The Big Grunt

In all the years I've been out in the woods chasing whitetails I can say for a fact that I've never heard so much grunting as I did today.

I closed-out my afternoon hunting from the Park Bench Stand north of the house and over the creek and after a half hour began hearing grunting - yes deer grunting - from the south.  I kept looking over there and not seeing anything grunted back.  Nothing.

For about a half hour the intermittent grunting persisted.  This time a small doe hove into view and gave-off soft grunt calls.  She was quickly followed by a fork buck - grunting boy grunts and snorting once in awhile.  Just at the edge of my range they were barely visible until they got to the edge of the big pond.  No wonder.  The big blue stem grass - which is taller than I am - completely conceals any whitetail deer cruising through.

The buck was clearly chasing the doe and she was spurning his advances. I had a brief opportunity to take him as he cleared the tall grass and stepped into the mowed trail paralleling the south side of the creek.  But a fork? I don't think so.  Especially so early in the season.

He exited stage west and the doe stuck around for awhile just out of range.

click on the image to enlarge

Before the sun set and shooting time arrived two more deer revealed themselves after announcing their arrival with the ubiquitous grunting,  Followed by two more.  

Six deer for the sit.  No shots but I learned more about grunting and deer vocalizations.

I think the rut is beginning.