Brad Doughty relies heavily on two deer calls — a bleat can and a grunt tube — to draw in bucks during the rut.
“Once I’m in my stand and set up, and if I haven’t seen or heard anything, I’ll hit the bleat can and follow it with two long grunts from the grunt tube,” he said. “I’ll wait 15 to 20 minutes, and if I haven’t detected any deer, I’ll repeat the sequence and maybe get a little more aggressive.
“Then I’ll wait five minutes or so and use the grunt call to sound like a deer running and grunting. If that old mature buck is in the thicket there and he thinks another buck is after his doe, he just might sneak in to check it out.”
Experience has taught Doughty that, while bucks often respond to a rattling sequence, more than likely the ones that come in are younger, smaller bucks. The bleat and grunt are the ticket for mature bucks.