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Most hunters, even those who don't chase elk and turkeys, know calling is a top method for bringing either species in and sealing the deal by putting pellets or a lead bullet in the right place. The same truth holds for whitetails. While their vocalizations aren't as loud, the species is very vocal with an extensive vocabulary. Learn to speak whitetail, and you'll fill the freezer more consistently.
The best way to break this topic down and get you started is to subdivide deer sounds by sex—bucks make different noises than does and vice versa. So, let’s start with the buck sounds you need to master and the best times to use them.
Grunt: Both bucks and does grunt. Bucks grunt softly during summer while in bachelor herds; however, these grunts are non-aggressive. When bucks stay together, a grunt is a social call.
Starting in early October, though, bucks start grunting for a different reason—to show dominance and warn other bucks of their presence. The grunt will also attract females; during the fall months, grunts get deeper, louder and longer. Often, a buck hot on the heels of a near-estrous doe will have his nose to the ground and grunting like a pig.
It’s not a hard call to master; there are multitudes of grunt tubes on the market, most of which require nothing more than a huff of air.
I like to begin grunting in October, but I use the call sparingly and only when I see a shooter not headed in my direction. During November, I will blind-call a little more, and often, I get more intense with my grunts. Rut grunts are louder, more aggressive and sometimes followed by a snort-wheeze.
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Snort-Wheeze: You don't hear it often, but when you do, the buck making it means business. The snort-wheeze is the most aggressive call in a buck's vocabulary. It is used to assert dominance, and typically when a buck makes it, he is telling others, "This is my territory. You're in it. Let's go."
The call sounds like a rapid succession of air pushed through a small tube. The call can be replicated with the mouth as easily as a manufactured call—move your lips together, get a huff of air, and make a pff, pff, pfffffffff sound. Plug your nose with one hand while making the sound.
I only use this call during the rut and only when I can't get a mature buck to respond to my grunt call and rattling.
Rattling: Bucks fight and sparring starts the second the velvet comes off and testosterone builds. Of course, late-September matches are relatively mild, but a brawl can last several minutes by mid-October if two hot-tempered warriors cross each other's path. Sometimes, one of the bucks, or both, suffer life-threatening injuries.
Rattling is accomplished by smashing actual antlers together. There are also rattle bags, boxes, and other manufactured rattling calls, but in my experience, nothing is better than the real thing.
Rattling is more effective in areas where multiple bucks are competing for does, and starting in mid-October, clacking bone together is very effective.
Girls also talk, and while I have had less success using doe vocalizations to call bucks close, there is a time and place.
Grunt: Doe grunts are light and subtle. They are used to let other deer know of their location, and as fawns grow and start venturing away from mama, a stern grunt brings them back.
Does grunt throughout the year, and while I don't use this call to get bucks in, I do use it to calm a spooked doe. This low, light grunt is a call deer hear all the time.
Doe Bleat: Does bleat for various reasons—often when around other does and fawns. This type of bleat is a social sound that tells other deer all is well.
The bleat is short, quick and calm. Like grunts, I use bleats throughout the season to calm deer and add realism to my calling sequences. Many top deer biologists believe does bleat at least once every 30 minutes.
Estrous Bleat: More of a whine than a bleat, an estrous bleat is made by a doe ready to breed, which makes it a lethal call if used correctly.
It is a loud, high-pitched bleat that lasts longer than a standard one. There are numerous bleat calls on the market, and while can-style calls are effective, I like a bleat tube that allows the caller to make standard calm bleats and drawn-out whiny estrous bleats.
The best time to use an estrous bleat is during the rut, and in my experience, it can be pure poison during the post-rut. Bucks are still looking to breed as the rut dwindles and know a few estrous does are still out there. This sound can bring a late-rut buck running in.
Talking whitetail is every bit as important as talking turkey or elk. Add some whitetail lingo to your bag of tricks and have a more successful fall.