Feature Article: Calling During the Rut

[Kevin]

At no time during the season will bucks respond so positively to your grunting and rattling than during the late pre-rut.

During this time, bucks are in dominance mode--aggressive toward any other bucks in their area--and that means a couple of blows on the grunt, or a quick rattle of the antlers can send an already hot-under-the-collar buck into an all-out testosterone-induced fury.

But what about calling during the peak of the rut? Is grunting more effective or less effective? Should you rattle harder or softer? Are doe bleats effective? Should you grunt/rattle at all?

Well, there's no doubt that calling during the peak is less fruitful than grunting during the final week or so leading up to it. At this point, the dominant attitude toward other bucks in the area seen during the late pre-rut has been redirected to chasing hot does that are ready to breed.

However, while peak rut calling can often be a frustrating effort, it's not a totally lost cause.

The fact is, sometimes bucks are "between does" and will respond well to grunting, rattling and bleats. Here are a few do's and don'ts to catch these bucks that may not yet have found their doe of choice.

DO: Grunt aggressively. With the full rut on, most bucks are grouped up with does and only concerned about one thing: breeding. They're not as worried about competing bucks because they're already in lover's lane with their hot doe, so grunting is fairly ineffective. However, you just never know what's going to happen. One thing is for sure, grunting hard is your best chance at trying to get big boy's attention away from his precious does. Try one to three fast, stout grunts every 20 minutes.

DON'T: Be scared to rattle in cojunction with your aggressive grunts. Rattling to simulate a fight adds to the chance of arousing the curiosity of a buck. Just like grunting, you need to rattle aggressively. Short and loud. Short and loud. Short and loud. This isn't the early pre-rut, so sparring is simply not as likely to work as some hard-nosed, tough rattling.

DO: Use a bleat. This (along with other doe calls such as the doe grunt and the doe contact call) is the most effective call during the peak of the rut. Afterall, bucks are more concerned with finding a doe more than anything else (even food!), so it just makes sense. A bleat can send the buck that's in-between does running to your location.

DON'T: Stop calling during the middle of the day. Some hunters will only grunt and rattle during the "peak" times of the day, morning and evening. What a HUGE mistake. During the peak rut, bucks roam all day in search of does, and you should rattle, grunt and bleat all day in search of your buck. You just never know when Ol' Mossy Horns is going to be walking the path near your stand.

DO: Try a buck roar. When a buck's testosterone levels are surging through the roof, he makes a roaring sound. The roar sounds like a deep, resonating growl that is made by aggressive bucks during the rut. Bucks will make the sound when they are trying to get an estrous doe to stop or when they are warning other bucks to get away from a hot doe.