seankb

Recently I started learning about calling and rattling. I hunt in south eastern Michigan, and was in the field on the first weekend in oct. About 20 mins after shooting light saw a bachelor group doing a little sparing so I took out my primos rattle bag and did as small sequence. The group was about 150yrds away and after hearing me slowly walked to within 100yrds but then stopped, I waited for about 15min, then they all turned and started to head the way they were originally going I tried to rattle again, and they all flagged their saddening white flags and trotted off. Not sure what I did wrong need help. The second scenario was also that weekend which was the first bow weekend, I was able to call in with a fawn distress bleat 4 different doe and one 4pt. The doe rushed in hard, and the 4pt only cautiously changed his direction and traveled right under my stand. Here's the problem, this past weekend ( the 3rd bow weekend) I tried both rattling and calling and nothing seemed to work. Is there someone that can help me with this. Remember I am a beginner at these techniques and I fully understand that they won't work every time but it was very disheartening to see them not work at all this past weekend.

kateraxl2381

on the first question...they simply didnt see what they wanted to see..so they took off..they are a little smarter than one might think.

whitetailaddiction

first: just when you think a whitetail will do something...he'll do something different

second: some deer just have that sixth sense and can just get that feeling that something aint just right.

third: That's why we love to hunt 'em.

sounds like the rattling worked on the bachelor group
They have an uncanny sense of pinpointing where sounds come from. Bear with me and let's imagine what the deer were thinking. One says: "Did you hear that?" "Yeah." says another "Sounded like it came from over there." "Yeah I thought so too but I don't see anything... Do You?... "Nothing there." "Hmm... this is kinda creepy. We have some of the best eyes around... You'd think we would see two other bucks sparring over there wouldn'tcha?" "Yep, sure would." Oh well, lets go to the acorn patch... Then you tickle the horns again...
They say: "YIKES!" THIS IS JUST WRONG! LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!!!

As for the deer not responding to your calls ... Deer become "educated" they have been fooled by being called before and have learned that there is something wrong when they come looking for other deer and find nothing. Call Sparingly i.e. don't call too much.

Those gadgets can give you an edge but don't expect them to work every time.

iSnipe

LOL! You poor rookie.

You don't even appreciate the fact many hunters have tried it a dozen times with no luck at all.

You're doing well. As for the bachelor group, after the 100 yard stall, you should have tickled more instead of letting them turn around. I guess it's easy to second guess afterwards. That's why they say hindsight sees 20/20.

Keep it up.

iSnipe

halfbakedi420

non-deer dude...


gruntin and rattlin is good durin the rut, here in texas anyways, and when the rub that velvet off they wanna use those sukers, like gettin new bow, and will run in to find a lil sparrin match, but if there aint n e deer where the sound came from then they are oughta there....so my advise...use the calls quick, and stop..for a long time...........this will let the deer hear the sound but not pin-point it...he will, or she even...will be curious as to where the sounds came from and try and venture towards them, if they havnt pinpoited the location, they will keep on comin..
in essence let the deers curiosity bring em in...if it were rifle season it'd be a little different considerin range!!!!

seankb

Thanks and I do agree somewhat. That being said I tried calling about 8 yrs ago and thought it was pointless. Never saw it work and when they did notice it sent them haulin butt the other way so I gave up. After doing some reading and talking to some folk I decided to try again at the end of last year. Finally to my surprise called in a 8pt so as you could guess my excitement and anticipation for this year ramped up, I decided to learn as much as I could in the off season. Then what followed was that first weekend, going into this past hunt I was sitting on the edge of my seat sweatin just to get out there. So I do have a little knowledge of failure and not seeing it work but these darn beautiful animals got me all excited then took a dump on my head. Thanks for the tips but if you could let me know what I should try the next time maybe a different call or a diff cadence not sure. Like suggested I don't want to continue to use the same thing cause I do believe they are patterning it now so I need to switch things up a little just don't know what. Thanks again for the advise and encouragement its nice to see this stuff actually start working.

remmy123

i hunt in south west michigan, just getting the bucks to respond at all is pretty good in michigan, when my calling doesn't work i remind my self that we hunt in a state with a heck of alot of pressure and the things that work in areas with very little pressure often dont have a chance in our state, as to your question i dont think you really need to change anything it all depends on the mood of each deer. A couple of years ago i rattled to a nice 8 pt and he instantly ran away, the very next night i did the same thing in the same spot and this time he came in on a string you just never know what they will do on any given day. good luck on the east side the rut is coming soon.

Valentine

have to learn that it's hunting and not video games on the computer.

That computer isn't always the best training ground in every case.

iSnipe

I quite haven't figured it all out, but I can say with ABSOLUTE conviction, that it's your mindset, your belief, your attitude you possess while you embark on your destiny, that determines your results.

You can make heaven of hell or hell of heaven.

Whether you think you can, whether you think you can't, you're right.

You're hung by the tongue. What you say, which is the son of your thoughts, is ultimately the driving force in what you believe.

If you believe your success with calling will be limited or even worse, no success at all, usually that's the end result. Alternately, having a mindset that things will go your way, somehow by the way the universe works, we accomplish the things we focus our minds on.

One's success hastens as their thoughts collect on the positive aspect of a result.

Moral? If you think you can, you can, if not, then most likely not.

Calling is a lot like flipping cards over. You get 52 cards and there's 4 aces. It's theoretically possible to flip 48 successive cards over and not see an ace. It's highly unlikely, but a minute chance it is. The opposite of that is possible to, where one gets 4 aces in a row.

If you think about calling, there are 52 cards and if you go through all of them, 4 WILL be aces. I hate to overly simplify, but that's something to seriously consider, because now you know if you go through enough calling sequences, EVENTUALLY the results you are looking for will manifest.

Happy trails,

iSnipe

early in

It's been my experience (mostly in Alberta) that rattling only works when the buck to doe ratio is close. The closer it is the better it works! When you have a 1 buck to 8 doe ratio, like where I live/hunt, the bucks don't NEED to fight to get hot does. So, when they hear rattling they KNOW it's a crock, and break camp! I just use the Can, and get results. Seriously.