Random thought as the rut kicks my butt this year. Do you guys blind call, and if so when, how often, and do you rattle, grunt, doe bleet, or all of the above?
Welcome. I’m to the west as well, 3 counties over up 60.New to the page. Located just west of Richmond.
Is that on here too?Welcome aboard. Hit up the telegram chat as well.
I like to use rattling after the rut is over. It doesn’t work everytime but when it does it is usually pretty quick. These two were both rattled in this year in Appomattox County. One at daylight on Nov 21st in a pouring rain, the other on Nov 29th with about 3 minutes of legal shooting light remaining. Both times there was smaller bucks in the field and I’m sure that helps with bringing out the larger bucks.Try grunting instead of rattling. I haven't had much success around my area with rattling. I think because there is not a big concentration of bucks to warrant territorial disputes, or the doe concentration is high enough the bucks don't waste precious energy on risky skirmishes.
For this reason is why I choose a non threatening tone. And I'm not loud at all. Hard to describe the volume but I think a human at 50yds would miss it unless the conditions were absolutely perfect.
Not sure why pics didn’t postI like to use rattling after the rut is over. It doesn’t work everytime but when it does it is usually pretty quick. These two were both rattled in this year in Appomattox County. One at daylight on Nov 21st in a pouring rain, the other on Nov 29th with about 3 minutes of legal shooting light remaining. Both times there was smaller bucks in the field and I’m sure that helps with bringing out the larger bucks.
I’m certainly no shed hunting expert, but logically I would think success wold primarily hinge on deer density and mathematical probability. Either your your buck to acre ratio is high or you are looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Since I’m not an expert, I’m not sure how much things such as knowledge of areas where deer are more likely to shed (bedding, feeding areas, etc.), eye training ie, knowing what to look for and being able to recognize a shed easily, and other factors play into successful shed hunting. I would think focusing on likely shed areas would be key, but again I don’t really know. I think I would be more like you, a scouting mission that might produce a shed if I step on it and drive one of the antlers into my foot lol.Happy post season depression, VA folk. What’s the shed hunting calendar lookin like in our neck of the woods? I’ll start by saying, I’m terrible at finding them. More specifically, I’m terrible at staying focused and not turning it into a scouting mission. But anyway, I’ve been told that smaller / younger bucks tend to drop first. If that’s even true, when would be a good time to go? Like when 90% of bucks have shed.