Calling Whitetails

By Dragan Vujic

Calling is the art of deception. One creates a false, but convincing, illusion. There are many methods of calling. This is old knowledge that is currently being rediscovered by modern science. Whitetails rely on three primary sensory systems for survival-auditory, visual and olfactory. Therefore, they can be tricked on any of these levels. The main objective of any form of calling is to manipulate a deer to approach within comfortable shooting distance. This book offers techniques and tactics for luring in whitetails. It illustrates how to fool all three senses of the whitetail.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 16, 2008
• ISBN: 9780595604814

Dragan Vujic

Dragan Vujic is a writer and an avid outdoorsman. He resides in rural southern Ontario, Canada where he enjoys a quiet, serene lifestyle. Dragan may be contacted at: [e-mail] or [e-mail].

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CALLING WHITETAILS

Dragan Vujic

iUniverse, Inc.

New York Lincoln Shanghai

CALLING WHITETAILS

Copyright © 2008 by Dragan Vujic

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ISBN: 978-0-595-48390-7 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-0-595-60481-4 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

PART I

1

2

3

4

PART II

5

6

7

8

9

The End

Books by Dragan Vujic

Canadian Whitetail Hunting

Hunting Farm Country Whitetails

Whitetail Hunting Adventures

Bow Hunting Whitetails

Calling Whitetails

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Dedicated to my friend, Dean Batton, in memoriam.

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Dean Batton (1941–2007)

Introduction 

Calling whitetails is an ancient practice that dates back to the unwritten historic period of the Aboriginals. Living off the land and in harmony with nature, these people observed, studied and recorded the traits, behaviours and habits of one of their prime food sources. This accumulated knowledge was passed down orally from generation to generation. In order to entice a deer within the shooting range of their rather primitive weapons, the natives had to become the masters of deception. They had to make a whitetail believe that another member of the same species was beckoning it. In other words, the aboriginals had to lure a whitetail within bow range by convincing it that another deer was behind a bush and not a hidden human hunter. Obviously this required a fair amount of knowledge and skill. The right call had to be employed at the right time. The natives practiced illusion by capitalizing on all three of the whitetail’s predominant sense—auditory, visual and olfactory. It was a relatively complex, but highly efficient strategy.

With the advent of time and the exponential leaps in technology and weaponry, the need for this specialized information diminished. Harvesting whitetails with long range weapons did not require calling skills. Eventually, this pool of knowledge shrank and almost vanished. Time passed and calling slowly drifted into the lost art realm. When bow hunting became popular, a renewed interest in eluding whitetails into close range arose. Currently, modern science is rediscovering old knowledge. Calling has once again gained popularity with the masses. Today, the manufacturers of calling aids comprise a multi-million dollar sector of the economy. Producing products that allow a hunter to call whitetails has become a commercially viable venture. The market is proliferated with a wide variety.

There are some misconceptions. When one mentions calling, most hunters will think of bleats and grunts. This constitutes vocal calling that is directed at the whitetail’s auditory senses. Rattling also comes to mind. This too plays on the auditory system. Although these two forms may be important and most popular, they are not the only methods of calling. Initially, I shall cover both vocal calling and rattling in depth in this book. However, I also intend to explore the other methods of calling that appeal to the whitetail’s other two senses—olfactory and visual. I will discuss methods for the effective use of scents, decoys and baits.

In calling, a hunter wishes to achieve two objectives. The first objective is to fool the deer into thinking that you are another deer and not a predator. The second objective consists of luring the whitetail within comfortable shooting range. In other words, you have to make the deer do something—come closer to where you are situated. This is harder than it sounds. However, when you experience, for the first time, the thrill of a two way communication between yourself and a deer, you will have achieved the first objective. It will be a memorable moment. But, do not linger, move on to step two.

Before jumping into the actual arts of calling there is some essential information that I wish to share with you. Before we can commence practicing to deceive the senses of the whitetails, we must first learn something about the visual, auditory and olfactory systems of our game animals. Also, in order to attempt to communicate with whitetails, one must first learn how whitetails communicate amongst themselves. Vocal mastery is often referred to as deer speak or whitetail language. Because of my name and living in Canada, I am frequently asked how languages I speak. My reply is always the same. English and Whitetail.

