A few days later on Oct. 30, Drury Outdoors cameras again captured the same sound. This time it involved a 150-class buck that was obviously cruising for hot does. As the buck came up over a rise and spotted a group of does, he let out a long growl.
Then, unbelievably, on Halloween day, Drury Outdoors filmed yet another buck growling. This incident occurred when two bucks paired off for a fight. Against incredible odds, in less than a week the Drury team had captured on video a sound that no member of their team had ever heard before November 2004. Now they knew they were really onto something!
THE ULTIMATE TEST
With so much footage in the can, Mark Drury's confidence in the new call began to rise. Now it was time to actually put it to the test. On Nov 1, Mark was out hunting when he saw a mature buck cruising off in the distance. As soon as Mark imitated the buck growl on his prototype call, the buck turned and walked to within eight yards of his tree. Mark wasted little time in sending a well-placed arrow on its way, shooting possibly the first buck ever called in with any type of "buck growl" call.
Two days later on Nov. 3, Mark was again in a tree stand when he heard two bucks crash horns some distance away. A few minutes later he performed a short rattling sequence and began calling with his M.A.D. Buck Growler. Almost immediately a 5 1/2-year-old brute came off the ridge and walked within a few yards of the waiting hunter. The end result was the same as it had been two days earlier. This scene was repeated several times during the 2005 season as the prototype call was field-tested.
By total coincidence, several weeks after Rich videoed the amazing scene in Illinois on Nov. 14, 2005, he contacted Mark Drury and sent him a copy of the video. This only reinforced Mark's belief in his new call.
These bucks were definitely at the height of emotional
frustration, trying to get the does to stand for them while trying to keep other bucks at bay.
PIECES OF THE PUZZLE
Now that the buck growl vocalization is a reality, four important questions come to mind. First, why were so many bucks heard making this sound in 2004 and 2005 when the sound was virtually unknown before those years? Second, what is a buck saying when he makes a growl? Third, do does ever make this sound? And last, what does this new sound mean to today's deer hunters?
Starting with question No. 1, it's hardly possible that bucks have just learned how to growl in the past two years. Perhaps one reason this new sound has recently come to light, however, is because more hunters are now taking to the woods with video cameras and capturing some amazing sights and sounds on videotape.
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