-Not-Seeing-Deer-While-Hunting
- https://deerassociation.com/10-things-know-mature-buck-movements/
- https://ninebarranch.com/2018/09/when-to-use-calls-for-whitetail-deer/
- https://bigdeerblog.com/2017/11/how-to-grunt-call-deer/
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- https://gon.com/hunting/right-and-wrong-times-for-grunt-calls
- https://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/master-class/2013/11/deer-hunting-tips-how-really-use-grunt-call/
- https://deerassociation.com/rub-and-repeat-bucks-return-to-a-few-rubs-not-all/
- https://thehuntercotw.fandom.com/wiki/Whitetail_Deer
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- https://hadleycreek.com/3-essential-whitetail-calling-strategies/
- https://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/editorial/everything-need-know-whitetail-home-ranges/262555
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- http://www.nighthawkpublications.com/journal/2010/52/journal_4.htm