Deer grunt calls are on every shelf in outdoor stores as well as in most deer hunters' backpacks. Deer calling is a moveable feast and a widely debated topic on whether or not it works.
I can promise you: deer calling works. I’ve got the bone on my wall to prove it.
Before you watch this short video on how to use deer grunt calls and how to move into deer calls, read on for a moment because there’s a fundamental principle at stake. The irony of it all is staggering to me, and every deer hunter I know will agree that deer are vocal creatures; yet, those same deer hunters will not even attempt to call to a deer.
The reason most hunters never call up deer: fear.
Most hunters are afraid of tainting the hunt. I know because I was guilty of the crime.
I found myself facing the same fear when I began duck hunting many years ago. You cannot kill a duck unless you are willing to risk ruining a duck's mood and flaring him the other direction. [If you duck hunt this is worth investigating: watch it]
Fear is the fundamental culprit causing you never to feel the indescribable adrenaline shower that comes over you 90 seconds after you stopped using a grunt call and looked up only to hear or see a deer sneaking in your direction.
Years ago, after calling up deer after deer, I concluded that deer calls work. It was from that point forward that I began to explore the reasons why.
Today, in this segment of Mossberg’s Rugged American Hunter, I’m going to cover some truths I’ve learned along the way when it comes to employing grunt calls into every single deer hunt I encounter. Deer calling, manipulating a buck, and getting into a big buck’s mind can be done. Never, ever forget that.
This 155 inches 14 point, double main beam 210 lb. stud is dead proof of my convictions about deer calling. He wanted nothing to do with my setup until I changed grunt calls and mixed it up. I shot him at 7 steps . . . with one knee on the ground hidden beside a Cedar tree.
P.S. After you call in and kill that big buck, you'd better think about how you're going to take the hero shot!
Check out Jason Cruise's insights on how to take trophy photos with an iPhone.