Talkin' the Talk

My good friend Gary Paris recently enjoyed one of those magical afternoons in a deer stand that many hunters dream about but most are never lucky enough to experience. What’s really cool about the deal is he was hunting a tiny strip of free-ranging woods about six acres in size.

Interestingly, Paris didn’t shoot a deer. In fact, he never fired a shot or flung a single arrow. Still, he had a blast playing the game.

Perched 16 feet above ground on a lock-on platform, Paris used a grunt call to lure three different bucks well within archery range in less than 30 minutes. Each deer came racing in with its nose to the ground and hair bristled, obviously looking for a fight.

The bucks trotted several tight circles around Paris’ stand, searching for company that in reality wasn’t there. They melted back into underbrush just as quickly as they had appeared. The hunter captured the entire show on video and posted it on his YouTube channel, CATCHAHAWG.

Paris knows a mature animal when he sees one. He has arrowed some whoppers, scoring as high as 172 Boone and Crockett inches.

Paris estimates the deer were about 3 1/2 years old. Two were eight pointers. The other, a nine pointer. All of them had bad attitudes.

“They came barreling in on top of me pretty quick,” he said. “I could hear them coming before I ever saw them. They were grunting heavily and looking for some action. I could have shot every one of those bucks if I had wanted to. It just doesn’t get any more exciting than that.”

Sadly, Paris discovered the nine pointer dead on a nearby highway the next day, apparently after being hit by a passing motorist. Deer/car collisions happen pretty frequently during the fall of the year, when rutting bucks are on testosterone highs that put them on the prowl in search of receptive does for breeding.

There are several good lessons to be learned from all of this.

One, big acreage isn’t a necessity to get a shot at a legal buck.

Two, bucks are prone to act goofy and make silly mistakes when love fills the air and the rut is in full swing.

And three, using a grunt call doesn’t always work, but it can be almost like magic when it does.

The grunt is a social sound deer make to communicate amongst themselves. Bucks may grunt when challenging one another, or when tending or trailing receptive does. Deer also grunt to let others know all is well — an invitation to join the party.

Several companies manufacture grunt tubes that are simple to use by blowing air through a mouthpiece. The sound also can be simulated by cupping your hands over your mouth, then burping or belching in staggered bursts.

It is important to not overdo it. Grunt three to four times and wait 15-20 minutes or so before another sequence.

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled and ears open. I’m no expert, but I’ve hunted long enough to know how crafty a curious whitetail can be when coming to a call.

Some bucks may slip in quietly hoping to see or sniff out the source of sound before committing. Others might come charging in so carelessly they can be heard from a considerable distance on a windless fall morning. If you see a buck walking away, a soft grunt will sometimes make him stop or make an about-face.

To hear Paris tell it, every attempt is a new mystery because you never know what might happen until it does.

“That’s why I do it,” he said. “It’s a challenge interacting with any animal — trying to trick them into thinking you are something that you are not.”

So it goes with horn rattlin’. That’s the term deer hunters use to describe an aggressive technique performed by slamming synthetic or real antlers together to simulate the sound of two bucks engaged in a fight.

The idea is to make a resident buck think other suitors have intruded on its turf. Rattlin' works best on lands where deer populations are managed to maintain low buck/doe ratios. Some hunters like to mix in some grunt calling with their horn rattlin.’ It’s usually most effective around the rut.

How a buck responds will usually vary from one animal to the next. Some may charge in fighting mad in a breeding rage. Others will slip in quietly and try to get downwind to survey the situation with their nose before stepping into the open. If the timing isn't right, a buck may not respond at all.

LEARNING THE LANGUAGE

Not everyone can grasp deer hunting, a sport that draws nearly 800,000 Texans of all ages into the field every year. Nor does everyone understand the language deer hunters sometimes use when they talk about playing the game.

Here’s your deer hunting vocabulary lesson for the day. Think of it like inside baseball with a whitetail twist: * Ground Scrape: A spot on the ground where leaves and other debris have been cleared or pawed away by a buck deer. Scrapes usually occur beneath a low hanging tree limb or bush.

Bucks personalize scrapes by urinating in them. They also leave their scent on overhanging twigs by mouthing and rubbing them with their preorbital gland, found in the eye's tear duct.

Those receptive to breeding are attracted to ground scrapes. They will sometimes hang out around the scrape in hopes the buck will return.

* Antler Restrictions: Hunters in 117 Texas counties are limited to two bucks, but only one can have an inside spread of 13 inches or more. The second legal buck must have at least one unbranched antler.

Bucks with two branched antlers and an inside spread less than 13 inches are protected from harvest in counties where antler restrictions are in place.

Biologists say more bucks are able to reach 3 1/2 years of age before they are legal for harvest with the antler restriction in place. By-products of upgrading the age structure are better quality racks on bucks, more pronounced rutting activity and a deer herd that is healthier overall.

* Rub: This is a tree or sapling with the bark removed, usually 1-2 feet above ground. During late summer, bucks rub to remove velvet and polish hardened antlers. As the rut nears, rubs are made as bucks condition their neck muscles for fighting, mark their territory to ward off other potential suitors or release energy.

* Shooter: A buck that is determined as legal to shoot under antler restriction guidelines or according to club rules. Some leases require members to follow buck harvest guidelines that are significantly more restrictive than the 13-inch minimum rule.

* Mock Scrape: A manmade reproduction of a natural scrape. Hunters create mock scrapes by using a stick or rake to clean out leaves and other debris, then adding a deer scent of some sort. It’s a good idea to watch a mock scrape with a game camera to see if anything visits the spot. Be cautious about leaving human scent behind.

* Management Buck: A buck deer that is shot because it is believed to be past its prime or because it does not have antler characteristics that are satisfactory under a particular management program. These deer are sometimes called “cull bucks.”

* Call For a Dog: When a hunter makes the all-important decision to summon a dog handler with a good tracking dog to recover a wounded deer. Most dog handlers advise making the call when a deer is no longer leaving a viable blood trail. Attempting to find a deer on foot that is not a mortally wounded deer could result in pushing the deer to the point it will never be recovered.

* Interdigital Gland: The gland is located between a deer’s hooves. It releases a pasty substance with a distinctive odor. It is believed that a deer stressed from being wounded will displace a scent from its interdigital glands that is unique from other deer. Most dog handlers agree that the interdigital gland is instrumental in helping dogs track down wounded deer.

* Spike: A buck deer with unbranched antlers.

* Typical: Normal antlers. Typical antlers have matching points on both sides that reach upwards from the usual locations.

* Non-Typical: Antlers with abnormal growth. A non-typical set of antlers may have the same number of typical points on both sides with additional points of different lengths growing in different directions.

* Back Strap: Thick, elongated strips of venison located at the backbone of a deer. Back strap is considered the prime cut.

* Buck Fever: What happens when a hunter gets overly excited about shooting a deer. Severe cases can cause a hunter to shake so uncontrollably he or she can’t steady the scope. It’s common with new hunters, but no one is immune. With seasoned hunters, it’s not uncommon for buck fever to set in after the shot has been made on a really nice buck.

* Boone and Crockett: Around since 1887, Boone and Crockett (B&C) is recognized as the official record keeper for North American big game animals. The club’s scoring system is the most widely accepted for measuring hunter taken trophies.

* Tagged Out: What means when a deer hunter has used all of the tags on their annual hunting license. Hunters are required to tag every deer they harvest; the tag must stay with the animal until it reaches its final destination.

Matt Williams is a freelance writer based in Nacogdoches. He can be reached by email, mattwillwrite4u@yahoo.com.