mtfreezer

When do bucks start to respond to rattling? I have never tried rattling in a buck before, so I don't know when I should start. I tried a couple days ago and did get a doe and fawn to come look to see what was going on. What time of day works better, morning or evenings? Thanks for any help guys

Copper31

I gave the rattlers a little tickle on Tuesday night and I had2 small bucks come trotting in. I will do that most of the year. I will hit them hard once the rut starts going.

Jeff K in IL

"Tickling" is your best bet, and yes they will respond, once the Rut hits, you can smash them as hard as you want!

pooter shooter

i was wondering that too. what time of day works best for this, and should it be folloewd by and other calls?

HuntingEd

Still a little to early in my parts

rybohunter

Bucks are sparring now. Light rattling wont hurt. I wouldn;t smash em. It may bring some curious ones in.

mus_stang

as soon as the velvet comes off they start to fight....not serious fighting but sparing getting in that practice will help for when that time comes to get into a serious fight.....light rattling will work now and as the rut gets closer start to get more serious in banging those horns

68charger_guy

what about grunt calling? can you start that with light rattling or do you still need to wait for the rut?

davidmil

Depends on where you live really. Most placesor on most animalsthe velvet is gone by mid Oct. The rut is a month away but the bucks are starting to feel a little frisky and feeling out their competition or learning what all that stuff on top of their head is for for the first time. No hard core rattling yet but some light tickling and short non violent rattles will definitely work. It works especially well on animals you see pass by out of range. Rattle them for few seconds and get ready because more often than not they'll come looking. Wait until the get out of sight to do it. If you can see them hold off until they've gone into the woods far enough not to beable to see you. If you can see them their first thought is to look. If they see no deer they'll more than likely leave. They'll pin point the location from out of sight and you usually end up with about a point blank shot.