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Old 11-02-2012, 09:47 AM
  #1  
Spike
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Default VA hunters

I gotta question i think for the most part of the state, the ration of buck to doe definatly favors the does, so with that said i have never had any luck at all ratteling, never even heard of people having luck, so i was just wondering if any of you guys in VA actually had luck around here?? thanks
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Old 11-02-2012, 04:55 PM
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I have had only one deer come in to clanging some horns together. I have used a rattle bag as well as real horns. The deer that responed was a little three pointer and sat behind a small pine scared to see what was happening. This is also a span of eighteen years.
I have had more luck with a doe in heat bleat can from primos. Hope this helps and it never hurts to try. I am guessing the rattling in my area doesen't work because there are almost no dominant bucks. I've seen a billion three,four,five and six pointers over the years and had the pleasure of shooting a large eight with my bow in 2003. I believe there will be very little change unless dog hunters stop blasting everything that movess in the woods.
I am not starting an argument with dogs and dog hunting in the woods because there are clubs out there who practice QDMA and have rules for bucks and what not.
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Old 11-02-2012, 05:28 PM
  #3  
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thanks for your time and advice bud
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Old 11-03-2012, 01:56 AM
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I've rattled for years and years and mostly to no avail. Any time a buck has responded for rattling, it was a small yearling. Who knows, I could be doing it wrong, but I've had very little success with clanging them together.
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Old 11-03-2012, 05:51 AM
  #5  
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From my experience rattling and grunting tend to work well when the bucks outnumber the does. There is more competition with this ratio. I also feel that grunting and rattling tend to scare off the small bucks. It may work to bring in a mature buck that wants to fight.

As a whole I typically dont rattle or grunt to call them in. I may grunt to try and stop a deer for a shot, but not too often.
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Old 11-03-2012, 05:05 PM
  #6  
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I tried it today for the first time with no luck. I did have a little fork horn under my stand that I passed on. Did not rattle him in, he just came on his own. Just to mess with him I bleated him a bit with no response. Then I rattled him. He definitely perked up but did not turn around and come to the sound. Given he was a little guy, maybe he figured he'd best move along.

Last edited by hubby11; 11-04-2012 at 01:41 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 11-03-2012, 06:57 PM
  #7  
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i tried rattling yesterday morning and had several deer come running in but none stepped into the shooting lanes, all were smaller bucks and even had a few mature does come check it out also, kinda weird i thought. Had one nice buck come in on his own but he just browsed around for awhile well outta range but did show up. I think you would be best off sitting in silence and if anything use a doe bleat can call.
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Old 11-04-2012, 05:00 AM
  #8  
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I agree with the others about rattling. I've never had ANYTHING come to a rattle bag. Rattling most likely spooks bucks more than it draws them in - especially in VA where we have like 100 does to 1 buck.

Now with grunting and bleating, I have had them come right in...
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Old 11-04-2012, 04:19 PM
  #9  
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I have not had success with the rattling. But On public land (ButchA, I believe I took you there once in Powhattan) there used to be a guy who would go there with his son...the boy was about 8 years old when he(the kid) told me with great pride how his dad had rattled in an 8 pointer and shot him from behind a quickly improvised ground blind. I had seen that guy every year with his son up there but have not seen him there for a couple years....maybe they moved on to a better spot. The man was definately more successful hunting that I was.
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Old 11-05-2012, 08:13 AM
  #10  
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I have never had any luck with rattling myself but will do it on occasion. I figure deer are curious creatures so it might work. I did see a fairly decent buck chase off two smaller bucks that were sparring with each other several years back. Wish I'd had a camera.
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