Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Rattling for bucks

I've never tried it, but want to. Any advice...when, for how long, how often? Any good videos I could find, borrow or steal that have a lot of it?

Thanks for the help.

I prefer rattling old sheds but the store bought ones are a little louder IMHO and a little easier to work with usually...

Open sight rifle/shotgun/low power scope set-up works best as the shots will be close usually...

Find an area that somewhat conceals you/breaks your outline as well as allows you to see....

I like to rattle in 2's...1 rattles, 1 shoots...

Do 15 second or so sequences and mix in a few grunts...make any sort of natural noise you can with the horns. Scrape the trees, brush, ground, etc...

I'll do maybe 5-10 minutes total in 1 area pausing 30 or so seconds in between my 15 second intervals...

Anything within earshot should have arrived if they are going to...

Move to abother location that allows you to cover new ground without overlapping your sound...

This is how I do it...

From my own observations the worst thing you can do is banging the antlers together too hard and for too long.
This imho scares off a buck,especially less mature ones pretty fast.
Those young bucks are fun to watch coming in and a lot of times it will help bring out of cover a big buck,thinking some young whippersnapper is about to get what he thinks is his,that is if there is a mature buck around.
I rattled in a nice nine point for a guy a couple of years ago that had first brought in a spike and a six point.
After the six point sent the spike on his way Mr. nine point stepped right out.
Unfortunately the hunter was not very experienced and moved too fast when the mature buck came out and he was gone pronto after seeing the guy move.

First off, you have to be within earshot of a buck. Sounds dumb, but some would dismiss rattling as unproductive if it didn't work because they tried it where a buck couldn't hear it.
I prefer real antlers, the bigger, the better. The sound from small light antlers don't carry enough for me.
I also prefer to have a shooter and a rattler.
Sneak into a position where you want to rattle and set up with the wind in mind. I prefer to look crosswind in case a buck circles.
Wear full camo if possible. (law allows) face net and gloves.
Start lightly, but really get into it. Stomp the ground, break limbs, thrash brush, etc. Deer fighting make much more noise than you possibly can.
I use the same rifle as always, but with scope turned to lowest power.
If you intend on shooting a trophy, be careful because the small ones appear larger when they are headed at you on the ground.
I prefer prerut and early rut. I usually rattle till I figure a buck is not coming. 5-10 minutes. If I see one, I try to keep rattling if he can't see me.
If nothing shows, I move a few hundred yards and try again. Or if I am in a tripod, I wait 20-30 minutes, then try again.
Good luck.
stumpy

It works much, much better in areas with tight buck to doe ratios. It is a waste of time in some areas. Timing is key as well, pre and post rut are better than the middle of the rut, in general. I prefer natural over artificial as far as antlers. Two sheds from the same side (e.g. two right antlers) works well.



I kindly disagree. You can probably go too long (debatable), but you can't go too hard. A buck that is ready to fight is not going to get scared away. The young ones will still come in, even if they don't intend to fight...just like kids on a playground when a fight breaks out.

I try to make as much noise as I can...rustle bushes, break branches, scrape and pound the ground, breath heavy, use a grunt call pre & post rattle (sparingly), etc.

Well there you have it.
Everyones experiences are obviously not always the same.
But as i said coming on too hard in less than a full blown rut situation has scared more off for myself than i have had come right on in.

I actually talked to a New York state hunter several years ago that thought rattling was another tall Texas yarn.
It works but not always.

During bow season (prerut), I would go with a little horn rubbin on trees and tickling the horns.
But you said it all when you said sometimes it works, but not always.
I have never killed a big buck by rattling. But that one time I almost did will never fade from my feeble memory.

stumpy.

Texas Hunter, can you elaborate on your experience for me? Are these bucks that are scared off ones that you have been watching prior to the rattling sequence? The reason I ask is that there have only been a handful of times when I have started my sequence while a buck is in sight. In that handful of times I�ve had two reactions: 1) The buck(s) came charging in and 2) the buck(s) look over in my direction, but keep on doing what they�re doing.

I have rattled after seeing bucks in an area�sometimes they come back, sometimes they don�t. But b/c I wasn�t watching them as I started I don�t know if the ones that didn�t return were spooked or not.

I will also say that in what I would call a pre-pre-rut situation it wouldn�t make any sense to rattle long and hard b/c the bucks are only going to be doing some light sparring.

