Rutting whitetails and jack-o-lanterns are a timeframe which goes hand in

Jack-o-lanterns and whitetail deer have something in common because Halloween is the key timeframe when the whitetail rut in Michigan starts warming up. It is a time when using various deer vocalizations, as well as rattling, can pay dividends for hunters.

I’ve been using deer vocalizations and rattling for quite some time, and knowing what call to use, and when, was a trial-and-error learning process. Calling in whitetails remains to be my favorite deer hunting technique, and today there are even how-to DVD’s available along with a wide array of deer calls, and with something “new and improved” continually coming out, which I think is great.

One amazing call that came out about 30 years ago is the doe-in-heat (estrus) bleat can which is made by several call manufacturers, and it is simple to use. Turn it upside down and back up again, and it emits a very authentic doe bleat. I refer to this rut-related deer call as the “Halloween Special” because that is when I begin using it, and it has been a key call which has readily brought in bucks for me. Combining the can-call with some tending buck grunts (a series of short buck grunts as well as “buck clicks” which can all be performed with a mouth call) can be the trick to trigger a rutting buck within hearing distance to react. This resembles a buck courting a doe in heat, and it is a sound which can bring out the jealous and territorial nature of a buck within hearing distance.

My son Josh used this technique to bring in a huge 8-pointer he spotted across a field. With just the bleat can working, the buck showed only a mild interest while he worked a scrape in full view on a fencerow almost 300 yards away. When Josh added a series of tending buck grunts, the buck’s demeanor took a visible change as he stared intently in Josh’s approximate direction. Another series of tending grunts had the 8-point changing his itinerary on the spot, because he came in quick to chase off the interloper and meet up with the doe. Josh was able to bring an otherwise out of range buck right in for a crossbow shot. This is an example of applying the right technique at just the right moment with the buck being in the right frame of mind.

As in all calling of game, it doesn’t work every time, but it never hurts to try and can in fact add a new dimension to the hunt that when the pieces all come together, and up the odds with bringing a buck into range, that might not have been part of the equation. I have brought bucks into bow range that had been traveling to other parts with a purpose until my calling efforts distracted them from their course. When possible, being able to see the bucks in this instance helps in knowing what call to use and at what intensity.

The key is to not call when a buck can peg your exact position. I had this happen during a true Halloween moment, with a full moon beginning to glow brightly as the setting sun slowly dipped below the red-streaked horizon. I had used my can-call one last time before hanging matters up for the day, as colorful leaves were raining down and a great-horned owl began to hoot. Bats were flitting all around as a singing flock of geese heading south flew across the eastern horizon and became briefly outlined by the full moon. I was savoring the entire moment and starting the process of lowering my longbow to the ground with a cord when I heard a twig snap.

Well, folks, a buck had been approaching my calling efforts, but whitetails being whitetails, he was on his own painstaking time schedule, and a large oak had been blocking his direct, head-on approach. He had my position fully pegged and was acting confused, as well as being a tad suspicious. I’m pretty sure the buck was wondering how a doe in heat got up in the tree.

Thanks to the bright moonlight, I could see he was a dandy buck, as he stalked in a cautious step at a time, with all his senses alert and muscles quivering while licking his nose and emitting steaming breath in the frosty air from his nostrils while trying to pick up any scent. I didn’t twitch or even blink while holding the cord attached to my partially lowered longbow because I knew the buck would immediately sense something amiss and explode right out of there. I’ve heard it said that whitetails don’t have much of a memory, but I disagree. The last thing I wanted was to spook this buck and alert him to my presence on the ladder-stand. He could catalog matters and probably remember a red flag for that location for the rest of the season. There is a lot said about hunters patterning deer, but it is wise to know that deer can also pattern hunters.

The buck stalked slowly around my tree, and when my scent blew high over him when he got directly downwind due to a gully that put him lower yet, he began raking the trunk of a hickory tree with his large antlers in utter frustration. I savored the moment which included the chorus of another flock of geese winging south, ongoing owl hoots, numerous bats flying around me, autumn leaves drifting down like large snowflakes and the unique clacking, grinding noise of a big buck thrashing a tree directly behind and underneath me. The only thing lacking was having a headless horseman go galloping by. Yep, folks, Halloween sure took on a whole new thrill for me right then!

The perplexed buck eventually slowly swaggered off, but I held my position for a while longer so as not to clue him in if he backtracked to see if that unusual “hot doe” had somehow got down from the tree.

With baiting being banned these days, deer calls can play an important role in luring deer into range, while allowing a hunter to take a more active part, instead of just waiting and hoping for the best. It has always been an effective technique which keeps getting better as more is learned about deer vocalizations and other means of whitetail communication.

I know it sure works for me.

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Tom Lounsbury

Tom Lounsbury has been an outdoor writer and photographer for more
than 40 years and has had his weekly radio show, “Tom Lounsbury
Outdoors” for more than 20 years. Tom grew up on a farm in
Michigan’s Thumb, and it is where his first outdoor adventures began
as a kid accompanying visiting pheasant hunters into the field during
the “pheasant hunting heyday” of the 1950’s and 1960’s. It is a passion
he still has to this day and being the 4 th generation to own the family
farm, he has put most of it into conservation programs with a focus on
wild pheasants, which in turn helps all wildlife.
Being an outdoor communicator, Tom appreciates all the outdoor
adventures he experiences in different places, and especially the
people he meets in which to share them.