Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

Hey guys I have a question. last year I was Bow hunting the edge of a hugefield and was hidden on the ground in some thick brush.I had a nice 31/2 yr oldbuck about 150 yards away. It was late in the rut towards the end. He was just kind of mulling around and grazing. I had never rattled before and decided to give it a try. As soon asI hit the horns, the deer took off like abat out of hell. He was not looking in my directiona and i am positive he did not see me. You would have thought that i fired a shotgun the way he ran off.

I am in Long island NY. I realize that T.V is a half hour of action outof hundreds of hours of sittingand waitingbut whenever i see them rattle the deer do not take off. Does area or stateplay a role? Any reason that i had this experience. I am afraid to try rattling again.

What do you think? thanks

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

Area definitely plays a role. The buck to doe ratio in the area is the key, if there is a lot of competetion for does the bucks are more likely to respond to the sounds of a fight.

I have one spot where rattling works and I can usually bring in a buck or 2 during the rut. I have other areas where I can hit the horns for days and not see a thing.

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

Its tough on LI. The buck to doe ratio is horrilble. So many people hunting using scents the wrong way rattling the wrong way, it puts the deer on high alert and they are more likely to get skittish then repond positively. MY friend and his brother were hunting out east and they were about 200 yrd apart. My friend had a Big nontyp walk by him out of bowrange and was heading towards his bro. His bro decided to rattle and this deer just turned around and went back where he came from. My friend watched the entire thing and his bro had no idea the deer was even heading towards him.
What time of year was it? How did you rattle? hard ,soft

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

I have one question to add to lpv77 and that is how loud did you "hit" the horns? I've learned that when you rattle, start off slow and "lightly" tap them, give the deer the impression that the twobucks that might be sparing are smaller then him. If that doesn't catch his attention, slowing get louder as not to spook him, don't forget the grunt tube and if you are on the ground, ruffle up the leaves,etc to make it sound like a real fight.

Also, I'm no expert, I learn new things every year in the woods, but if a deer is just grazing, I like to use the grunt and doe bleat calls rather then the rattle, due to the fact the herd ratio (buck to does) is so skewerd here on the Island. As lefty referred to, if the doe ratio is high, why would a buck want to fight for a doe? I just read a great article on this issue. Think of it this way, would you go to a bar that had 5 men to every women, or would you rather go to a bar with 5 women to every guy? The article was more about harvesting more does to imrove the herd health and ratio, but touch on the fact if the doe population is high in your area, bucks don't need to fight since there very little competition.

Whew, what was you question again? lol.

Better luck this year LIHunter!

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

I have never had success rattling either. I perfer doe bleat can, grunt tube and scents. When I see a buck off in the distance the first thing I try is my bleat can which usually gets their attention. The problem with that is now they are looking for a deer. When they approach and there isn't a doe hanging around, now they are spooked.

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

Time for the decoy nybowhunter, LOL. I have the renzo 2-d type I tried last year during bow season, a little earlier for it but wanted to see what would happen. Boy did I piss off a mature doe with two of those decoys. She ran from 250 yards away snorting the whole way, circle around the decoy on the edge of the woods right beside my stand. Then started wheezing, stomping etc. until she noticed me trying to get my video cam on her, I was laughing pretty much of the time, it was just priceless to see. No bucks came in, I'm she it was because of her and the fact I read in an article last year to place white tissue paper in the tail section to give realism to the decoy (and scent). This year I read another article, which I'm incline to agree with, is that you shouldn't put a white tail on it because that is what deer due to send a "alarming" signal of danager to other deer. (You know, flag the tail) This year I will make the top section mainly brown with just a hint of white on the edges and placethe decoyout closer to the rut.

Live and learn, that's hunting!

Rod.

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

I am from PA and I also have never had any success with rattling. I agree that the buck to doe ratio is not in line so the bucks aren't looking for a fight. However, I have taken most of my bucks during archery season in PA with a grunt call.

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

Rod,
That's a great suggestion. I have not tried a decoy but always wanted too. I have great success with the bleat can but I have never tried one with a decoy.

I thought "flagging" was illegal in NY?

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

To tell you the truth, never heard of such a thing. I know Peter Fiduccia had mentioned it (didn't refer to it as flagging, but as a decoy) at a recent seminar (also in his books, listed under decoys) the use of a real deer tail that was cut off and utilized by placing it on a tree branch with a string attached and wiggled to get bucks attention. Never tried it, but I just went to the DEC website and couldn't find out anything on "Flagging", may need more research or I will probably stop at one of the local check stations for clarification.

Thanks for the heads up on this!

RE: Rattling (Bad Experience)
 

I tried finding it too. Their website is not user friendly. I hunt on private land so this really isn't an issue. Although,I always stay legal for the "deer gods" because younever want to make the "deer gods" mad!