I start my essential information section with an elucidation of the whitetail’s sense of smell due to the fact that it is the strongest, most developed attribute. Therefore, it is the hardest to deceive. Even the best calls will not with a deer catches your scent. In addition, certain scents can be used to bring a whitetail within striking distance. Thus, they may also be considered as methods of calling. Subsequently, I will discuss the other two senses and conclude with a chapter of communication. Even though I isolate the senses of the whitetails, be aware that the entire sensory system always works in unison. All three senses are functioning at the same time. Everything works together.

In the second part of my book, I will discuss effective calling methodologies. Since vocal calling is the most popular, I will commence there. Subsequently I will cover rattling. Then, I will proceed to the less frequently used methods for luring whitetails within bow range. These consist of efficiently using decoys, scents and baits. Although they may not be the first choice among hunters, there is useful information therein that could enhance your primary methods of calling. For example, a hunter that uses a doe decoy that has been sprinkled with doe in estrus scent and sporadically utters a few doe in heat bleats is catering to all three of the buck’s senses. Finally, I will attempt a conclusion. This is always the hardest part of any book for me to write. I just hate saying goodbye. But, we will deal with that when we get to it. So, now, without further ado, let us begin.

PART I 

Essential Information

1 

Sense of Smell

Whitetails are 5,000 to 10,000 times more sensitive to odours than people are. Deer can detect scents and smells significantly better than humans and from considerably longer distances—up to a kilometer under typical autumn conditions. The moist nose of a deer houses virtually millions of tiny receptors. Epithelium, a cellular tissue compound mucous membranes and sensory nerve endings, is the name given to the surface area that contains the scent receptors on the inside and the outside of the deer’s nose. This feature empowers the whitetail to differentiate up to six different smells simultaneously. Every deer periodically licks its nose in order to keep the epithelium moist. The nose functions at its optimum level when it is wet.

Their sense of smell is at its peak on cool, damp days. The epithelium must remain moist in order for the scent molecules to stick to it. A deer will often lick its nose when attempting to smell something. When the nose dries out it becomes dysfunctional. By attaching to the nose, the scent molecules trigger a chemical reaction that rapidly enables recognition. A whitetail’s brain devotes a large portion to odour reception and interpretation. The nasal chamber concentrates odours in order to make them more easily identifiable.

All year round, the whitetail relies on its highly evolved sense of smell. Deer sniff out the best food, detect predators and locate hunters. People identify one individual from another visually. Whitetails identify each other by olfactory means. They pick up one another’s scent in every season, but more so in the mating season. During the rut, bucks and does keep tabs on each other by smelling rubs and scrapes. A buck whiffs a doe’s urine and vagina to determine if she is coming into estrus. When a whitetail is spooked, he secretes an unpleasant odour through the glands on his body, which then serves to alert other deer in the vicinity that danger is present. Whitetails rely heavily on their sense of smell for just about everything from finding food, choosing a mate, detecting a predator and becoming aware of hidden hunters. Every hunter’s greatest challenge consists of defeating the deer’s sense of smell.

Weather conditions sharply influence a whitetail’s olfactory abilities. Calm conditions reduce the distance at which a deer can detect predators and humans. Whereas steady breezes carry scents long distances, gusty winds tend to disperse odours. Although a light drizzle will greatly improve a deer’s ability to detect odours, a heavy rain washes scents from the air and reduces a whitetail’s capability to smell. Humid conditions also improve a deer’s ability to smell. Heavy cover, rugged terrain and dense vegetation impede a whitetail’s olfactory capacity.

Air currents drift across landscapes. Warming and cooling air moves scents in specific directions. In the morning, as the temperature increases, warming air rises. In the evening, as the temperature decreases, cooling air descends. Typically, it is more difficult for a whitetail to become aware of a hunter above ground level in the morning. All scent loses intensity over distance. In other words, the intensity of odour dissipates across range. Although a buck may be able to pick up odours approximately one kilometer away, the smell is usually sufficiently diluted to have almost no impact on the game animal. In order for any scent to cause a whitetail to react, the source must be within a range of fifty to one hundred meters. Of course, wind currents and velocities may alter these assumptions to some degree.

Having lived in the same environment for over three years, a mature buck is not only intimately familiar with the terrain, but also with every scent indigenous to his own turf. He knows every other whitetail in the herd by smell. In addition, a mature buck can identify any other animal that lives within his home range. Any foreign odour will immediately cause warning bells to go off. Through olfactory means, a mature buck is the first to become aware that an intruder has entered his territory. Most of us do not realize just how much scent we leave behind when we traverse a deer’s domain. Think of holding a gas can with an open lid in your hand. Imagine the smell of the fumes escaping from the opening. That is approximately the intensity of odour that we dispense to a whitetail’s nose.

