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Tried Rattling

brock ratcliff said:
This was the first buck I rattled in and killed. November 4, 1986, shot at ten steps from the ground with a borrowed 50lb Darton...my Cougar Mag had a bad habit of blowing up at the worst possible time and it had blown to pieces three or four days before this hunt.
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Holy crap look at that young guy! :smiley_crocodile::smiley_clap:
 
Only thing that has worked for me so far is the grunt. It's brought them in twice. the first time was 2 years ago, I saw the buck come into the cut corn about 60 - 70 yards away, grunted and he turned and started to come in. he was 2 steps from being dead when the wind swirled, he caught my scent and bolted. the second time was last year. i saw 3 bucks walk into the woods a hundred or so yards from me. Grunted and all three came in on a rope. I killed the one in the middle. On both occasions, I grunted when I saw the buck and put the tube down when I got his attention.

Haven't tried rattling yet, but I was planning to cut the antlers off a dead head I found a couple years ago and try it in a couple weeks. The can call has never done squat for me, but I take it with me anyway.
 
kind of strange given we have a bunch of bucks to our few does. You would think they would want to spar a little and get the right to the doe but I guess they are just lovers and not fighters up here lol.
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this might be the year to try it.
 
Done it a few times with no success but I agree with others that timing is everything. Back in 1995 I was gun hunting the Thursday of gun week in Fairfield county. I bought a Big River Game call that came with an instructional cassette that I listened to everyday trying to mimic this grunt/snort/wheeze thing that was unheard of. First thing at daylight I executed it perfect, I heard something stand up and start marching my way(I was on the gound), at first I thought it was a hunter that was coming to find out what the heck that noise was and low and behold it was what ended up being my biggest buck to date a 160 in. net 10 point that walked to within feet of me looking for what made that sound. All has to do with timing..
 
I'm absolutely amazed that so many folks here have little or no luck with rattling! If I happen to fill a tag here in the next week or two, I'd love to join someone to go out rattling. I love to do it, and the percentage of success is pretty dang high for me though I don't know exactly what it is. I always feel like a deer is coming on the rare occasion that I do it. Heck, I even shot a doe in KY one year that came to horns on November 18... and I only remember that date because it was the opening day of rifle season and we were hunting an archery only area. Sometimes deer don't come charging in but will come wandering in 30 minutes or so later. They think there are deer around there somewhere, sorta like turkeys. If you make them think there are deer around, they seem comfortable being there, and then again sometimes they come in at a sprint....but it seems to me as close to a sure thing as there is in deer hunting.

If I kill one soon, the offer stands to anyone interested in teaming up on one... have antlers, will travel.
 
I have had more success with rattling than I have just grunting. Grunt tubes generally don't work for me. Though, I've rattled in about 8 or 9 different bucks. Three of those were shooters and I managed to fudge it up. They are on full alert when they come charging in like that. IMO ratio doesn't matter. Also most of my bucks have been rattled in within 20 minutes of first light or last light. If you think rattling the horns will bring in a big boy at 11:30am on a sunny 79 degree day then you're going to be disappointed in rattling a lot.
 
cotty16 said:
There were a couple spikes in the field yesterday evening, so I figured I'd try rattling a little just to see how they would react and maybe get them in closer for my kid to see. I just tickled the antlers lightly and all they did was look. When they put their heads down to feed I made it a little louder. Without hesitation they turned and bolted. Fugg rattling... :smiley_blackeye:
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I had a mulie spike come charging in once. Id never seen anybody rattle mule deer so i figured id try it. Maybe he was just curious of the sound?
 
I love to grunt and rattle. I have killed my two biggest bucks after a hard rattling sequence. One, I know brought him right in to 30 yards. The other was last year and think it was the does that brought him in not the rattling. I find it keeps me occupied and like I am doing something and being active in the hunt on long sits.
 
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My big buck in 2000 came to the grunt call and I turned him 4 times with the grunt when he started to turn away. Also last year I turned a big buck in my woods but couldn't get a shot.
I've called in 2 with rattling horns. Nothing with the can but maybe a coyote last year.
 
I've never rattled and rarely grunt.

Last year I had a nice buck about 150 yards across a cut corn field. I was able to grunt in order to get his attention but he wouldn't commit and it got too dark.

I don't have that much experience with it and figure that it'd probably be a minus versus an attraction.
 
I did kill my 2010 buck with grunts and snort wheeze. Nothing like the TV shows. Don't take it wrong. It got his attention. He didn't want to commit. Every time he took a step the other direction I would grunt again. He took several steps away and I snort wheezed. Like I said, no hard charging in like TV shows. I feel it was more or less just curiosity. He didn't see anything and wasn't overly aggressive, but it was enough to change his mind on direction of travel when he came out of the thicket he was bedded in. He was under 10yds thrashing on a tree when my arrow met him. Quite a rush.
 
Yep, I think the window is pretty small to do it effectively. I started watching how the bucks were acting starting on October 16th, and have been doing it for the last 11 years. The only reason is because this is the date that I had my first experience grunting a mature deer within range. I am still a rookie and learn a little more every year.

For me, October 16th through 28th are great times to call. I do the "sparring" for the first week, it has been moderately effective but mostly young clueless bucks come to investigate. I call them fly by's.

We just got a decoy a couple years ago and yesterday was the earliest I have tried it. A small 6 came in early, saw the decoy, at first he seemed spooked. 5 mins later he popped out above the decoy and was relaxed and it definitely peaked his interest. No signs of aggression or any of that, more like "hey there's a buddy, gonna say hey". Was gonna video the encounter but I think I stunk and thermals got me.

My best time for aggressive calling has been the first week if November. The days that I see bucks walking heavy footed, eyes straight forward, almost looking in a daze are when I have my best results. Have a few ideas why, but for whatever reason it works. I have never done it while a buck was on a doe, it seems like when I see more bucks and little to no chasing is the magical time. 2 years ago I rattled in 3 bucks. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. The timing was perfect and I watched 2 very big bucks fight.

I am still a little concerned with the decoy, I think it's just cause I don't know enough about using one and that scares the shit out of me. My luck isn't always the best and I am always thinking "worst case" scenario due to lack of knowledge....
 
I agree with Brock. I am very surprised at how many people here haven't had much success in horn rattling. My brother and I carry our horns everytime I hit the stand. Not saying that I use my horns every sit, but they are with me ALWAYS. You can't beat a frosty November morning with little or no wind. As soon as I can see and shoot effectively at 20 yards, I give them a loud crack. Then my sequence usually last no more than 10 seconds or more. Once I do the initial crunch, I grind them more than rattle. I try to imitate two bucks in more of a pushing match, instead of tickling match. Lol.
I urge all of you to try it! It's a great way to break up a slow hunt. If there's a buck within an ear shot, he will check you out. Usually down wind will be his approach, so be ready.
I have successfully rattled in numerous bucks every year and I have been doing it for almost 35 years. Good luck and I promise you, it's a RUSH when it works!
 
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