ALHunter74

I can't seem to get my rattle bag to bring in anything. I don't know if I'm doing it wrong, or if I'm doing it to early on in the season?

Lefty26

I have had good luck and bad luck. Some places I hunt I have had very good success rattling in bucks. I have had mornings where I have had 10 different bucks come in to rattling. I have also rattled and scared the living crap out of bucks that I didnt know were in the areaonly to watch themhigh tail it out of there. I have also rattled many times and had absolutely nothing happen. I think it depends on the buck to doe ratio in your area, the amount of pressure your land gets and doing it at the right time. My best advice is keep trying but dont over do it, you can sometimes do more harm than good making that much noise in the woods. Those guys on TV make rattling look like it works everytime, but remember we are only seeing their successfull hunts not the 50 times it didnt work before that, and also they are hunting a lot different areas than us average Joes are hunting.

mikevaughn

On occasion if the deer are in the mood they will charge up to ratteling horns.Most often in NE Alabama it dosent work for me.

davester

I rattled ina real nice buck a few years ago. I had made a mock scrape with doe estrus on a ridge the weekend before. Then with a combination of grunting and rattling he came in. I was in my stand from 11:00 until 5:00.I usually rattle little bucks in. My choice is not to rattle but use grunt call with doe estrus.

skeeter 7MM

I have had great success with rattling. I will admit it varies but on a whole close to rut in the proper location it can be extremely effective on mature animal if the area has competition to breed (buck to doe ratio). For me the number 1 thing is location. I only rattle where deer feel safe this means as close to the bedding areas as possible or minimally deep transition areas. The areas must afford cover for myself plus the deer but also some visual lanes for getting off a shot, meadows, ridgeline/cutlines, etc are good places in cover. Even better if I find sign such as rubline or scrapes that indicate a buck playground. I prefer to rattle mid day in such an area. I have used scents to help mask my scent for a circling buck or at least throw off his senses for even a minute to possibly allow me an opportunity. I rattle with real antlers as I can vary the tone better as I grind and twist the antlers vs smash them together. Alsothey work well for raking trees/groundto sound even more realistic. I start off slow and low (30 secs), then bring it up in both intensity and volume to approx 90 sec rattle sequences. I break for 20 min and throw out gruntsduring thebreak encase I have a buck moving towards me and keep his attention/focus. I have found it is extremely important to be attentive, aware and ready when rattling, some come steaming in while many more just silk through the bush quietly. As suchI range all my shooting lanes (if applicable) before starting to rattle. Once I am done rattling I have the bow or gun in my grips so if an opportunity arises I am ready, pan with my eyes and attention is on high.

This year I have rattled over 20 bucks, most were in pre rut and of the immature variety but last week I rattledin somemature bucks (rut) and took this5x5 as he was slipping through the willows to the west. So it can work if you have the right mix and find what works for your area. BTW this buck was taken just after high noon, the 6th mature buck I have taken when rattling around the noon hour!

Best of luck.

ALHunter74

Awesome picture! Looks like it was snowing when you got him? I remember last year sitting in my stand when we had a pretty steady amount of flurries falling. I didn't see anything that day, but it still remains one of my favorite hunts!


Thank you allforthe inputs!

buckhunter2054

I think that rattling is one of those things where sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. I do think that I have better luck using real antlers than I do with a rattling bag. I actually rattled in acouple of small bucks this year and last year during gun season I rattled in a 8 pt that I shot. I have actually only had two bucks that I can remember that actually came running in after I rattled. Usually though from what I have experienced they will come in quiet and just look even the big ones. I think they like to sneak in and check things out first to see who is fighting. Just my experience anyways.

DougMD

I've rattled probably 15 times, and rattled in two bucks, one a 5 pointer and one a 6 pointer, both around the third week of October. As a percentage of success per try, ithas been far more effective for me than grunting or using tinks.

utmstudent

I've gotten up in my stand and started rattling and have had bucks come in so fast that I couldn't even get my gun up to shoot before they got scared and ran off. One year I had one run right up to my stand, I could have jumped on top of him he was so close.

skeeter 7MM

Thanks AL. Yes it just started to snow when I took the pic by the time I had him and the quad loaded it waspretty close to a blizzard. By night fall the landscape wasvery white. I too love hunting in the gentle snow falls, it has gone both ways for me lots of activity to hunkered down but sure is purdy.

Best of luck and keep at it. If you can get some real horns that aren't heavily weathered give them a go as well.