Rattling Technique

[jbb]

Okay, mid-October... you guys who rattle and call, what is your technique?  My dad swears by rattling and I have always sorta scoffed at the idea.  Well, this year I would like to show him up.  Anyone have any tricks they want to share?

[whitebuffalo]

My uncle has taught me to rattle not just for 30 seconds,, Rattle for like 5 to 10 min,, not heavy  but like a pushing match so to say,, it might change from state to state,, Just my two cents bud,, just get some horns and play with it, Oh yeah almost forgot,, my uncle rattles untill he see's a deer comming in,,and he always rattles on the ground,,J

[Mark Baker]

It may be a bit early for rattling to be very effective, but give it a try.   I've found that it rarely scares off deer, and sometimes use it to "calm" the area that I just moved through and to.   Bucks are sparring now, nothing too serious, so try to sound like that.   Later on, just imitate what you want to sound like.   I usually give it a minute or two, then put down the horns and get ready.   Stay ready for a sometime after, as deer will often sneak in to investigate well after your session.  Be ready.  After a half hour, or even an hour, if the timing is right, and bucks are on the move, give it another go.  New bucks in the area will get an earful, and the hanger-arounders will wonder whats going on.    

Bottom line, don't be afraid to try.   It does'nt always work, but it does work.  I've taken a number of bucks this way.   Good luck!

[kctreeman]

This time of the year I like to spot deer out in the fields and then get their attention with the horns.  I like to rattle from a brushy area from a stand that I can see a ways from.  I always add a few grunts with the rattle.  Once I get the deers attention I hang the horns up and bring him the rest of the way with the grunts.  Another thing is I used to rattle as an after thought, when I got bored.  Now I like to rattle as soon as I can see in the morning and right before it gets too dark to shoot.

[Molson]

Everything Mark Baker said is right on, especially the part about rattling a minute or so and then getting ready.  I usually try to sound more like two deer pushing on each other and clacking their antlers instead of crashing them together.  Once it works for you, you'll be hooked.

[Allan Hundeby]

I managed to use my Knight & Hale Rattle bag last week to scare off a nice 8 point WT.      :(     He had come right in to my grunting, but was stayed just out of range.  He went past me, then back again, then began to run in the opposite direction.  I began to rattle, and called him back to the same spot - just outta range; then he high-tailed it out of the area.  I think he figured out no "deer" was making that sound when he didn't see one.

[wapiti792]

Well I'm a short and sweet blind rattling guy. There was a study that showed that a short, intense (30 second or so) rattling sequence works as well as a drawn out one. That being said, I rarely rattle this early here. If I do, it is a tickling of the tines only. If you watch deer spar right now it's light. Let it get 3 weeks from now and then I go to the heavy,loud short, sequence. The deer in my photo came to the horns after an intense rattling session. I put a set of horns on a rope and hang it. That way I can hook my foot around the rope and hold my bow/grunt tube. It's more movement from the tree but there is something about those antlers flopping in the leaves and crashing together that does the trick. It takes a bit of getting used to though!

The deer above actually left a doe after I got his attention with a LOUD crash, intense 20 seconds, several grunts and a doe bleet. I nearly fell outa my tree when he stopped out in the field and walked to me. It's one of those memories I'll never forget, and he now adorns my den with several of his brothers! Good luck.

[Jerry Jeffer]

I've been seeing some sparring going on. I would keep it lite and short, on and off for a few times.

[Ga.boy]

Is rattling effective during the main rut or only in pre-rut? Are the rattling bags effective, or should only real antlers be used?

[Tom Leemans]

I don't think it HAS to be real antlers but I use antlers from two distinctly different deer. I rattle in mid to late October. (pre-rut) When they come in, they'll usually circle down wind first. Keep an eye out in that direction.

[Ga.boy]

Thanks Tom. Sounds like now is the time. Guess I'll have to cut up 2 good racks. Man is my son gonna be mad!

[draco]

You don`t need two different deer horns.But ten pts. work better than eight pts. You get a little more tine action that way. The rattle bags have been known to work quite good as well. I`ve rattled in a buck with fiberglass arrows before. The man who started rattling popularity in modern times,Bob Ramsey, once told me if a buck wants to show its dominance a monkey with two sticks could rattle him in. And Bob had rattled in thousands of bucks.

[draco]

Also rattling does`nt have anything to do with the rut so much as it does about dominance in the deer herd. Dominance in any given area has already been figured out by the time the rut starts. But when the bucks start roaming around looking for does in areas not their own is when dominance problems arise. I`ve rattled in bucks as early as Oct. 6th. and as late as Jan. 18th.  The Jan. deer was ratted in with horns off of a road kill I found that morning. I was showing a rancher and his son how when the buck came charging in. We were standing beside a truck. When he left I brought him back 3 times. Needless to say the two guys said they were going to give it a try.

[Walt Francis]

Like Wapiti, I usually hang  my antlers from the stand and rattle them by moving the cord.  I have found the bucks come in looking at ground level searching the brush rather then the trees.

Tom,
Do you have any particular sequence, rhythm, or cadence you use?

Tom or Wapiti any suggestions or advise of for your part of the of the country would be appreciated?  I will be in  southeast Illinois hunting for a week in less then two weeks.

[trapperDave]

I dont know about anyone else, but I have had no luck with the bags! I use actual antlers and get good results. Now is the time to start(around here anyway)

[Straitshot]

They make synthetic rattling horns that work really good. I have used them for several years. Two years ago my son-in-law and myself rattled in 18 bucks in two days. You don't have to use a really good set of real antlers if you don't want to.

Louis

[jbb]

Well, I gave rattling a shot Saturday evening.  I was sitting in my dad's tree and he had left his set hanging up there.  A small buck had been messing around about 40 yards away to the south but didn't seem to want to come my direction.  It was too dark for me to feel good about taking a shot but I figured I would tickle the tines a little bit just to see what happened.  Within seconds that deer was making a beeline for my tree.  He kept on going north out into the field and joined a group of does that were out there about 40 yards on the other side of me.  
That was pretty cool, it gave me confidence to try it during shooting hours next time.