SECRETS FOR CALLING BUCKS

The Rut and Post-Rut

EDITOR'S NOTE: Jerry Peterson is the founder and product designer of Woods Wise Products, the makers of quality game calls in Franklin, Tennessee.

QUESTION: What do we do during the rut?
PETERSON: Most people think this is the time you get the most aggressive deer. Actually it isn't. Scrapes have gone cold, and the does have started cleaning their tarsal glands. The edge the bucks have had is greatly diminished for a couple of reasons. Number one, the does are available. Secondly, they have been chasing does for three or four weeks by this point, and their stamina is low. They've lost about 30 percent of their body weight. Now it is all about trying to guard the does they find. Maybe more than anything else at this time, the bucks are less willing to travel and more willing to stay tight with a particular doe. Your calling at this point actually starts to revert to less- and less-aggressive calls. Stick with the breeding sounds, like the long estrus bleats, such as those made with cans. The Breeding Bellow is still an excellent call at this time. And of course, the ABC sounds, which are the attention grunt, the bleat and the contact call, are universally always a safe bet.

The more I see the bucks fatiguing, the less aggressive I become with my calling. This is where a lot of guys make mistakes. It is almost impossible, in a typical roaming deer herd, to stimulate a buck to come to aggressive rattling during the peak of the rut. The reason for that again is there are so many does available and his stamina is down. Again go back to the observations to know exactly what phase you are in.

QUESTION: What about the post-rut?
PETERSON: Post-rut is the toughest of all of the stretches of the season, but bucks are still very callable if you change your tactics. Again, you are back to the ABC sounds. However, from my experience, the most-successful sound you can make in the post-rut period is the bawling sound. We make a call called the Breeding Bellow. The Breeding Bellow is specifically tuned for that sound when you inhale (only) on the call. It sounds very much like a calf bawling.

QUESTION: What about rattling in the post-rut?
PETERSON: You should spar but not rattle. The reason again is because at this time, and this is the key behind the bawl sound, the bucks are beginning to reform their bachelor groups. Sparring is part of the ritual of re-bonding for bucks that had spent the summer together and are now regrouping with the remaining buck population. One of the first parts of that bonding is to spar. They spar fairly frequently the first few days or so when they are back together again. Sort of like saying, "Hey, good to see you again. Glad we are back running the woods together." So the sequence should include light rattling, the bawl, very light grunts, contact calls and short little bleats.

For more information on Woods Wise Products, call 1-800-735-8182, or visit their website at www.woodswise.com.

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