GAME CALLS

[Highland Lofts]

On another forum I am on they were talking about game calls.
Several guys claim the Mr. Squirrel call works great gorgeous calling in squirrels.
Some one else said they carry a fawn in distress call when ever they are out hunting in case they see a coyote they try to call it in to range and they said deer will sometimes come in.

What's your thoughts on using game calls?
What kinds of calls do you use and how effective are they for you?

 

[courtgreene]

I use a standard primos grunt call, and I use rattling antlers. They are about 50/50. A lot depends on where you are. In places like Western North Carolina which begins with rolling hills and terminates in mountains (the same chain you hunt in New York if I'm guessing right from some of your pics) the sound does not carry far. Basically, if you see or hear one, and it seems to be going past you, you can get its attention. It may then come to you or spook. I use them sparingly, but have noticed that if I hit the horns hard I can get a group or pair of bucks to come in during the early part of the rut. Pre-rut? Around the end of October. I can grunt a single doe in fairly often, but in groups they do not seem to care. I usually only use them when I know the time is running out, and maybe that is why I am not as successful with them. I have also had some success with doe bleat can thingies. I have lost every single one that I have purchased, though, so I stopped buying them.

 

[JmacD]

I personally really like the M.A.D. Grunt snort wheeze. I also have the doe bleat cans and a standard grunt tube. Yup, they work great.

 

[EMC45]

I have a Lohman squirrel call and distress whistle. Both work great.

 

[Patocazador]

Some one else said they carry a fawn in distress call when ever they are out hunting in case they see a coyote they try to call it in to range and they said deer will sometimes come in.

Twice I have seen coyotes from my treestand and called them in with a fawn bleat that I carry in bow season. I called a doe up a hill away from other does by holding my nose and giving a blaah sound with a tremor in my voice.
BTW, I killed a coyote both times with an arrow but missed the doe by shooting too high downhill.

I have rattled in small bucks twice during pre-rut using a black plastic gizmo with paddles in it. I have never been able to grunt in a buck or rattle in a big buck.

 

[Meeks36]

Never used one although I have learned to grunt like a buck and bark like a squirrel. Might come in handy one day.

 

[.308 Norma]

What kinds of calls do you use and how effective are they for you?

I've called in a few coyotes and foxes with my "distressed rabbit" call. Usually the magpies and hawks/eagles come in first though. And I've learned to sit quiet and still once the birds arrive - because the coyotes never seemed to come in if I scared the birds away first.
I used to have a hunting buddy that used a distressed rabbit call to call in bears (black bears). He was pretty successful with it too, although I was never with him when it worked. The one time I was bear hunting with him and he was using his distressed rabbit call, he had me sitting back-to-back with him - because he'd had bears come in from behind, looking for an easy meal.
Like I say though, his distressed rabbit call never worked for calling in bears when I was with him. What did work was that call seemed to scare the heck out of the deer and elk that were close enough to hear it. The deer and elk in the area would come busting out of the brush and take off over the hill. I guess instinct told them that if there was a rabbit in distress in the area, there was soon to be a predator in the area as well.
Kind of off-topic, but my wife and I shoot hundreds of ground squirrels over on our friend's ranch in the spring. And we've learned that when there's a "lull" in the shooting (when most of the ground squirrels are down in their burrows) all we have to do is emit a few short, high-pitched whistles, and the ground squirrels will start popping up all around us. I have a little whistle that came with a "TOPS" brand knife I bought that works for calling ground squirrels out of their burrows too.

 

[jmorris]

What's your thoughts on using game calls?
What kinds of calls do you use and how effective are they for you?

They can absolutely work, it’s not uncommon for deer and cattle to follow our vehicles, especially the ones we drive when we put out food.

Baiting the hog trap

www.youtube.com

I mess with the squirrels with a few different calls, it works often, if your not calling the same ones over for no reason. They come from a long way away too, as I watch them come through the leafless tress, in the fall.

I built my own coyote call using files from here, https://www.varmintal.com/ahunt.htm Works pretty good if you can stay out of sight.

They don’t work near as well as having chickens, they just keep coming.

 

[.308 Norma]

They don’t work near as well as having chickens, they just keep coming.

Yeah, I'll bet they do!
That kind of reminds me of what was so frustrating to my wife this past summer. The hummingbirds have all left the area now, but my wife (who loves the darned things) put a couple of hummingbird feeders out in the yard last spring. Then she got all upset and frustrated because no matter where she put the hummingbird feeders in the yard, within a day or two, there would be one of the local feral cats hanging around one of them - just waiting for a careless hummingbird to swoop down low enough for the cat to jump up and grab. In other words, (as I told her) my wife wasn't "feeding" hummingbirds, as much as she was "baiting" feral cats.

 

[Highland Lofts]

That's why I have a good pellet gun.