arrow2512

I've rattled buck in useing a rattle bag but found out it works better with real antlers, i guess it sounds more real to them. I had a guy tell me once that some guys said they have rattle with no respones. He also told that if i were going to rattle , you need to know what size bucks are in your hunting area.If you have average size bucks in yourarea you can't get out a big set of antlers and try and call them in with it which make alot of sense.If you were a small buck would you come running in to the sound of big antlers.So know the size of bucks you have in your area then you can get the size of the antler that would work best .

zrexpilot

Ive had pretty good success with it and all my good bucks were killed by rattling them in. I use pretty descent size horns and have had a lot of small bucks come in, I have taken a few does as well rattling horns. All the deer are curious and want to see a fight it seems.
I make a lot of noise when rattling, banging the ground and stomping, raking brush or a tree and banging horns. Try to make it sound like two deer are pushing each other around, dont just rattle alone. Sometimes if you see a buck out of range just tickle the horns, this will usually get them to come right in. When I start rattling I start with horn tickling, if nothing apears within a few minutes I start to get louder and more agressive, give it a rest and start out tickling again, sometimes a buck will hang up out of sight but in real close, tickling will get him to show himself.

blugil123

TRY IT. Use an old set of antlers. Cut off the brow tines so you dont bang up your fingers. All you need is a nice 6 point rack (W/O brow tines ). Pre Rut and rut are best. Be ready for them to come in. Sometimes they have come in and there I sit with antlers in my hands. They know RIGHT where the sound came from usually. Thats what is really amazing to me. THEY KNOW. Itwont work every time out, butrattling can break up monotony and make you want to sit in the stand a bit longer. Its noise you can make from the stand that wont screw up your hunt. Have fun with it. AND BE SAFE. Before you leave the stand, throw them down away from the tree or tie them to your bow for lowering. Im not preaching, just giving some opinions I have learned from over 25 years of hunting.

fastetti

How do you guys feel about rattling in heavily hunted areas? Ive always been a little Skeptical about it because of all the hunters that are around and Im sure they use everything known to man to get them in. The one spot I traditionally hunt doesn't have many big bucks, just basket rack 8 pointers at best. I just worry sometimes that during the rut, if you rattle too aggressive you may spook any decent bucks and if you don't rattle hard enough they won't come in. Ive done everything else under the sun for deer, I guess I might as well give ita shot soon.

zrexpilot

you could rattle in a buck for someone else by accident, they will come in from a long ways off. I did that once or twice, we use to hunt a private 100 acre ranch, there were 4 of us on it one day, I was rattling at one end and my friend said he had a buck come out of a creek bottom beelining straight to me, well he busted him before I had the chance.

Mojotex

I have tried this, as all too often presented on the TV shows, "sure fire" method to bring in mature bucks. For me this has not worked well enough for me to bother with it. I guess I started "rattling" in the early 1980's during what some folks call pre-rut right on through the peak of the rut. At times I have combined this with aggression grunts I can say with some confidence this has brought in maybe 4 to 6 bucks. But no more. I have had far more results using natural deer scents such as pee I collected from deer bladders and wet tarsal glands. I have used these used to make territorial markers, drag-rag trails and mock scrapes.

OKIEBOWHNTR

I have only once and that was in Kansas the first time I sat in a stand !

ktbearpaws

I haven't had any sucess with it. But, I'm sure I eventully will.
Too many people have already said they've had it to work.
I used a rattle bag in the past, but, I think I'm going to try the antlers of a nice 6 point i took last season.
Somehow, I think it will sound less intimidating to the smaller bucks and boost the confidence of the bigger ones.
I hope I'm right.

ElkNutz

I use synthetic rattling horns. I rattle alot during the last two weeks of October first week of November. It's not uncommon to have 2 or3 diffrent bucks show up in a morning. I often have does show up as well. Closest I have ever had a buck was 7 yards. I had a small 6 point show up last year and for the life of him. He could not find those fighting bucks. I rattled him back 3 times that morning. I love it! It isvery useful tactic for pulling bucks off the neighbors or off of " no hunting " land.

whitetaildreamer

Where I have had the most success rattling is when I have worked as a team with a hunting buddy. What I have seen quite often is a big buck will try to circle around the rattle and come in down wind of where the rattling is coming from. We will stagger our stands so that one of us is a little downwind of the other and the front guy does the rattling. We have taken a few good bucks over the years using this system.