Rattling technique
10-16-2007, 12:18 PM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Kalamazoo, Michigan
Posts: 358
Rattling technique
help me here, I'm confused, what is the proper technique, sequence of rattling, when to when not to? do you rattle every 10 minutes or what.
I rattle whenever i go out, no luck yet. It seems i do better when i sit there and not make a squeek. I need lessons.
I rattle whenever i go out, no luck yet. It seems i do better when i sit there and not make a squeek. I need lessons.
10-16-2007, 12:49 PM
#3
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: land of the Lilliputians, In the state of insanity
Posts: 26,274
RE: Rattling technique
A little will go a long way. Alwaysremember.
It also depends on time of rut.
Early rut, rattle little. I like cycles of 30 sec on and 45min to and hour off. Tickle the horns, dont start crashing them.
Chase phase of rut. the hot rut. Rattle more agressive. Cycles of 30sec to 1 min on and about and hour off. rattle like two big deer getting after it. Stomp the ground and rake the bushes.
After that, dont bother. Remember to lay off. Over doing it will spook the deer. Ive had deer come in 45 min after rattleing. You can tell they are there looking for the fight. Sometimes it takes deer a while to get to where you are rattleing. Another thing, rattling is better with two people. The deer will try to approach the fight from down wind, which means he will smell you. You need to set up where they can not get behind you. With two people, set up where the deer can not wind you, and have your buddy setting cross wind.
It also depends on time of rut.
Early rut, rattle little. I like cycles of 30 sec on and 45min to and hour off. Tickle the horns, dont start crashing them.
Chase phase of rut. the hot rut. Rattle more agressive. Cycles of 30sec to 1 min on and about and hour off. rattle like two big deer getting after it. Stomp the ground and rake the bushes.
After that, dont bother. Remember to lay off. Over doing it will spook the deer. Ive had deer come in 45 min after rattleing. You can tell they are there looking for the fight. Sometimes it takes deer a while to get to where you are rattleing. Another thing, rattling is better with two people. The deer will try to approach the fight from down wind, which means he will smell you. You need to set up where they can not get behind you. With two people, set up where the deer can not wind you, and have your buddy setting cross wind.
10-16-2007, 02:02 PM
#5
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location:
Posts: 23
RE: Rattling technique
A tip I would throw in is that before I even start a sequence I will rub my horns (I use real antlers) down the side of the tree that I am sitting in. Last year, after doing this for 20 or 30 seconds, I had a buck come running in before I even got to my sequence. It imitates bucks rubbing up trees before they fight. Hope that helps...
10-16-2007, 03:44 PM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 1,200
RE: Rattling technique
I use a rattling bag and it works fine for me. I start my sequence out by a few grunts. I shortly follow those up by VERY LIGHTLY rolling the bag around to imitate the sound of tines tickling each other. I pause for 5 seconds and make it sound like 2 bucks going at it. I don't believe that deer come in the the actual banging of the horns, so i mainly just try to make the bag sound like the tines are always locked together and are trying to gain position while fighting the other buck. I will however throw in a few loud bangs in the middle. I will only rattle for about 30to 45 seconds while holding the a grunt tube with my mouth and occasionly grunting. I then stand up andwait for the action. 45 minutes later I will follow it up with some morerattlingif I have not seen anything.
I started rattling 2 years ago with great success. My first time out I rattled in a small 8 pointer that I had been seeing all year long. The next morning in the same stand I rattled in a total of 8 bucks. 3 of which were shooters. However the spot I was in allowed the deer to stand on the fingers running off of a ridge and search for the bucks causing the fight.All 5 immature deer came in close enough for a shot, buttheclosest any of the mature bucks came in was 60 yards.
I modified my approach for last year. I was set up in a funnel after only seeing one small fork that came to my rattling from across and cut soybean field. I sat up one morning early in November in a funnel, with a great bedding area to the south of me about 150 yards. My stand position allowed that if a deer wanted to see what was causing the rattling it was going to have to come within 30 yards. In the first 15 minutes of light I had 3 bucks (2 forks and asmall 6 comeright to my stand. 10 minutes later I rattled again and here camea 9 pointer right off the trail of the bedding area.A 17 yard shot and a short track job later he was on the ground. After looking over some picturesfrom last year I realized he wasthe same 8 pointer and thefirst deer I had ever rattled in from the previous year.
It also helps if you have a partner thatcan rattle for you and set up 50-100 yards down the trail from where you expect the deer to come. That way when a buck comes to investigate he will be searching for his future opponentsfarther down the trail instead of focusing around your stand site.The bucks will also try to come in downwind, so a good wind and proper scent control is a must.
Hope this helpsand good luck, some of the most exciting hunts I've had were when rattling was involved.
I started rattling 2 years ago with great success. My first time out I rattled in a small 8 pointer that I had been seeing all year long. The next morning in the same stand I rattled in a total of 8 bucks. 3 of which were shooters. However the spot I was in allowed the deer to stand on the fingers running off of a ridge and search for the bucks causing the fight.All 5 immature deer came in close enough for a shot, buttheclosest any of the mature bucks came in was 60 yards.
I modified my approach for last year. I was set up in a funnel after only seeing one small fork that came to my rattling from across and cut soybean field. I sat up one morning early in November in a funnel, with a great bedding area to the south of me about 150 yards. My stand position allowed that if a deer wanted to see what was causing the rattling it was going to have to come within 30 yards. In the first 15 minutes of light I had 3 bucks (2 forks and asmall 6 comeright to my stand. 10 minutes later I rattled again and here camea 9 pointer right off the trail of the bedding area.A 17 yard shot and a short track job later he was on the ground. After looking over some picturesfrom last year I realized he wasthe same 8 pointer and thefirst deer I had ever rattled in from the previous year.
It also helps if you have a partner thatcan rattle for you and set up 50-100 yards down the trail from where you expect the deer to come. That way when a buck comes to investigate he will be searching for his future opponentsfarther down the trail instead of focusing around your stand site.The bucks will also try to come in downwind, so a good wind and proper scent control is a must.
Hope this helpsand good luck, some of the most exciting hunts I've had were when rattling was involved.
10-16-2007, 04:46 PM
#8
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: East Central Ohio
Posts: 663
RE: Rattling technique
ORIGINAL: burniegoeasily
Ive had deer come in 45 min after rattleing. You can tell they are there looking for the fight. Sometimes it takes deer a while to get to where you are rattleing.
Ive had deer come in 45 min after rattleing. You can tell they are there looking for the fight. Sometimes it takes deer a while to get to where you are rattleing.
I like the guys that come strolling right in.
10-16-2007, 06:42 PM
#9
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Missouri/Illinois
Posts: 327
RE: Rattling technique
whatever you do...BE READY after you put down your rattle bag/antlers. I've rattled a couple in before and they came in when very fast. I didn't even know they were in the neighborhood but they came in fast and I was unprepared.
