I have been wondering about using a fawn distress call this fall. The little research i have done, tells me to use it early season, until october 28th ish. it will 1. bring in does, 2. bucks may follow the does in 3. may bring predators in I am hunting for meat this fall, so buck's, or doe's are both welcome to walk under my stand. Does anyone have any tips, about using one? good brand of call? how often? when? loudness? etc etc
I played around with one during the summer a couple years back. Drove momma does crazy. I blew into it pretty loudly to emulate a fawn being attacked by coyote or dog, so I am not sure if that would be effective during the hunting season. During the hunting season I would use more of a fawn bleat, instead of fawn distress call. Not implying that you have the two confused, I just think of them being different calls for different purposes. I did use a fawn bleat a couple years ago to call in a couple does right underneath my stand, which was pretty cool.
so with just a bleat, the does came into your stand. what would the distress call do? i was under the impression that with the distress call, the does will come running in to protect/save the fawn. would either work? im no expert by any means, im just excited to try it out, since ill be hunting for meat and if i can get does running to me it will be a huge savings for next years grocery bill.
Ive played around with a distress call but not while hunting. I have had does come to the call, sometimes a couple at a time, never had a buck come in though. Keep in mind that the deer that came in were running and on high alert and didnt seem to want to stay in one place for very long so it may not be ideal for bowhunting.
I've actually played around with one quite a bit at different times... In the summer, while the corn's still green, this call will bring in multiple does FAST... but be forewarned -- they're WIRED for sound ... I mean WIRED!! I actually cut out a cardboard fawn decoy and painted it up with spots to use to hold their attention because believe you me, they know EXACTLY where you're at when they bullrush in. I never tried to use it after going to all the trouble of making it and don't even know where it is now... I tried it in hunting season, but it seems like it's too late and they don't respond well enough to it by that late in the year (past October 1 for me...).
I'll add on this... I do plan on using it some more; I want to take my kids out, sit them down and have some does run in on us. I think that'd be cool as heck!
Earlier this summer I was coyote hunting and using a cottontail call. Maybe I was using it wrong, because it must have sounded like a fawn. A big doe came running in not 15 feet down wind of me. I may try it this fall.
I remember when I was about 20 I was hunting in December when I heard a weird sound coming from somewhere. hahaha. It sounded like whining of some sort. I was perched up in a large pine tree with my shotgun and was using my black belt as a safety harness. Geez. It was snowing like hell as well which made my position in that tree with no safety harness and armed with a 12 gauge shotgun that much more stupid. Well after I heard that weird sound I pulled out my fawn distress call ( I had read about it in some hunting magazine as the go to tactic--lol) and let it rip a couple of times. Nothing. Then about 30 seconds later I hear a response! I called again. A response. About 4-5 minutes later a big old doe came walking down the creek bed. She looked right up at me as I pulled the trigger on that 12 gauge buckshot. She was down in late December in the middle of a snowstorm. I was as happy as could be driving home that day.
