Oh deer....

kgd

kgd

Joined
Feb 28, 2007
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Rick took that dirt time rant to heart and asked me to join him for a little tracking fun last night. We went out to the prairie. It was getting late and my pictures are pretty grainy, but it was a lot of fun watching Rick call in the deer. BTW, his jacket was less green on the way in then out from all that trumpetting he was doing.

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As we walked in we were flushing them out but the two of us together were making too much of a racket to get close.

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Then we settled in a little depression and waited them out. Rick managed to get a couple within about 30 yards are so and another walked closer to the side of us but kept his cover.

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After that we lit a small cooking fire and had tea and coffee. It was a fun couple of hours.

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That blast of compressed air is generally called a "snort" and its meaning ranges from "Hey, what was that!?" to "Lets get the F out of here!!" You can sometimes get a young- read curious/stupid- deer to look up or to stop briefly with a snort, but its not really a "call" in the sense of bringing in animals from out of sight. Snort at a buck with any age on him and the only thing you are going to see is a white flag disappearing into the brush...
 
hlee said:
That blast of compressed air is generally called a "snort" and its meaning ranges from "Hey, what was that!?" to "Lets get the F out of here!!" You can sometimes get a young- read curious/stupid- deer to look up or to stop briefly with a snort, but its not really a "call" in the sense of bringing in animals from out of sight. Snort at a buck with any age on him and the only thing you are going to see is a white flag disappearing into the brush...
Click to expand...

Well I see Rick is lurking so maybe he will respond. I can't claim any expertise in the language of deer, but Rick was able to call in several animals who would respond in turn. They also came into investigate and were clearly curious as to who was calling.
 
Thanks Ken... I had a great time.

hlee.... you might want to inform the deer about that... lol. I have been using that for years to bring in deer. Bucks, does... they all seem to come from nowhere. Ken and I had them come out of the bush and into a small meadow with the snort. They seemed to be aware but not overly spooked. They finished their grazing and slowley walked away. It was a lot of fun.

I don't hunt and am not claiming to be the deer-wisperer.... this has worked for me and I stand by my experiences. You have me curious now... perhaps I'll learn some other calls and try them out.

Rick
 
Reminds me of a time when my brother grunted a buck in the rut and it charged the truck we were in. Even crossed the road after a few minutes.

Thanks for sharing Ken.
 
Now, that I have a few more minutes to reply...

Ken's dirt time thread hit me where it hurt. I felt that I had no time to get out. It has been a year since the last time I trained with my mentor. Perhaps I was holding out for that "big trip" or maybe I really am that busy. Either way, nothing steals away ALL of your freetime... you just have to make it happen. Whether it's a few hours or an overnighter... if you love it, do it. I can't tell you how much better I feel after having been out in the woods again.

The place Ken and went was my old hang out. I haven't frequented that place in 5-6 years and man, what a difference. Ken is very familiar with this piece of bush and he knew all the spots the deer would be. He's good peoples, for a sunuvabatch... thank you, Dr. Drouillard.

Rick
 
Rick, like I said, the snort has myriad meanings. However, they are all a variation of surprise and alert. Does will generally snort and stamp their feet when they think that they have a hunter's location pegged. They will stare at the spot that they have honed in on, head held high with erect ears, and snort and stamp and posture. If satisfied they may go back to whatever it is that they were doing. However, if a deer is snorting, it has clicked off the safety on its fight or flight response, with a heavy emphasis on flight. A snort can trigger a curiosity response in deer, but most often these deer are young and don't know any better. Like a teenager that runs toward the circle when someone yells "Fight!" A snort can stop a running deer, but again this is a fleeting response, kind of like " Hey, what was that? Better not stick around to find out!" Interestingly, mule deer are as likely to stop when they hear a snort as anything else. Whitetails are more likely to kick it into a higher gear. Deer have many vocalizations (fawns bleat, as do does in estrus, bucks will run around the forest during the rut grunting like pigs, and the sounds of antlers clashing are known buck attractants, and does and bucks both snort). But, snorting to bring in deer is like yelling FIRE in a movie theater and expecting people to run IN. Some may show up for the spectacle, but most will be headed the other direction.

It is worth noting that in all of the pictures posted the does are either running the other way or appear to be in an ultra-alert state.

I'm no deer whispererer either, but I have put my share on the table...
 
hlee said:
It is worth noting that in all of the pictures posted the does are either running the other way or appear to be in an ultra-alert state.
Click to expand...

Not really Hlee, those were just the clearest shots of the bunch. I also have some of them grazing and a couple walked right to the side of us but I couldn't get shots off of them for the movement it would create and there was too much cover. The reason why the ones in the picts are more alert is because they are in a wide open meadow which we chose for the express purpose of taking the shots.

I'll draw your attention in the video below, almost same spot, a couple of nights before. Time stamp 3:09 min of these guys at ease. Some of the individuals were behaving in a similar manner while Rick was doing his calling.

[youtube]G2tBpYCHx-E[/youtube]
 
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