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slowpitch42 11-02-2012 09:47 AM

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

Iron Archer 11-02-2012 04:55 PM

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.

slowpitch42 11-02-2012 05:28 PM

thanks for your time and advice bud

VA5326 11-03-2012 01:56 AM

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.

Eyedr 11-03-2012 05:51 AM

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.

hubby11 11-03-2012 05:05 PM

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.

Ohboy 11-03-2012 06:57 PM

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.

ButchA 11-04-2012 05:00 AM

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...

dpv 11-04-2012 04:19 PM

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.

VAhuntr 11-05-2012 08:13 AM

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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