Deer call and Eifel deer call, these terms used to simply belong together. Deer hunters will certainly be familiar with the former manufacturer of the Eifel deer call "Rodenit, Cologne". To produce a natural sound, the owner of this company mixed hard cardboard with synthetic resin and this is how this legendary call was born. I was given such a fine piece by my boss in 1960.
When this call was stolen from me at a shooting range during a hunting shooting championship, I was devastated. An older hunter took pity on me and lent me his Eifel stag call.
A classic for lure hunting red deer
I had already read many books by deer hunters from the Carpathians before my young hunter's test. My favourite was the book by the deer pope at the turn of the 19th century: Count Georg zu Münster's "Der Hirschruf". There even used to be a record of it. I listened to it a few times and then the disc was broken and I couldn't find another one anywhere. But I must have unconsciously memorised this melody.
The Eifel deer call sounds as real as nature itself
We had a hunting guest, a famous big game hunter. He had already shot many stags in the rut and I hadn't even seen one yet. We were targeting sows. In our hunting ground, red deer were very rarely seen as alternate game. I mentioned this when I accompanied this guest to his blind. Red deer can come, I know my way around, he said.
The night hunt in good moonlight was boring due to the lack of sows. To liven up the night a little, I imitated the call of a medium-aged stag. I was also able to observe the guest's cockpit through the glass and was startled to realise that his gun muzzle was pointing straight in my direction. At the end of the hunt, we met up and he excitedly told me about a roaring stag. When I told him that I had been "practising", he absolutely refused to believe it. He said that you can't imitate a stag that realistically.
How to use the Eifel stag call correctly
The Eifel stag call is in two parts. If you shout a long drawn-out "aua", i.e. "aauuuaahh", through it when it is extended and slowly push it together, you will hear the deceptively realistic search call. If you shout at a deer, you call a sharp and short "ouch" into the compressed call and pull it apart quickly. It is difficult to explain this action precisely in writing.
In this video, I explain how you can lure red deer and even wild boar with the Eifel deer call:
My special tip for lure hunting red deer
My special tip: Never call more strongly or with a deeper voice in the call than the voice of the deer to be lured in the wild, otherwise the real deer will get scared and disappear silently. The wild stag should feel superior so that it responds. It is easier to get old stags if you briefly imitate the "öh-öh-öh-öh" call while hitting a branch with a stick. I have outsmarted all my old stags from the 15th/16th/17th head in this way.
The end of the Eifel stag call and its rebirth
Production of the Eifel stag call ceased in 1962 due to the demise of the manufacturer. Almost 50 years later, by chance, I met a 90-year-old regular customer in a pub in Cologne who told me that he used to work for the company and that's how I discovered the secrets of the material. The Eifel deer call was thus reborn.
Finally, a very special tip
Another very helpful tip was given to me by an experienced deer hunter: "Drink a glass of heavy red wine every evening for eight days before the rut and smoke a black Brasil with it. This will give you a rougher and deeper voice."
It's not for everyone, but it helped me.
