Animal calls needed?

[Phillip.beaudry]

How important are animal calls? Would you guys say they are optional, or required?

[HillHound]

For what?
Hunting? And if so hunting what?
Somethings like ducks and geese sure you have to have a call. Other things like deer more often than not nope you don’t need one. But definitely need some more context to give you an accurate answer

[Phillip.beaudry]

Deer and elk.

[boneaddict]

Not necessary, but can certainly up your game, on the other side of the coin, can also hurt you.

[jrebel]

If you know how and when to use it, an elk call is a must (cow or bull).   If you don’t know how to use it, you can make the animals turn and run. 

Never been overly successful with calling in deer so I’ll defer that question.  My experience is deer calls don’t work on mule deer and can be helpful on whitetail in the rut?? 

[bkaech]

Definitely not required. Lots of hunters have killed deer and elk and have been regularly successful with never picking up a call. But if you want to get close, say for an archery shot, It would be advised to learn when and how to call, but again not necessary. The great thing about calling is it is a skill you can practice at home. Stocking an animal, playing the wind, getting close without calling are skills that must be practiced in the field; therefore they take much longer to refine. At least that is my  which is worth less today than a year ago.

[tallcooljuan]

Calling to deer or elk can definitely hurt you more often than help unless you know what you're doing.  I takes lots of dedication and observing animals' reactions and behaviors.  If you don't have a lot of time to spend in the woods practicing, I wouldn't recommend it.  if you're married, you can't practice your call in the house.
Those guys selling calls are usually very good at calling game.  They want you to believe if you buy their call animals will come like magic without having to put in the work.  If you do try it, understand that you're speaking a foreign language and you can say the wrong thing.  When you do fool an animal into coming to your call it's the most exciting thing in hunting, even if it's crows.
The easiest thing to call is a Blacktail or Mule Deer doe.  They are magnets to any predator distress call.  If there's a legal (but immature) buck in the herd, or a buck during the rut, he may follow the doe to your call (he isn't responding to your call, just following).  Whitetails go the other way.
One last word of advice if you try calling (and this goes to myself as well):  You're calling too loud and too often!

[Ricochet]

I've been very successful hunting blacktails using an elk call, does that count? Not to call them in but to cover my noise while still hunting. When conditions don't allow you to be silent, an occasional cow call will help put any deer that hears you at ease. Of course, this only works where deer and elk share the same habitat. I've gotten ridiculously close to bucks many times under extremely dry or frozen conditions where they had to have heard my approach but the soft cow calls must have allayed their fears. Either that or I only shoot deaf bucks. 

[Okanagan]

Needed?  Anything can be hunted without a call.   On the other hand, we can call anything if we make the right sound at the right time and place.  Calls give us more tools for getting a shot at the animal we are after.

I’ve called more than 30 kinds of animals, not counting waterfowl.  It’s kind of a lifetime hobby, and as I age and have more trouble navigating rough terrain, I call every kind of animal I hunt though it’s not the only way I hunt.  Some animals come my way, or maybe merely pause and pose for a shot.

Good comments already posted.  With a grin will agree with tallcooljohn that most of the time we call too much and too loud.  Also as said, we can make the wrong sound and run animals off.  Have done that with moose, deer and a few funny black bears that bolted and ran away at the first sound of the same predator call that has called other black bears in. 

With apologies to call makers Bearmanric and Rainshadow, IMO the most critical factor in calling any animal is the ambush set up rather than the exact sound.  I could be wrong of course.  Actually the most critical factor is having an animal you want within hearing range of the call.

FWIW the easiest animal to call IME has been grey fox.  Moose and turkey are up there with dumb and gullible callees.  Lotta factors.  Turkeys are dumb but have superb senses and instincts.  Cougars seem dumb and easy to call but have such motion sensitive eyesight and instinctive caution that they are super difficult to see once called.   Each animal/species has characteristics.   

Calling is not for everyone.  Some of us get bored and might as well use the time in hunting methods more enjoyable. 

[Alchase]

Hunting the wet side back in the 80s and 90s for elk, I actually called more hunters then elk. It took me a couple years to realize the elk have pretty much shut up, and only hunters are making noise 

Predictor calling can be fun!

Now I use my predictor calling app for fun with the grandkids at night. I can usually get any pack of coyotes within hearing distance to start a howl off.
My favorite is playing a baby squirrel call at night, and having all the flying squirrels light off around you and you never knew they were there