Making The Rut Explode!
Rattling in a big buckeye buck can be an unbelievable feeling. Some bucks come in to the sound of horns, ears back, lick'in there nose, stiff legged, snort'in and wheez'in, and others slide in with out a sound. You just never know..each deer is different in his own rights.
Most bowhunters who rattle, know exactly what type of feeling it can give you when that buck comes to the horns..just don't get caught with them in your hands..
Rattling in a buck isn't as easy as it often seems. It is true that some big deer come running to the horns and get taken with ease. However,most
bucks often approach 40 to 100 yards down wind of rattling. Most bucks do this for a couple of reasons. The first reason is to see if they can spot the doe that is being fought after and take off with her while the other two bucks are going at each other. The other reason is to try to size up his opponent before he meets him face to face. Just think about it. You wouldn't want to run into a fight with a blindfold on, and when you take the blindfold off, you see it's Chuck Lidell. For all you who doesn't know who Chuck Lidell is, he's the World Heavy Weight UFC champion of the world. He's BAD. Lets put it that way.Also, when you rattle. You become the hunted. Deer are looking for movement in the direction from which the sound is coming. That's why using a decoy in combination to rattling can be so effective. It then takes the attention off of the hunter...and bucks love to play that wind. If they can't see the opponent, they'll try to sniff him out.
I can't tell you how many times, I've rattled and the buck has come in looking for the fight, and when he didn't see the any movement, he backed out. You also have to be ready for crazy shots as well..you never know what kind of shot a buck will give you when he comes running in...
Also, don't go into your hunt hog wild..Most hunts have been very successful with more mild calling..build up in your hunts when one style of calling isn't working. However, give it time...
I hope this has been helpful, and if you use these tips, the rut will explode!