So much depends on how much competition there is for the does.

Woodrow..Actually most were in sight before hand but not always.
A few times there were no deer present sight wise when i would start hammering on the horns.
But if they showed up they were very skittish usually and would nervously walk away.
When i started tinkling the antlers and building up so to speak the sequence it seemed to result in the deer coming in with more curiosity to out right hostlity.
Understand the south Texas ranch i hunt on for the last 12 years has a healthy deer population with lots of bucks.
And when i started rattling in the early 70's in the western hill country i thought you really had to make a lot of ruckus to bring them in.
But i had pretty spotty results.
In the late 70's an old guy who befriended me taught me the way i do it now.
I still work the horns pretty hard but only after a fw minutes of light work first.
Hope my explanation makes sense to you.
It seems to work pretty well for me and it certainly did for him.

I've tried it twice. The first time a young buck almost ran me over. I tried it again last season from an elevated stand. a buck and a doe responded and I killed that buck. I am thinking that a decoy might help when I rattle from the elevated stand. My thoughts are it might keep the buck around a little longer and it might draw their attention away from me.

Have any of you used a decoy while rattling?

No but i certainly could see how a decoy might help.
It might possibly have a calming affect on the deer and make them less cautious.

Texas Hunter,

You've definitely been doing it longer than I have...I was born in the late 70's!



The place I've had the most success is my in-laws ranch in Frio Co. We maintain our ratio at 1:1, so the boys really get after it.

I've had success at other places with higher ratios, but the higher the ratio, the less success.

I usually just take horns with and just try it for awhile. I have successfully rattled in two bucks - one intentionally, one by accident. The first one was a 5X4. I had set up a very small tree stand on the edge of a cattail swamp. Started rattling about 7:00 and ten minutes later here he came. The second one was a much bigger buck who came in when I was working on a treestand at mid day and was hammering away on something...

Thanks for the help. This is exactly what I was looking for.

My only experience has been in the Canadian Rockies and probably doesn't apply to other places. My first time to try it, I picked up a bleached out and cracked old pair of sheds and rattled in four bucks and two does in six stands. All were in heavy timber, close range fast action, all from the ground. My totally inexperienced partner and I managed one shot that clipped hair without drawing blood.

I didn't have a clue what to do so started by banging as loud as possible, and it worked. I now respect more experienced rattlers and start more softly, but thump the ground, rake brush, etc. as others have said, and throw in some heavy panting breaths once in awhile. I don't grunt much, only do a pig grunt with my nose, but that drew a dandy 4x4 from hiding into the open on one super thick stand. I stay at least 30 minutes, sometimes 45. There are some ambush advantages with two guys but most of my rattling has been alone.

The past two years I have rattled once in the same spot on my way back from a business event I attend each Fall. First year I hadn't been to the place in 9 nine years, a low ridge in timber 250 yards from a logging road. Killed a small silent 4x4 buck at the 14 minute mark and drove on home. Last year, same spot, it was 23 minutes to a much larger 4x4 that made a lot of racket charging to within 17 yards.

I set up to watch straight downwind, in timber. Last year's rattling (or the shot) called in a grizzly that circled me as I gutted the buck. Several years ago the rattling pulled in a cougar to within 40 feet, in thigh high brush. I heard him and found his tracks in snow but never saw him. Also had a large bobcat come in once to the rattling. My best luck has been from about Nov. 7 to 25, whatever that translates into in terms of rut. Appears to be peak rut sometimes.

Downright addictive when it works.

I have rattled in whitetails all over North America. It works anywhere the buck/doe ratio is halfway decent, and even sometimes when it is not.

Generally I use antlers from deer I have killed myself, but sheds and hard plastic and two aluminum arrows have also worked so there is no rule. I generally start off quietly, trying to avoid startling any nearby deer, then give them a minute or two, often with some brush slashing and ground-pounding. Usually stay one place for at least 30 minutes and sometimes an hour.

Clam or near-calm days are best, so they can hear it. They are most likely to come in downwind so I try to keep a clearing in that direction so I can see them--except if I'm on the edge of cover, I try to have the wind in my face, coming from the cover. That way I'll see them if they try to sneak around behind me.

Some people complain that they hardly ever rattle in big bucks, just mostly little ones. There's a good reason for that: There are a lot more little bucks than big ones!

JB

And the big ones get big for a reason...they're smart!!!