Rattle or Bleat?
 

Just wondering what you guys have the best response to.

Neither have worked for me, Ruts just starting here, I plan on trying some more, but fear rattling, cause Ive heard it scares deer off some times, and they circle down wind of you, to smell the "fighting bucks" and maybe size them up. Ide rather sit and wait and hope one comes by a active scrape or following a rub path.

I live in central North Carolina and rattling has never worked for me. I don't know if it is cause the buck/doe ratio is so out of whack or I'm just not tickling the ivorys right. I still try it ocasionally though think it would be cool to rattle one in.
Grunts and bleats work like a champ for me so that's what I have confidence in doing.
Good luck!

I rattled the bone togther followed with some tending grunts and I saw 3 bucks and 3 does yesterday morn.

well, i dont know about pa..but here it seems to be they want one or the other....as i rattled a buck once..he didnt give a flip about it..but when i hit that bleet..he did an about face and came right at me. so if ya see a buck, and ya try one and he dont care..give the other awhirl

Rattling has never done squat for me. I think if I hunted an area that actually had a lot of bucks roaming around then it might work. The can however has called in several deer. One of the things I have discovered about the can is do not use it when the buck has a line of sight toward you. If they hear the doe and look over and don't see anything, they know it's fake. This is one of the many many things I have learned the hard way. Also - if a buck is trailing a hot doe, you can bleat, rattle, grunt, fart all you want and nothing will veer him away from his one track mind.

I still rattle every year though, still hoping to bag a buck that I've rattled in.

So far this year I haven't had anything come in to rattling this year. But on wednesday morning I bleated with the Can and a small 4 pnt came in. I have had several small bucks come in to rattling in past seasons.

ive never had luck with the can. rattling though i have called in several bucks. last year rattled in 5 in about 2 hours of hunting. this year though i hit em a little too early. i had does take off but they came back after about 15 minutes. i saw 4 bucks fighting yesterday so if they are doing it i can too.

Both, I've shot bucks that came into both.

When you rattle, try and set up where a circling buck has to pass withing range when trying to circle downwind of you.

rattling here tends to scare more bucks than attract. I have my best luck with just a simple doe bleat. no can calls, just a simple 1 second long doe bleat.

I've had very limited success rattling although I still do it. Two of the biggest bucks I've ever seen came in to my rattling . . . I DIDN'T GET EITHER ONE! Most of the time (95%), I don't see anything -- and I've seen some scared by it too. I've never had any luck with the can either. Grunt calls/bleat calls are what have worked best for me.

for you guys who rattle even though you dont see anything..or if rattling hasnt worked for you, but you're willin to try again....
less is more..
let the deers curiosity bring em in..
believe it or not...the deer is usually watching you rattle..so they leave...
rattle one time..for about 30 seconds..good and loud at the end...imagine in your head..2 small bucks fightin it out..not just pounding the hell outta the antlers....use real antlers!!!
then put em away and be still!!gl

Rattled in a spike over the weekend, and the same spike and basket 6 point opening day. I always snort wheeze before I rattle and the bucks usually come running during the rut.

Last year I had a 140 class deer out in the field with a hot doe. I was sitting 20 yards in the hardwood. I would snort wheeze at him and he would come to the edge of the hardwood always keeping and eye on the doe. He never gave me a shot but all the activity drew 3 more bucks into the field, and the 140 class started fighting with a 8 point. It was an amazing experience to see, I just wish I had brought the video camera.

I have had success with both. I shot a 152'' 11 that I rattled in, and also shot a 110'' 8 pt. that I rattled in. Last weekend I tried rattling and the can.... but only had success with the can. I called 5 bucks in with it, 4 of them would have scored over 110''. The one big one I called in was a upper 140s 10 pt, but he didn't offer me a shot.

I have simply grunted more deer in than any other calling. I have had them ignore can bleats and never have rattled one in yet, but I am sure I will eventually. I scared what appeared to be a dominant huge buck with a snort wheeze that I thought sounded great and the buck was 100 yards away. Every deer is different.