Calling Deer - Golden Rules

[An Taín Hunting Outfitter]

With the wealth of experience in The Stalking Directory family, I would like to discuss calling deer.

What are the Golden Rules for calling deer, specifically:

1). Sika
2). Fallow
3). Red
4). Roe
5). muntjac
6). CWD

Are there any do's and don'ts, such as half hearted calling, calling bucks past the rut etc.

It would be good to learn from your techniques and strategies while also compling a 'Calling' archive which others could tap into for their next stalk.

Greatly appreciated. Ronan.

 

[Rob79]

I have a fairly meagre contribution, as I only really have experience calling Roe and Muntjac, so ill probably keep it general:

1. Always get set up on your sticks or have rifle in hand and get ready, especially if your in thick woodland. Things can happen fast and having a rifle on your back and sense caps down, scope on the wrong magnification can all contribute to a lost opportunity.

2. I like my call attached around neck or otherwise to my person, so i can use it or drop it and have hands free easily. Binoculars similarly on harness for the same reason. Minimal movement and a quick shot can be paramount.

3. Camouflage and concealment, especially at close range in woodland, try and be under a shady tree where your backdrop is improved and have gloves, hat, face veil and camouflage so that a deer at close range will not be spooked.

4. Consider the wind and likely approach of animals before calling, most likely direction of deer to approach from wants to be up wind. I suppose you could wear scent block clothing, but I've not tried.

I don't have enough experience to comment on frequency of calling and tactics, but I've called Roebuck in and around the rut and I've called muntjac all year round, with with a Buttolo. Some will argue that calling too much in one area or not at the peak time of year during the rut might educate deer to the call and make them wary, i don't have a view either way yet.

 

[lochty]

I call them many things, usually when I've messed up a stalk and they run away.......

 

[CarlW]

My golden rule would be never to underestimate the effectiveness of calling. Perhaps I have low self-esteem or something but, when I start calling, I never really, truly, honestly think it will work. Therefore, I am generally unprepared when the deer come running towards me, give both me and themselves a fright, then whizz past me into the distance, leaving me to pick up my binoculars, gloves, caller, sticks, etc. that now lie littered around me in the grass.

 

[An Taín Hunting Outfitter]

Some great responses there guys. The power of calling.......hmm.....that I believe we all underestimate. i am going to do that next time, get comortable, down-wind, under a spinney and call to see what moves.

I once used a fox caller with a broken reed and a huge fallow buck came dandering down the path. I think back and I was imitating a calf call. Super buck but wrong calibre.

 

[.25-06]

Accidentally bump the Buttolo... clears the area very effectively

Sometimes it works from hundreds of meters away, sometimes they won't lift their head for it I can never figure out with any degree of accuracy what the result will be so it gets left at home 99% of the time

 

[Rob79]

Theres a video somewhere on the site of a guy stalking Roe buck with a muzzle loader, anyway he tries calling and a big Keiler comes in - not sure if the Keiler thought he might find a Roe kid to eat, but I've never seen that before

 

[deerly departed]

I think any sort of calling can be a double edged sword. I have not done much deer but if they are anything like fox there doesnt seem to be any reason why one call is a magnet and the next time its gets things running at full pelt in the opposite direction.

Right call at the right time in the right pitch and frequency.....maybe thats the trick. Generally I dont tend to call often. Sometimes it works. Often it doesnt. Its all part of the dance.

 

[nick.308]

I've only had one successful call that was pure chance.
I was spying a big area with no luck and I thought I would give my buttalo a go.
I did 3 squeaks 1 minute apart and sat down. Over the hill bounded a lovely buck 150yds away and he continued walking towards me with no further calling.
He came within 25yds of me by which time I had hit the deck and managed to get my scope caps off and the rifle loaded! I saw a brown blur in my scope and I flicked off the safety catch which he heard and stopped instantly. I had a fraction of a second to pull the trigger which I did and bagged a lovely buck.

 

[An Taín Hunting Outfitter]

This is why I feel the topic of calling is so important. There are things we instinctively do that we have carried through our generations as hunters. Such as, you know when as a child you walked through a field of long grass pulling the seeds off the heads of grass as you walked and slightly throwing them infront of you? Well, that is checking wind direction.

But there are qualities we as hunters use less or maybe not yet tap into fully. Calling deer is potentially.....I use this term carefully....'potentially' one of them. With all calls on the market I am hoping to break down each species, taking time of year into account and figure out when is it best in an area to use a calf call, a doe call and also how does a calf call of a fallow differ from the calf call of a sika.

It is more than this, imagine being able to call only a stag (outside the rut) or only a doe, meaning with an intended cull being able to attract a specific species and a specific sex or age group......through good calling.

 

[An Taín Hunting Outfitter]

Used a Sika Hind caller yesterday. Not a deer to be seen, tried the caller and within 10mins a Hind and yearling came bouncing up the ride to me and stopped within 15m!

I started with a more roe buck noise and then changed to Sika hind calls. I was a bit worried at first thinking the noise would frighten deer in the area as I have only ever been barked at like that when Sika hinds have detected my presence. But I kept at it with fantastic results. The hinds came running up the other side of the gorse hedges and I actually heard them bounding up 15seconds before I seen them. I have to give the dog credit for sitting tight the whole time but he was marking and new fine and well there was only a 2m hedge between them and us.

A very efficient stalk so that is my meat for Christmas to share with family.