Grunting bucks respond to ‘grunt calls’ from hunter

Grunting bucks respond to ‘grunt calls’ from hunter

By Matthew LaRoche
Superintendent, Allagash Wilderness Waterway
I have been hunting deer for many years and one item that I must have when I go into the woods is my deer grunt.

Contributed photo by Matt LaRoche
    FLOATING VENISON — Pictured is Matt LaRoche’s deer with his hunting party from 2004. Pictured, from left, are Mark LaRoche, Russell Scott and Clifford Scott.

     I’ve been carrying the same grunt call around for over 25 years! Isn’t it funny how we get attached to things, especially things that have worked for us in the past?
    Former waterway supervisor Tim Caverly used to invite me and a few other friends up to Churchill Dam to hunt deer during the first week of the season. There were plenty of deer in that area in those days. We always had a good time regardless of how many deer were shot. We hunted hard, took turns cooking meals, and usually played a few jokes on each other.
    One year, Scott Smith brought a deer grunt to camp as a gag. He blew on it a few times and jokingly said, “You better get out of the way, I can hear ‘em comin.’”
    The first morning of the hunt, as I was heading out the door I grabbed the grunt call when no one was looking. Later that morning, as I was hunting along an old woods road, I thought I heard a deer jump. I took cover behind a bushy fir tree and blew on the grunt a couple times. I waited a few minutes, and then grunted again. I was amazed, when a nice doe walked within 40 feet of me, all stiff legged like she was expecting to meet one of her kind. That was exciting!
    Later on that day, I jumped some deer while hunting on a hardwood ridge. I gave the grunt another try; it wasn’t long before I saw the flicker of a deer tail. There were three deer behind some blowdowns about fifty yards away. One small button buck searched me out. He was rubbing his nubs on a sapling only 20 feet away from me. I thought to myself, this is cool! I finally had to scare the deer away so I could leave.
    I gave Scott $10 for the call that night at camp.
    Six of us hunted hard all week and only one buck was shot.
    On the way home, I saw a buck and a doe run across the road, way ahead of the truck. We slowed the truck down and found where two fresh sets of tracks crossed the road. I followed the tracks up an old skidder trail for about 100 yards and then lost the track in the leaves. I gave a couple grunts on the deer call and within ten seconds I heard a twig snap, then saw a buck loping towards me. As a matter of fact, I had to grunt to stop him from going right by me. I shot that six-pointer at 20 yards!
    When I got home, I was telling some of my ranger buddies at work about my success with the call. One ranger went right up to Indian Hill Trading Post and asked for a deer grunt. The clerk asked him what kind, he replied, “The kind Matt LaRoche has.”
    Over the last 25 years that same grunt call has been used to bag at least half the deer I have shot. In fact, I used it on the last buck I shot, in 2009.
    I was sitting up on a ledge overlooking an area that deer were moving through. I was thinking that I should head back to camp to have a nice hot lunch. I decided to give it another half an hour and grunted a few times. Within ten minutes a nice six-pointer came out looking for whatever had made that sound.
    Over the years, I’ve noticed that the smaller bucks are more likely to come walking right out than the bigger mature bucks are. Those bigger smarter bucks will sometimes come in but they usually stay behind some cover.
    I’ve had more success with bigger bucks when I have seen the deer before he knows I’m there. A deer that is moving away from you will sometimes turn and try to circle downwind at the sound of the grunt call. If you’re lucky, you might get a shot while he is trying to get downwind.
    In 2002, I was hunting with the guys at camp. My brother-in-law, Clifford, jumped what he thought were two does. The does ran right past where I was standing. I could hear them rustling in the leaves beyond where I was standing.
    I gave a couple grunts on my call and all of a sudden this big buck came bounding right towards me. I had to shoot him in self-defense! He was a beautiful mature buck with a heavy eight-point rack. He weighed in at 218 pounds.
    I’m sure there are plenty of good deer calls out there, but I’m sticking with the Lynch grunt call that was brought to hunting camp as a joke back in 1987.