Ask The Biologist

Canned Response

Canned Response

By Bob Humphrey

We bet you haven’t heard this about using can calls for whitetails.

QUESTION: I’ve been trying to learn how to call deer, and some of my friends suggested I try a can call. Can you tell me what situations I should use it for? What type of call does it imitate? How often should I call?

ANSWER: Biologists have discovered that deer use a variety of vocalizations to communicate with one another, but according to Dr. Karl Miller of the University of Georgia’s deer lab, the bleat sound made by can calls is not one of them.

Regardless, I’ve heard enough testimonials from deer hunters who used can calls to successfully attract deer, so I have to believe they work. Perhaps it’s similar to attraction scents like vanilla and anise, which white-tailed deer do not normally encounter in the wild but are attracted to just the same. Given that it’s an unnatural call, there are no real rules or guidelines as to how you should use it.

The smaller, higher-pitched cans might sound like a lost or injured fawn and could be an effective doe call, especially early in the hunting season when their maternal instinct is stronger. I’ve also heard, but cannot personally attest, that can calls work on bucks during the rut.

I suppose it’s like any other call. Don’t use it too often, perhaps every 15, 20 or 30 minutes for blind calling, or if you see a distant deer that looks like it will not be coming your way. It might work or it might not, but you won’t know until you try.

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