rattling

[icecold]

Whats the technique of rattling, how often do you rattle in a hours time ?

[Piker]

I rattle, but I don't know if I do it the right way. I don't even know if there is a right way. I've rattled in one buck in my life and while it wasn't my largest buck it was definitely the most exciting.

I don't grunt or rattle right away in the morning or after a certain time in the afternoon. The traditional times when deer are usually active. I figure it is best to just sit still.

I usually grunt a couple of times, then rattle for about 30 seconds. Then wait 10 minutes. Try it again. Then wait.

Like I said, I've only had one come in and I've been doing it for the past two seasons. The one that came in, started coming instantly. I probably only rattled a couple of seconds and I could hear something maybe 100 yards away barreling through the woods. It was unbelievable how loud it was and how much wreckless abandon they have when they're coming. I thought it would be a monster. It wasn't, but it's still cool.

If you try it, don't over do it. They'll probably come running so be ready to shoot. Also, one time I kept rattling and rattling and didn't notice a doe. It got close and saw me right at twilight. It started snorting, nonstop and I knew that night was over. Spend more time looking than rattling. You need to see them before they see you, is what I mean.

[snowgoose]

Here is my rattling story.

I am in the 12th grade and dad lets me skip a day of school to hunt in a friends field up in the Grand Rapids area. The night before I am going to go out there we watch the weather forcast and it says it is going to be below 0 in the morning.

Dad gets out his single burner coleman camp stove and lights it to show me how to use it if I need heat in the stand the next day. We put the plastic lid back on after playing with it for a couple of minutes.

The next mornng I am in the stand for about a hour and a half and decide to light the camp stove as I am getting cold. Well, when we put the lid back on it melted to the stove. So there I am in the tree trying to be quite (ya right) and open this plastic container. The stove is clanging inside the box. After a couple of minutes I decide it is not worth the time or noise that I am making. I set it down and look to my left. There is a eight pointer standing in the field looking for anougher deer about 30 yards away. I make a nice broadside lung shot on him. He went about 50 yards and expired.

To this day this he is still the biggest buck I ever harvested in Minnesota and the only buck that I can say I rattled in with a stove.

[Gus]

Great story!

I've often been told that rattling will either bring a deer in charging or send them running. It all depends on the mood of the deer, size, time of year.

Case in point, my uncle saw very nice deer on the other side of a swamp this weekend. 10 point or so. 100-150 yards from his stand is this swamp. He decided to try rattling to bring in this "big boy" He grunted a couple times, and the deer looked interested but as soon as he hit the rattles that deer bolted right out of there. It wanted nothing to do with a fight.

[Jim Hudson]

Heres how I go about my rattling/calling for two different scenarios.. During the pre-rut and rut period.

First is blind calling, which is the most common type of situation I run into. When I have no deer in sight, but have a good idea there is a buck in the general vicinity due to stand placement. After about an hour after sunrise, I will start off with a series of short grunts that are fairly quiet. Let a minute or so pass while watching for deer, then make another series of grunts, again softly. Then I pay attention again as I get my rattling bag ready. I may even pull out the "can" and tilt it over a few times (giving a nearby buck the impression another buck has found a hot doe). Then starting rattling, starting of slow, making a few tickling sounds and getting more agressive as you get into the routine. Just try not to be too loud at first, as just with your grunts, you want to call to a deer that might be only a hundred yards away. Go through this for a couple minutes, grunting as your are hitting the horns or grinding the bag. Then as you end your rattling sequence, let out a series of short grunts and tip over that can again. Most of the time, if the buck is close, he will be there in two shakes during this time period, but he might be sneaking in.

So say after a half hour or hour goes by and nothing (do a few grunts and tip the can over a couple times as time passes) start up again, and increase the sound of your routine, calling out to a more distant deer.

If I am on stand all day, I may do 5 to 10 rattling rotations. But am always grunting and tilting the can in between, hoping a searching buck hears another with a possible hot doe.

The second situation is for when I see a deer. Most of the time, a simply grunt or grunts can get him working towards me or even an estrous bleat. But if he shows no interest, he might not hear you and the louder sound of antlers/a rattling bag can reach out to him. Hit the horns or bag to draw his interest in a quick rattling sequence and once he turns and starts to walk, shut down the sound and let him come to you.

Hope this helps a bit...

[Ole #1]

Here's my 2 cents. Put some scent out and be quiet. I don't use my grunt until a deer is walking away from me, I never use it to bring in a deer because it usually just scares them away. If you're going to rattle, make sure there are no deer around or you will scare them away. Don't rattle too much when you do, just 5-10 seconds and then stop. Your best bet is to be quiet and let the deer come to you.

[bigbucks]

Ole #1,

I don't really agree with what you said, for the most part, from my personal experience. I usually don't call or use scents at all until the 2nd or 3rd week of October though. I do agree I wouldn't start rattling or grunting very loud if I knew there were deer with 30 yards or so. I also try to do only a few sequences on a 2-3 hour sit. I've grunted in deer that I couldn't see before several times. I saw them from a ways out after grunting & they looked like they were trying to find the other deer. I grunted a couple more times & they came in on line. The doe I shot a week ago was exactly like that, she came right to me.

Most of what I've read says rattling sequences should be around a minute total, with some pauses in them, that's worked pretty well for me. I guess the few times I've seen bucks sparring a bit, that was pretty close to the length of those encounters. I think it's rare that they actually get into a knock down drag out fight unless two dominant bucks are pretty evenly matched. I also rattled in a buck a couple of weeks ago that I saw from a distance, but he went into the woods & wasn't coming my way. It pulled him right in & I was still rattling when I saw him at about 25-30 yards standing behind a tree looking for me. Fortunately I was well hidden, I quit, & he came right in. I didn't decide to shoot him, but I sure had an easy opportunity.