Rattling, Grunting, Decoys, and Scents

[Jim Hudson]

It's time!! Time to start breaking out those calling and luring devices to try to trick ol booner into range. Normally, the end of Oct is the time I start bringing out my bag of tricks and have had some pretty good success. But due to fishing harder this fall, I have opted to not start hitting the woods hard until the first week of Nov.

So with the season moving right along, I was curious to see how many FM'ers have called or lured a deer in recently? Or are most people still finding these bucks in their October Lull period?

[FL SNIPER]

I was kinded of near you last weekend...Iron River, WI. Right at dark I lured a dominate buck right to my stand. Lured him in by grunting. We were having a regular conversation...back and forth. He was ticked off another buck was there. Had it come in too late though...should have grunted earlier in the evening I guess.

[grip-em+rip-em]

Do you guys only use your grunt call after seeing a buck, or will you use it anytime. I have used it when not seeing bucks and have had deer come in down wind, and been busted. Any thoughts?

[BLACKJACK]

I generally only use the grunt call when I see bucks. The exception is when I'm morning hunting, seeing nothing and getting ready to leave my stand, I'll try a few grunts to see if something will come in.

[Jim Hudson]

FL... sounds like fun, but too bad he didnt show until too late in the day. Iron River has a tremendous amount of deer, with some dandy bucks thrown into the mix. Good luck over there this year!!

For grunt call itself, I will only use it when I see a buck. But in conjunction with rattling and or decoying, I will blind call. It has worked very well for me in the past. One call that I will use blindly is an doe bleat/estrous bleat (I use the Primos Can). Tip that can over a few times and the woods can explode at times.

[Cooter]

Jim, saw your pic in the Wisconsin Outdoor News, scary at first til I realized who it was What are you doing up at 3 in the morning anyway? Back to the topic, I rattled in a little fork buck this past weekend with some light sparring on the rattle bag.

[Jim Hudson]

At 3 in the morning... still working... but shhhhhh...

[Powerstroke]

I got my deer the first weekend in Oct and I atribute it directly to scent control and scent use.

I made a pretty weak mock scrape. More or less I scaped a 12" cicle and added some doe urine, not the estrous kind. Then I dribbled it back towards my stand along a shooting lane I just made. The deer made a bee-line to the "scrape" then walked all the way back to my stand with his nose to the ground. I shot him at 5 yds.

I shot the deer at 6pm and I picked the stand site at 10am. I hung my steps and portable, cut 4 shooting lanes and did the scent trails. I did all that work wearing full hunting clothing. I never took off my gloves, never touched anything with exposed skin. Scent control was the name of the game and it won!! When I came to my stand at 4pm there were 3 deer under my stand eating and sniffing around. The deer I shot came in later and it crossed 2 of my shooting lanes after coming in downwind. It was textbook.

[Polar Bear]

Rattled in a 3 pointer this morning (sunday) to about 15 yards but passed on him waiting for somthing bigger. Then this evening from the same stand I rattled in a yearling 6 pointer to 8 or 9 yards. Passed him too. Many good bucks in my area, too soon to take a yearling.

[Jim Hudson]

Did a morning stint after I got done with work at 3am.... Around 9am, I rattled in a 100 to 110 class 8 pointer that I let walk... He came busting in looking for a fight and when he couldnt find the other "bucks" he decided it was time to mark up the place, rubbing three trees as he made his exit.

Seen three other deer this morning, two being a doe and her fawn and the other a three pointer.

Time to take a little nap and hit the woods a little later...

[bigbucks]

Rattled & grunted in a smaller 8 pointer already a week ago Saturday (10/15). I'd seen him passing by at about 75 yards & when he didn't come my way. I gave it a try. I wanted to get a better look at him. I passed on him at less than 10 yards, turned out to be one I'd passed on a different day too.

[Austin]

Which type of scents do you find most effective doe urine, doe estrus, buck scent ?? How do you apply your scent trails ? What are you thoughts on create a licks and mock scrapes ? Any info is much appreciated.

thanks

[MIKE IN lINO III]

When you guys are rattling are you using sheds or the bag type rattle system? I heard that sheds are the best but I haven't found any yet and the antlers I have are mounted and haning on the wall.

Anyway, I want to start rattling so I am looking for the best system to use. Any suggestions?

Mike

[Polar Bear]

Mike, Real antlers are best because you cannot get the grinding, scraping noise from a bag of sticks. If you simply click tines together you are only producing a small percentage of all the sounds of a real buck fight. You also need the sounds of hooves stamping, leaves rustling and antlers grinding and twisting together. The more ruckus you make the more real it sounds. Good luck.

[Jim Hudson]

Austin

For deer scents or lures, I strictly rely on a company called the James Valley Company... The products I get from this place have made me a true believer in laying scent trails or positioning a buck for a good shot.

For scent trails, a lure/scent with doe estrous urine is my go to... And from James Valley, I use Full Draw in liquid form to lay a trail, either by pulling a soaked strip of rag or by walking with scent pads on my boots. I usually will run a trail through an area I know and want the deer to come into, then use a scent wick about 4 feet up off the ground. Positioned in a manner so it is down wind and in a manner so the buck will be looking away from me as he scents the wick.

Another James Valley lure I use is called Wall Hanger, especially when I am rattling and grunting, like this time of year. I use this in the gel forumla and place it onto my decoy or again to position a buck as he might be entering my stand location.

They also have some other great stuff. If you want to position a deer, use the gel, and for scent trails, get the liquid. A little bit will go a long ways.

Mike

For real antlers or bags, I opt for the bag by Primos. No other reason being that they are easier to carry and I have had good luck with them. I bought a bag wanting to eliminate the need of carrying antlers up into the tree with me, and so far they are winners. Real antlers do produce a great sound, but at times I think we could bang two sticks together and the deer would still come in.

[Ole #1]

I use the rattle bag if I'm going to rattle at all. If you use the antlers to rattle, you must be very carefull walking to and from your stand. You can't let them make noise or you could have an angry buck attack you. Rattle bags are nice and quiet when you walk.

[bigbucks]

I agree I don't think what you use to rattle with matters to much. I used to have one of those plastic box things with the two paddles. It really didn't sound that great, but it seemed to work fine. It was loud & sounded close enough to horns clashing to get the buck's attention.