Question!!! Food Source Sparring

[Cheif]

Ok fellas. I have been laying out about a five gallon bucket or two od corn about every other day. Trail cam picking up alot of new bucks. The big one i have been hoping for is on the cam about every night now. and he is coming out a little ealier too. (hopefully a good sign) anyway, there are some new bucks coming in and he seems to always come in when these other bigger bucks are coming in Overnight. I have some sparring on cam to over the food source. my question is would it be a good idea to do a mature buck call around 5pm. to try to lure him in. or may this blow my cover. He is showing dominance over the area just did not know what to do to help outsmart this buck. Its getting late in season and I am ready to tag him.

[MQ1]

I don't like or use baiting . But your question is should you try to call him in . Well you can try what ever you want but you won't call him in , unless you had a decoy it may work but don't feel that even would now with him . He is using the younger bucks as a safety decoy anyway . They let him know if its safe to visit the corn or not . Especially in daylight . I know you see him run at the other bucks but that is normal in the deer woods even with does. It just the pecking order coming into play .He won't risk his neck for a corn pile , even during the rut he won't risk his but if at all possible. I think you will still have to hunt him if you want him in shooting light. He didn't get big being dumb .

[brokenarrow]

IMO I wouldn't attempt to call, especially if your area has any decent hunting pressure. He is likely to have been grunted at already this season and I wouldn't risk him being wise to the game. I see no problem at all with putting some corn out, but my thought is that if you figure out the trail he is using on a regular basis, maybe you should try setting up further up the trail to catch him a few minutes earlier. I have seen numerous pictures of bucks sparring over corn, but I am not so sure it represents the dominant display as much as we are used to thinking. I have seen little six pointers continuously spar with massive ten pointers without mercy. I believe the sparring is more due to proximity and one deer telling the other to get out of my face while I am eating. I don't think a grunt is going to send any buck rushing in to defend a corn pile.

[Big_Holla]

Tough one to answer since most of the time the grunt is associated with the rut. Does that mean they don't do it any other time of year, I doubt it. So it may be worth a try if he is heading a different direction or something. Problem is, it sounds like there are several others that would be around you and you blowing on a grunt call would surely alert them to your presence. Right time, maybe, wrong time no way.

[mrbb]

well I don't bait, here its illegal
but I do do food plots, and I have tons of sparring in them all the time

as for grunting to help lure him in
this time of yr, that can work both ways I would think
as any buck now knows people are out to kill him, and he will be on edge as is from that, they are almost always iffy about bait stations unless you have a LOT of land to keep pressure off in my experience
meaning odds are he is coming into a bait site on high allert as is
if you do a grunt , to me that will make him be on the look out for what made that call
and not seeing it might keep him away??
now if he was an agressive buck, chasing others off a bait pile
I would maybe suggest a decoy buck

but thats a rare deal I think and can back fire too
BUT then again, some bucks are agressive about there home terf, and even just reply to calls a lot better than others

ME, if he was coming out on his own , say a pattern now
I would use that as is