MathewsShooter30

I rattled a few times this year with no luck what so ever... probably tried at 10-15 different sits during the early season/and rut.. I was reading a somewhat old book the other day "Hunting Whitetails Succesfully" by Fears and was reading that one should not rattle where there is NOT at least a 1 buck to 2 doe ratio... This very well could be my case.. I hunt on private land that has not for years had very many harvests because my dad and I are horn hunters.. We pass on small bucks but consequently also pass on does...

My question to you is that while in the stand this year I saw 15-25 small bucks and 3-4 mature bucks... and only around 5 does... if that!!! How do you get an accurate doe reading if all you see are 5 does.. My dad hunts different part of our property and only saw around 5 does also!!!

wahoohunter

That's very odd if those are the kind of number you're seeing consistently. IMO, you might want to get out there in the summer and do some glassing to see if this is, in fact, the herd balance present on the property. If so you would expect to have success rattling as the unbalanced ratio in favor of bucks would create intense rutting activity and competition for does would be extremely high. Of course, it could be that the bucks were just not around when you were rattling or, there are some cases where they're around and just not interested.

A doe to buck ratio of almost 5 to 1 seems extremely unlikely but it is possibility I'm sure. Where did you say you're from again?

MathewsShooter30

I'm in southeastern ohio... I'm not saying I have that ratio those are just the statistics I have witnessed from a stand this year... It is unlikely to me that I would have a "natural" (cause no harvests for the last 2 years) buck to doe ratio that I have been witnessing...

How does one calculate that ratio??

wingchaser_labs

If you have that many lil bucks you have to have a bunch of does producing them. Numbers seem off to me too. If you have aot of bucks no matter what the age and you have very few does the rattling "SHOULD" bring them in cuz many of those bucks would be looking. It sounds like come rut and pre-rut time your bucks are bedded and already hanging with does.......... Were you seeing most of your bucks before and after the rut or during the rut???......... Whatare neighboring properties like. Do they hold alot of does? If so your bucks are there during the rut and can't hear/respond to your rattleing anyways.WCL

MathewsShooter30

wingchase i think you hit the nail on the head... we have a TON TON of young bucks!!!!!!!!!!! We hunted a few times in Oct. but most of the hunting was done in November and early December...

I saw prolly 30 bucks this year and only 4 were over the age of 2.5!!!!!!

The all the neighboring property has been private practically forever.. including ours

MathewsShooter30

ttt

wingchaser_labs

I figured. Yeah your bucks are all locked up and bedded with does gettin into Nov if you have alot of does. I dont see many does after the 3rd week of Oct here. They just disapear when the bucks start chasing.

Well if thats the case this needs to be your game plan for 2009......

- Get a food source going (food plots) (I hunt farm field so I dont use plots) to get does on your property or atleast coming to your property if they are bedding elswhere. This will bring your bucks too.
- Now its opening two weeks WACKa coupledoes. This will get the doe numbers down a lil giving them bucks less does to hang with and chase making for more competition. You will see an increase in bucks cruising for does.
- Hunt the pre-rut by finding some good scrape lines and community scrapes. Get in the funnels between those areas also. Do some rattling and grunting once in awhile.
- Thr rut... Well you know how to hunt the rut.
- Post rut you need to find a food source the deer are using. Those bucks are worn down and hungery now and if there are does they will come to look for a late bloomer.

*I dont know where your stands are but I tend to go to the fields early and hit the woods and funnels come pre-rut and rut. Those does dont like being chased and when they are in fields the bucks find em easy so from what I notice they go MIA and we all know if you find the does you'll find the bucks during the rut. WCL

MathewsShooter30

anyone else have an opinion??

magicman54494

Sounds like you have a great buck/doe ratio for rattling. I rattle in northern Wis. I have a fairly good buck/doe ratio. I have a low population of deer. I would be suprised if there are more than 10 deer/ sq. mile. So I might have 4 bucks per sq. mile. Of those 4 bucks a few might be mature. That being said, I'm looking for a needle in a hay stack. I forgot to mention that where I hunt it is solid woods - no openings anywhere. I have to call a lot in the best areas to get a buck to respond. I have only had 1 small buck ever respond to rattling and he really made a wide circle like he was scared. I believe that if there is age structure the smaller bucks may be afraid to respond. Then factor in that the mature bucks could be locked up on does and it gets real tough to get one to respond. I don't believe that bucks respond real well anywhere except in areas with good numbers and low hunting pressure. Keep trying and you will get one to come.

MeanV2

In the 3 weeks I hunted Hard in IL. I sighted out of my Treestand approx. 60 to 70 bucks, and between 30 to 40 does.

I had a few successful rattling sessions, but then I always have.

Dan