Scent control is a major consideration in hunting any whitetail. Use of scents to your advantage will be dealt with in detail later on in the book. At this point, keep in mind that anything that you touch with your hands or your clothing retains a trace of your smell. This seemingly small amount of odour is sufficient to alert a nocturnal buck of your sojourn in his territory. The longer that you linger in a whitetail’s territory, the more scent you dispense. Personally, I prefer to enter a deer’s domain approximately fifteen minutes prior to legal shooting time in the morning and leave after about a hour watch. I follow the same tactic for the evening hunt, entering around two hours prior to the end of legal shooting time. I have had excellent results and have harvested many bucks with this methodology. Some individuals claim that the best time to enter the deer woods in the morning is approximately and hour and a half before legal shooting time. They assert that this time frame allows the human scent to fade. I strongly disagree. You emit scent with every breath you take. The longer you linger the more scent you leave behind. However, this is just my opinion. There is no absolute truth when it comes to whitetail hunting.

2 

Eyesight

Every aspect of vision depends predominantly on the absorption of light through the photo pigments located in the eyes. A deer’s visual apparatus is considerably different than ours. The retinal surface of any mammalian eye consists of two types of photoreceptors—rods and cones. Rods are stimulated by low intensities of light and register only varying shades of gray. Since they are sensitive to low light, rods cause the eyes to adapt to the available light. They assist vision in dim light. On the other hand, cones are stimulated by bright light and register a relatively broad spectrum of colour. Briefly, cones are designed for vision in bright light. Any form of light causes a photochemical reaction to take place in these cells.

Retinas of the white-tailed deer contain a mixture of rod and cone photoreceptors, with a heavier emphasis on rods. Although the light absorption properties of the rods in humans and animals are quite similar, the higher concentration of rods, juxtaposed to cones, enables whitetails to have better visual capabilities at night. A deer’s eye requires less available light to see in the dark. A person requires approximately 10 times more light than a whitetail in order to receive the same level of night vision.

Human retinas are saturated with cones, which are colour receptors. This feature enables us to view everything in an extremely broad spectrum of colours and with crystal clarity. Also, we possess comparatively better depth perception. Whitetails lack our extensive range of colour vision. Although deer can see in colours, juxtaposed to black and white, their colour band is very constricted in comparison to our span. They can neither see as vividly nor as deeply into the colour spectrum. Also, whitetails cannot see as clearly as we can. They do not possess our capacity for sharpness and crispness. More will be said on this aspect later in this section.

Contrary to popular belief, deer are not colour blind, but they do see at a much lower resolution than we do. Therefore, blaze orange does not have the same stunning impact on deer as it does on humans. It is interesting to note that whitetails do see the colour blue exceptionally well. Therefore, wearing blue jeans while hunting deer is an extremely bad idea. If you must wear jeans, then at least wear a black pair. Even though blue may be your favourite colour, refrain from wearing a blue flannel shirt while deer hunting.

Camouflage clothing simply breaks up your physical outline, thus allowing you to hide in plain sight. Any pattern that breaks up a solid colour enables the wearer to blend into a wilderness environment to some degree. If a hunter wears the appropriate camouflage pattern, he or she has the option of either hiding behind cover or in front of a suitable background. In both situations, provided the individual remains absolutely motionless, the whitetails will not detect the intruder. This is possible because whitetails have poor depth perception. Leaves, branches, trees and tall grass either behind or in front of a hunter make him hard to discern by the deer’s visual apparatus.

With respect to colour, a whitetail’s visual system may be classified as dichromatic. In other words, deer possess only two classes of cones that enable them to see in two colours. As already mentioned, one of the colours is blue. The other colour is yellow. Whitetails see in the blue/yellow sector of the colour spectrum. These big game animals lack the photoreceptors that would enable them to distinguish between green, orange, red and brown. A white-tailed deer sees blue as blue and the rest of the colour spectrum from green to brown in varying shades of yellow. They are definitely red/green colour blind. In other words deer cannot distinguish the difference between these two colours. The colours ranging from yellow to blue include the ultra-violet span. Whitetails can see light in the ultraviolet range whereas we cannot.

Therefore, blaze orange clothing and the wide variety of camouflage clothing blends in very well in a backdrop of green, yellow, orange, red and brown leaves (the forest floor), yellowish brown grass, multi-coloured trees, brown, gray and black tree trunks,