LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-07 AT 08:50PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-07 AT 08:48?PM (MST)
Yup, I'm serious, and yup I'm talking about 'burping' in muleys, and yup, muleys do sound very similiar to whiteys. I can tell ya for a fact, that most of the guys I hunt with thought I was crazy when they first saw me doing it. But, once they saw how good it works, they all are doing it now. I used to use a whitetail grunt tubes, as I could never find anything 'muley' on the market. The grunt tubes I used were reed based. During the rut, we normally have freezing temps, and the reed would always freeze up on me. I found myself beating on the call trying to get it to work, when I should have been paying attention to the deer I was trying to call in. It was rather frustrating. The calls would always freeze up at the exact time I really wanted it, like when you are creeping along the thick timber and you bump up that monster and all you see is ass and antlers and trees in the way. Then, I ended up watching an old Jim Shockey whitetail video where he said just throw the damn calls away and use your mouth and burp. I started burping and was sold from day one. The response during the rut is amazing. I've played with does, little bucks, and big bucks. It works. I've been burping for years now. And again, yes, I'm talking about MULEYS. I've had many guys on MM ask me how I can stillhunt the thick timber and hammer big bucks. They somehow think you need to have incredible stealth to hunt the thick crap. I ain't very stealthy. I simply walk as if I am a big buck on the prowl looking for does. If you have ever truly listened to mature bucks, they are damn noisy. They snap, crackle and break every twig in the forest. They have one mission on their minds and they grunt and thrash brush and wander. I do the exact same thing. So when I walk up on deer, they think I'm just another deer. Think, who is the stealthy one? Their top predator, the Lion. When deer hear that one twig snap but nothing else they go on high alert.
Another thing that I combine with raking and burping is the smell of the rut. When I find a place where a doe has pissed in the snow, I will rub my knees into it. The first buck that hits the ground in our group, I'll make sure I claim the tarsel glands. I will rub them on all my hunting clothes. I will carry them tied to my pack. Whatever it takes to make me smell like a deer.