How many buck grunt calls are there on the market? More than I can count, that's for sure. Which ones work, which ones don't? That is a question much to deep for this article. We like to focus on unique equipment here. Equipment that we think will work as well.
A-way Hunting Products has a buck grunt call that is unique in a several ways. A-way Hunting Products is located in Beaverton, Michigan, and was founded and is run by the father & son team of Fred and Greg Abbas. The duo also host a national hunting program on the Outdoor Channel called A-way Outdoors.
There are three things about the Bowgrunter Plus call from A-way. The most obvious is the way it is used. The buck grunt call is like many other calls, in that it is adjustable in tone, and has a flexible tube. But this call is clipped to your camouflage clothing at or near your waste, out of your way, and a tube is directed and pinned near your mouth for easy access. No more fumbling around looking for your grunt, or worse, trying to put it somewhere so you can shoot the deer you just called in.
The call is readily available even when you are in the midst of drawing down on the big buck. With the tube in your mouth, you can stop that bad boy when he is perfectly centered in your shooting lane.
In addition, and second of the Bowgrunter Plus' attributes is that this call in an inhaled call, not exhaled. Many times I have used a grunter, and been too excited or just not careful enough as I called and scared that buck away. The Bowgrunter Plus provides the exact tone every time. If you can breath, you can use this call!
The third thing about this call, is what Greg and Fred call the social call of the deer. According to A-way hunting:
The Bowgrunter Plus is the WORLD'S only patented "SOCIAL" deer call. All deer are very social by nature and they must verbally communicate with one another throughout their lives regardless of status, or dominance. We view this as a weakness to be successfully exploited by hunters. A deer's social verbal communication is so soft and subtle that many hunters fail to hear it. It was this very soft, subtle and once secretive sound that we have duplicated precisely, thus creating a deer call that has proven to be extremely effective during the WHOLE season, PRE< PEAK< and POST ruts rather than just during the rut. With our "SOCIAL" deer call, you will draw on the deer's curiosity to know "who is there" rather than a fight or flight sound of a loud rutting buck call which may scare deer away in Pre and Post ruts. You WILL call in up to 3 times as many deer than before with the Bowgrunter Plus. This call has become known as THE PREMIER deer call for good reason, it produces results.
Anyone can make claims. But can they back them up? Well in this case they sure can. Fred, the inventor of the Bowgrunter Plus, ranks #1 in the state of Michigan for Trophy Buck entries, currently has 27 bucks registered in the trophy books of CBM, Pope & Young, Buckmasters and Longhunters Society. Most of them taken with bow. Additionally, Fred is the only Michigan hunter to officially tag and register 4 trophy book bucks in one year (1990, the last year to have a 4 buck limit).
Fred Abbas with his 4 in one year trophy deer
The Bowgrunter Plus is available in many sporting good stores, or can be ordered directly from A-way Hunting Products. You can see Greg & Fred and their TV program A-way Outdoors on the Outdoor Channel.
We will be hunting with Greg and Fred in Texas in April for Turkeys, and Buffalo at Buffalo Mountain Ranch. We will be giving some of their turkey calls a try, and will be watching carefully as Greg, 6 times Michigan Turkey calling champion, calls in those big Rio Grande Turkeys. Watch for a future article on this hunt.