Atlasman:

I will be the first to admit that a person does not always have to have " hands on" experience to use common sense to argue certain issues. However, regarding the issues of whether " rattling" is effective, and do bucks commonly spar or fight, there are a lot of variables that come into play that provide different degrees of knowledge and experience that a hunter-especially gun hunting vs. bowhunting, might have regarding both subjects.

Considering you used to hunt with a shotgun during limited gun seasons, you were not successful for the first several years, and that you that you just started bowhunting last season (first deer with bow), it is possible that your exposure to what bucks commonly do during the rut season, your all-around experience, and how effective " rattling" can be, might be limited in comparison to some bowhunters that are disagreeing with you.

It is not uncommon to find that deer hunters that strictly use a shotgun and muzzleloader -or once did, and live in states that have a much lesser gun season than a bow season, will not have the same experiences and knowledge of deer and deer actions as a longtime bowhunter will. Being bowhunting is a close contact sport, a bowhunter usually has a need to know and see more, a need to use certain equipment and tactics that a gun hunter does not, and has to spend more time in the field, to increase his or her odds of success.

In my 39-years of bowhunting in numerous types of terrain e.g., vast timber, scattered timber, open fields, segmented fields and timber, I have seen and/or heard bucks sparring/fighting many times. However, having failed to anticipate that one-day I would engage in a discussion concerning the issue, I never kept a record of the number of sightings and hearings.

I can only say that I have witnessed/heard such actions enough times, that 1) today I am never surprised when I do see bucks spar/fight, and 2) listening for the sound of rut induced actions of competing bucks is always part of my (audio) tracking when standing or still-hunting during the rut and pre-rut.

If you stay with bowhunting, and put a few more serious (bowhunting) years in the field, I believe your opinion on this subject and the " rattling" subject might change.