rattling

[Swiftswamper]

anyone like to start any light rattling this time of year?

Last season I shot a 12 point on Oct. 6 and he had a tine busted off already. There was another buck I was watching that was all busted up by the 10th. Anyone have any tactics?

[Sota2Florida]

I personally haven't done any rattling but I saw my first rub tonight so it may be worth a shot. I have lots of smaller bucks on the camera that may have a little curiosity and who knows the big one may come out. I presume your "light" comment would be the most important thing.

[rcook72]

Scotty, did you see my trail camera pictures of the two bucks I caught sparing? I could only post the clear pictures but I had some blurry ones where they were going at it. I am going to next sit.

[nbadger23]

As is with all calling, as long as you're not hurting yourself in some way it's likely worth a shot. I doubt you'll scare anything off with light rattling but you very well could draw one in out of curiosity.

[BLACKJACK]

My philosophy on rattling is "can't hurt to try it but do no harm" meaning that if I'm hunting in the morning, I'm quiet the first hour, let the natural deer movement send them to me, then go ahead and rattle. In the evening I'll rattle shortly after I'm set up but the last half hour, no rattling, let the deer come to me.

Never had a big buck come into my rattling but two years ago I had a small buck come charging in, stopped about 10 feet away, looking for the rattling. When he couldn't find the other buck, he laid down to rest, you could see his chest heaving, he had been running so hard. Kind of neat. My arms got tired holding the bow up, when I tried to rest it on my seat, he heard me and slowly slunk off. Fun!!

[snapcrackpop]

I like to attach my antlers to my pull up rope, then I can do some jigging. I like the sound it makes hitting the ground and leaves.

[1eyeReD]

Shot my 1st whitetail buck last year that came to rattling... I've had bucks come to rattling at least once or twice every season and I don't do it all the time. Not until I start seeing a lot of rubs and fresh scrapes in my area. It works well, but I think only the smaller bucks come in. My buck would've been a nice lil 8 pt, but it was a goofy with only the main beam on one side..

Another thing I noticed is once you hit the rattle, if no bucks are in the area, you seldom see any other deer such as does. Just my experience though. So when I'm about to hit the rattles, I accept the fact that I may be keeping other deer from coming to check it out. Though I've had real big bucks come in before and choked on the opportunity..

The week before I killed the above buck, I rattled in a fork in a different area on a drizzly morning and he came charging in and I got footage of him on his second pass (meaning he came in, saw nothing, continued on, got outta sight, I rattled and he came back). It does work.

[Rippinlip]

Yep, it works this time of year.

As stated "light" seems to be better right now.

[Creek Kid]

In regards to rattling - one trick I've used the last few years (in the dark & during prerut/rut) is if it's too dry & noisy to be quiet I'll shuffle my feet and grunt as I get to my stand. I'm not sure if I have any proof that it works but I'never heard anything booger while I'm doing it. I've also seen deer within 1/2 hr or so of getting into my stand. Just a sidenote I thought someone mite like to hear; Also for rattling I make a RUCKUS! Quick story... 1 time I tore a branch off that hindered a shot that never happened. When I was done cussin & had the branch tossed out of the way, I sat back down & looked up to see the 8 pointer that I was mad about not getting a shot at looking right at me! He came right under my stand, all revved up & I missed him. Point is - He came to the thrashing of the branch and nothing else...

[FISHINGURU]

I've rattled in mad amounts of bucks, but I'll rattle 9 out of 10 sits I'd bet. I''ve rattled in and shot bucks on opening morning.

Bucks spar from the first day they shed their velvet so light rattling works well.

You wouldn't want to be smashing your antlers or bag right now like a full on fight because that isn't happening in real life. You can start to do that here in a couple weeks though, I normally start that the last week of Oct.