Until a couple of seasons ago, when a nephew of mine acquired a "real" set of bones, he was using a set of synthetic antlers.

I was in his stand one day and the synthetics were hanging in the stand. Although I have a set of real antlers that I have used for 31 years, I decided to use his since they were a readily accessible. When I rattled, I did not get the attention of any bucks. However, several Tibetan monks came running in. The sound that those synthetics made sounded like those hollow chimes that hang in Buddhist monasteries. Instead of emitting a solid clashing sound, they reverberated.

I took them in when I left the field and told my nephew I was going to modify them. I drilled holes throughout the antlers and then filled the cavities with insulation foam (in the can). I also wrapped the base of each with a thin layer of foam rubber and then taped the rubber.

To test my modification, I took them to the timber so that the acoustics would be actual. They now sounded like large PVC tubes that were filled with foam insulation and partially wrapped with foam rubber. [:'(] They melted very quickly in his fire pit at the farmhouse.

If you get synthetics, try to find solid ones…..if they make them. Even then, I do not know the type of sound they would make.