“Deer Talk”  

By Gary Ramsey, Published in the Adirondack Express on 11/27/2007

In the central Adirondacks, we live among white-tail deer.  We constantly see them on the road sides, often feeding just after dawn and just before dark.  White-tails are generalists and a can adapt to a wide variety of habitats.  Although most often thought of as forest dwellers, they can equally adapt themselves to life in the open.  In many Adirondack communities, white-tails can be seen in the open all day long.  They feed on our lawns and bed under the trees on the village square.  In essence, white-tails have made themselves perfectly comfortable in our environment.   Since they have moved right in and become our “neighbors” so to speak, perhaps we should take a minute to learn their language.  It’s a simple language, consisting of only 15 “words.“  I have studied the “language of the white-tail” for a number of years reading the works of nationally known wildlife researchers like T.R Michaels (www.TRMichaels.com) and respected authors like Kathy Etling, field editor for both Buckmasters and Bow Hunting magazines.  But the guy who best puts “deer talk” into layman’s terms is Peter Feduccia, also widely known as “The Deer Doctor.”  Peter’s web site is www.deerdoctor.com. 

White-tails make four primary sounds, the bleat, blat, snort and grunt.  Each sound has a few  intonations that mean something slightly different. the white-tail Bleat is made by a fawn to communicate with its mother.  A Bleat is similar to a baby lamb sound.  The Feeding Bleat is a subtle, soft and short duration lamb sound like baaa… baaa… baaa… which alerts the Doe that the fawn is hungry and wants to eat.  Fawns will continue to make this vocalization until the Doe tends to them.

The Distress Bleat is a much higher pitched and very distressful sound, similar to human baby crying/screaming, which says “help, I’m really in trouble.”  Also similar to a “calf’s bawl,” the Distress Bleat is used by young deer that have been injured, cornered, or terrified.  Fawns call the Doe using the Distress Bleat when they are attacked by predators. 

The Blat is a sound made by mature deer, usually Does, to communicate with other deer.  The Estrus Blat is a sound made by a female in estrus that is seeking male attention.  It is a lower pitched than the bleat and the cadence is usually two or three relatively short Baah.. Baah.. Baah..  with a whine quality and almost a “stutter” to the sound.  An Estrus Blat can be used to call a Buck during the breeding period and several game call manufacturers produce calls for this purpose. 

The Locating Blat is used by a Doe to locate her fawns.  It’s softer than the Estrus Blat and longer.  Baaah.. Baaah.. Baaah.  

The Alarm Blat is made when deer are alarmed.  The Alarm Blat is long and loud.  Baaaaah.. Baaaaah..Baaaaah.  It means “Heads up, I sense danger.”  The Alarm Blat is a terrific call to stop running deer. 

The Social Blat is used by deer to relax other deer in the area.  It is a soft and very short Bah.. Bah..Bah.. Similar to the Estrus Blat, only shorter and a single note, no stutter.  

The Blat Blow is like the alarm blat only longer and louder yet followed by a blow.  Baaaaaah, Baaaaaah, Baaaaaah, Blow.  This sound is used by the matriarchal Doe to warn away other deer.  The top Doe will often make this sound when she intends to fight with another Doe to assure her dominance over other deer.

The Snort is a sound made when the deer blows through its nose and probably the most misunderstood deer sound.  The Alarm Distress Snort is three or four “snorts” like pshew…..pshew…..pshew then followed by a series of short snorts like pshew.. pshew.. pshew.. pshew  From the time a White-tail Buck was a fawn, the Doe taught him that this snort cadence means “get out of here now!”  As a hunter, you can use the Alarm Distress Snort to move deer from heavy cover. 

The Alarm Snort is a cadence of two “snorts” like pshew… pshew…  This cadence means the deer is concerned about something, but doesn’t know what.  Often the deer will run off a few yards, stop and snort again.  It’s looking for confirmation that it’s another deer (with an answer) or, it’s using other senses to determine the danger and which way to go.  

The Social Snort is a cadence of one very soft “pshew.”  This simple means, “its just me, over here.”  Like the Social Blat, the Social Snort vocalization is used to calm other deer in the area.  If you hear an Alarm Snort (pshew… pshew) when hunting (we’ve all heard this one and thought the gig was up and the deer is headed for the next county), stop and answer with a soft Social Snort (pshew).  If the deer hasn’t seen or winded you, it will often calm right down and actually approach your location, thinking you’re just another deer. 

The Grunt is a vocalization made usually by a Buck to communicate with a Doe or another Buck.  Does will also utter low soft grunts to move their fawns along.  The Trailing Grunt is made by a Buck who is actually trailing or is on the scent of an estrus Doe.  His head will be down smelling the scent left by the Doe and he will be moving right along or in hot pursuit.  A Trailing Grunt is a long series of soft, very short guttural sounds, sometimes in rapid succession.  It sounds like this urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp.. urp..

The Tending Grunt is made by a Buck who is actually with a Doe and is about to mate with her.  This grunt is like the Trailing Grunt only longer and spaced out much more,  burp…. burp…. burp… burp…. burp…. burp… burp….  burp…

The Doe Locating Grunt is a two note sound is made by a Buck as he attempts to locate an estrus Doe.  It is made randomly as the Buck moves through an area and sounds like grrrrrrupf,  grrrrrrupf, grrrrrupf. 

The Grunt Snort Wheeze is an aggressive call made by a Buck when he is “calling out another Buck.”  It starts with an deep, loud guttural grunt followed by a sharp and loud snort and ending with a drawn out wheeze.

The Buck Growl, another form of the grunt, is a vocalization just recently identified.  It is a very harsh sound, just a like a mad growl from a large dog.  This sound is made by the dominate buck in the area and means, “look out, I’m coming through!”  It is the reciprocal of the Blat Blow that the top Doe makes when she’s “ready to take on the world”

So, there you have it… the entire white-tail vocabulary… all 15 words.  Next time you hear an Alarm Snort, try one or two soft “Social Snorts” back at the deer… you may be surprised when the deer actually approaches you.  Or the next time you see a bunch of running deer, try uttering a loud “Alarm Blat“, Baaaaah.. Baaaaah.. Baaaaah, and they will probably stop in their tracks. 

Over the fifteen or so years that I have been studying whitetail deer vocalizations, I have been thoroughly amused by the fact that the females tend to have a larger vocabulary from low, whining sounds to long and loud emotional outbursts, while the much smaller male vocabulary consists of just a few grunts here and there or, the seldom used but earth shattering, GROWL, when he’s really mad.