This stuff intrigues, and yet scares me every year. I have done this (blind grunting) successfully a few times. (Shot one and no shot on the other) Every season I go in thinking, "You are not going to blind call", but then boredom and curiosity sets in and I do it anyway. Scares me to death to think I may be scaring more than attracting. What do you do? If you ever want to get good at something, you have to practice. I would love to be good at blind calling. Thoughts?
What worries me the most about blind calling is the unknown. Like Greg mentioned in the other thread, deer are experts at pinpointing sound. The unknown, let's just say I have a real shooter coming my way. I'm bored and I call. That buck hears me, stops coming but circles down wind as they so often do. I never see him. I'm betting this scenario happens more times than we realize. In my 20 some years of calling I've seen my share of bucks listen, turn and walk away as much as I've seen them come on a dime. The unknown, I wonder how many did that when I blind called that I may have otherwise seen and may have had a shot at. I will never know, it's the unknown so I keep my eyes peeled, my ears keen and movement to a minimum and hope I catch all the deer that I may otherwise miss.
I love it but only when it seems like the right idea. First you must have the correct set up. My stand that I do most of my blind calling from, and had success from (you remember that 10 point I shot for our team the 2nd year on HNI?) is kind of an opening of the woods surrounded by bedding areas and about 70 yards away is one of our food plots. With it being fairly open and close to the secluded plot it works like a charm. And I don't start it until the very very peak of the rut and the the very end of it. That's about all I can attest for lol
A mistake I think many make is to call near the end of their sit. The "what have I got to lose" attitude. I learned that if I'm going to call I will do it as soon as I'm settled in. Most of the mature bucks that I have seen after calling ( no way to prove I actually called them) have showed up 1 to 2 hours later. My most successful call by far has been imitating a chase scene. busting brush and grunting. The more noise the better. I hunt huge blocks of woods in northern Wis. I'm not sure how this will work in other types of hunting. Won't know til you try I guess.
Guilty as charged. I have had some but limited sucess blind rattling, but I ALWAYS do it for an hour or so AFTER I was ready to leave anyway. You've have given me something to ponder on.
