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
|
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. |
thanks for your time and advice bud
|
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.
|
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. |
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.
|
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.
|
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... |
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.
|
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.
|
Same here slowpitch42, I followed some advice from TV shows of when and how to rattle, but to no avail. Grunting has worked for me. Two weekends ago I turned a 6 pt. 90* from 100 yards and let him walk once I saw clearly what he was. 20 minutes after that I had a Nine come in from a grunt call, but I had no shot. We have done a good job of thinning the DOE population and I hunt in an EAB county. Last year we took 16 does from a fifty acre lot. I thought that would help bring bigger betetr bucks to a rattle, but no good yet.
|
Last Saturday evening I tried rattling in Spotsylvania County - within about 2 minutes a little fork horn came in to about 40 yards and stood there looking around. I rattled again and he perked up and then bolted - a much larger deer (never saw its head) showed up at about 60 yards busting brush, and then walked off into the undergrowth. Tried to grunt and rattle again -- nothing.
This is the only time I've ever had a response to rattling - though I've only tried it four or five times over the last couple of years. |
I have one time. Rattled in a nice 6pt buck 3 different times. He was pissed and hair up on his back, ready to fight. It was awesome experience and he came in to 10yds, but I didn't shoot him.
I know it works in some areas in VA, but not where I hunt either. Too many does, they don't need to fight much I guess - though I know they do. I think bringing them in w/rattling - the deer have to be in the right frame of mind to respond. Not had much luck with grunting either around here. |
As far as bucks fighting - last year I did kill a unicorn -- one antler broken off about an inch above the hairline and the other broken off at about six inches. I guess the ol' boy got his butt kicked. I'm still looking for the guy that did it to him!
|
Va Hunters
we have like 100 does to 1 buck
That is what I call a lucky buck. |
I have never had any luck rattling. Give my rattle bag and antlers I had made up from a spindly 8 point I shot years ago to a friend of mine. Whenever we hunt together if we sit close enough together I can hear his rattling sequences. He uses them religiously. He has said he has had small bucks respond a hand full of times over the years during pre-rut, rut, and post rut. I think out buck to doe ratio is way to far out of whack.
|
I set the same profile pic up for my brothe rin NC. Thats a nice doe there jrfrmn!!
|
All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:29 AM. |
Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.