Bleating does what to do?

[Shack]

I have one doe this weekend that was bleating loud and constant. It was mostly in the A.M. and she was not moving far from where she was at (which was not a good area for a shot all together).

My question is, is this a sign of a buck being around or not? This is the first year I have heard a deer make noises like this (only noise I heard before was the snorting/cleaning nose). Why does it make theses noises? Is it warning off other does or calling a near by buck in. Is it a sign of early rut action or just something they do all year? I am sure I could read back in past years to find out, but I would like to put a game plan together and I am busy today at work.

I have heard from people near by and bow hunters of a large 12 and 14 bucks in area. As far as a small 4 pointer, these are the only bucks that have been seen in area. The problem is I think the bucks only move at night, because rut is not on us. They have a 250-300 acher area for them selves with tons of does around.

I think I am going to get some Whitcombs urine and do some mock scrapes and maybe try some calling. I would like to lure them into the area I hunt. I have seen rub marks and scrapes close to my stand and I would just like them to pop out during day.

[big drift]

From my experiance it is an indication of being ready to breed or she is currently being pursued by a buck. All in all a good sign.

[Steve Foss]

I think big drift is right there, shackbash.

Also, if you've already got rubs and scrapes near you, I'd leave things completely alone. If you try to make your own, unless you know what you're doing, you can sometimes cause more harm than good by spreading around your own human odor. I use grunt calls very rarely. I carry one in case a bruiser is moving around like crazy after does and won't give me a shot. In those cases, sometimes a quick blow on the grunt call will stop the buck for a few seconds. That's only happened to me once so far, but it was a key to getting the shot.

And when the rut is on those bucks will be moving all day long every day to get the job done in the short time they have.

[GoggleEye]

Those are estrous bleats. She is calling to any bucks in the area that she is ready and in heat. She only has a small window of time to be bred until she goes out and then will come back into heat 21 days later if she is not bred the first time around. If she fails to be bred the second time around, a lot of does will come into heat for a third time....21 days later. The rut is a weird thing, and most hunters don't realize that is sometimes runs into January. The bleats you hear does doing before the rut are location calls....mainly to fawns. Estrous bleats occur after the doe has kicked the fawn away and only during the rut. Hope that helps your calling tactics out shack! I know I was not a good caller until I took the time to educate myself about whitetail behavior and calling and such. I was "that guy" doing estrous bleats in September!!!

GoggleEye

[Shack]

Ya. I do agree with the scrapes. I have only had luck pulling does out of hiding with doe urine and a trail of the stuff from a wooded area into an open field and dusk.

I would like to do some calling for the big bucks. Would you guy’s recommend a doe bleat or a buck grunt in this situation? Or not calling. Again this action is happening in a birch island 200-300 yards north of me. I am looking to lure them closer in by my stand. With the wind yesterday, I just gave up and figured I would wait until wind was going south.

I thought about posting this in the Archery area and see what those guys would say.

Also I have a couple tags, would recomend not taking doe to help lure buck in. Or lure doe in and take doe and call for buck?

[Steve Foss]

I'd post it over in archery, shack. Those guys know their onions.

Your odds of finding a careless buck in the next week or so are better now than during the later, secondary rut periods when does that haven't been bred in November come back in season. The rut activity level now or almost here now is so much higher in general, the large majority of does in most places are successfully bred in the primary rut.

Not contradicting Goggle Eyes at all, either, because I agree with him. Just a little more info to go on.

I tried watching videos and working on making my own scrapes and calling deer for several years in a row back when I lived in N.D. eventually I found I had at least as much success just scouting for a good location (you obviously have a good location) and waiting for nature to take its course. Sooner or later, that rutting buck will be careless when you're in the right place.

That's just my experience, though. Lots of guys seem to find success taking the bull (or the buck) by the horns and calling and scraping.

[Shack]

The bleat I am hearing is a long blueaaaa. It sounds just like the noise those round cans make when you tip them up side down.

The only reason I state this is because I have seen a very small doe in area (possible fawn), but these noises are coming from a much large doe. I have not seem them together yet. Google, I never thought as it as a cry for the faw. Maybe it is.

She bleats about once an hour starting around 8:00 am and ending about 1 or 2 p.m... If this helps.

[GoggleEye]

Great Point STF! "Let nature take it's course". I rarely call also and back in the day, I was calling every ten minutes or so. Your best bet is to let the deer do what they do and call if you need to...ie.-to stop a deer, try to bring a buck in that will not budge an inch, a last ditch effort to turn a deer around that is heading away from you, and if you are about to leave your stand in the next couple minutes (you might as well throw a call out before you leave as there might be a buck right around the corner that may be bedded and have no intention of moving, but then does when he hears your call). For the most part, minimal calling is going to be better. There is a time for it. Good luck!

[Sandmannd]

Quote:

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I tried watching videos and working on making my own scrapes and calling deer for several years in a row back when I lived in N.D.

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Where'd ya live in ND stfcatfish? I'm from Bismarck and moved out her in 2000. Always nice to meet a fellow ND person.

[Steve Foss]

Sand, I moved from LaCrosse to Grand Forks, N.D., when I was a boy in 1972, and grew up and went to H.S. and college there. Wandered the U.S. for a few years and came back in 1994 when I got serioulsy into newspapers and lived there until 2001.

[DeanoB]

are you sure it isn't someone in the birchs with one of those cans? LOl sounds funny, but maybe not. If the doe is just bedded up over there, is it on property you can hunt? get in there, maybe they like the security of that woods. I would be grunting and rattling to see whats going on. If she's hot a buck will find her soon.

[Shack]

No one hunting birch! I have scouted before and scared deer up, but it is very thick and tall brush. Could not get a shot, untill deer was flushed. I want to avoid going into it and spooking deer further north into swap.