Fun story... 

I hunted this wooded spot Sunday evening and forgot my grunt call.  No biggy I thought, calls have never worked for me anyway.  The spot is a wooded patch between a creek and an open field. A 10pt came to the creek edge at 60 yards but would not cross to my side which would put him within shooting range, less than 40 yards.  I watched helpless as he walked back into the woods same way he came. Gone.

 

Two days later, I climbed up the same tree only this time I brought the grunt call.  Sure enough, 7:30am, this 10pt came out on the other side of the creek and I watched as he made two scrapes.  However, he would not cross the creek.  As he headed back into the woods at 70 yards I hit him with a light grunt call.  Nothing.  Second try,  I hit him with a quick series of loud grunts and he stopped, turned around and started heading back toward me and the creek!  Every 5 yards or so he would stop, look nervously around, and act like he was going to bolt out the same way he came. So, at every hesitation, I hit him with another call or series of grunt calls.  Just like on TV, every time I called, he would head toward me.  Then, finally, he crossed the creek.  The buck popped up on my side stopping behind some bushes at 35 yards... no shot.  One more grunt made him re-focus in my direction and he took another 5 or 6 steps. I drew back right before he hit the shooting lane, and.... whack!, arrowed him at 22 yards.  He ran 60 or 70 yards and crashed!  The total event took about 5 minutes to play out but it seemed like an hour.  And, I was shaking uncontrollably the whole time   But isn't that what it's all about.

 

Happy Hunting --Sam