Tips & Tactics

I’d like to share something with Buckmasters fans that I learned as a young hunter.

When I was a kid, my dad wasn’t always as open to trying out new tactics as I was. We didn’t do a lot of exploring when we hunted together.

When I finally reached the age when I could hunt all by myself, I found myself testing out things I’d seen on TV or read about. One of the most important was calling deer.

Many hunters won’t go beyond the basics when it comes to calling. I’m not like most hunters.

One day, while hunting solo, I tried something that would’ve been out of the question before.  My aggressive exploration with calls soon resulted in an adventure that changed me forever.

I decided to go all out.

I’d seen a television show depicting clicking noises made by bucks as they are about to mate, which is a type of sound they make when tending a hot doe.

I started with this, and then threw in two minutes of loud doe bleats and aggressive grunts.

Next, I kicked leaves and snapped sticks loudly to imitate the sounds of a buck chasing a doe, or possibly other bucks joining in on a doe chase.

I was on the ground, not in a tree, so the sequence would sound realistic.

Next, I shut up. I’ve noticed in the wild that animals will often go completely silent after making an incredible ruckus.

What do you know? Before I could bat an eyelash, the biggest buck I’d ever seen came walking right out.

It appeared so fast after I stopped calling I was taken by surprise and couldn’t get off a shot!

I could tell this animal was really worked up, and it vanished as quickly as it had materialized.

Although I didn’t take home the big buck that day, I learned a valuable lesson.

Had I not thought outside the box and explored with aggressive calling tactics, I would’ve never known that old boy existed.

Even though I’ve experienced much in my 20-plus years of hunting, I don’t claim to know everything. There’s still much to learn. Like, once you’ve finish calling, make darn sure you’re ready to shoot!