who_else

when time comes to rattle this season, how long should u rattle? and when rattling, u dont stop right? trying to figure this out. second, when grunting do u never grunt when the deer is looking ur way? i heard this from someone, only to grunt when their head is turned away from ur direction. and is there a certain pattern of grunts for a doe or buck? thanks, who_else

SchuylkillOutdoorsman

I only rattle about 5 min. every 30 min or so.. I wouldnt grunt when they are looking in your direction, the only time I grunt when i see deer is if they are walking away from me in hopes they will turn and come back. Sometimes that works other times it doesnt.

skeeter 7MM

Rattling: I start off with a 20-30 sec low intensity rattling session than wait about 20 minutes, where I will increase the intensity slightly and the duration. I continue this pattern till I reach about a minute or so long session with my max intensity (which is low to some standards). My rattling has always been grinding and tinkling vs smashing the horns toegther. I also add thumping on the ground, raking of trees and low toned grunts to finish off each sequence. I my wait time is from 15 min. to 40 min. between sessions.

Grunting: I rarely grunt when a deer is looking my way, their ability to pick up and key on to any noise or movement is among the best of any game animal. I have however grunted with the tube facing a different direction to allow a window to shoulder or draw the bow, this has been mixed with some success and sometimes nothing just stare downs. I mostly use grunting to stop, turn or draw on visual contacts of deer that are strolling by and I am interested in. I never grunt at a deer I don' t intend to harvest, see above comments...just makes no sense to bust your spot for fun. I also will use the grunt or doe bleat to cover up my noise, I usually stop grunt and then wait. I blind call when rattling my calls vary from doe bleats, social grunts, contact grunts, tending grunts and sometimes more aggressive grunts. If using aggressive grunts it can be a double edge sword, yes true it can draw a dominant buck out but it can also drive many bucks away (including some dominant bucks who careless to fight or have been wooped) As such I suggest staying with the nonthreating variety until you get a good grasp on calling and your area. These include: contact, social and tending grunts.

burniegoeasily

My general rule of thumb is;

Pre rut, tickle a little but not much. finish with a little grunt. Do this in a cycle of tickle about 20 to 30 sec. and do about every hour.

During rut. Rattle hard for about 30 sec. to about 1 min. Do every hour. Finish with a quick grunt followed by a little longer grunt. You can even stomp the ground and rake the trees around during the rut.

Spot rattleing. During the rut, when I see a buck I want to bring in, I give him a little grunt first, After words I rattle, not as hard as I do blindly, then wait. Dont give up if he disapears, He might not feel comfortable turning back, but might hit cover then turn back taking a different path.

One thing you must consider when rattling is where you are at. Set up where you are at a cross wind of their path. Big bucks will never come to a fight with the wind to their back. Dont over do it, it takes some bucks 30 min to an hour to respond. If you rattle too often you will spook the big guys.

Hope some of this works for you. Good luck.

born2hunthate2work

i have grunted in two deera 8 point and a 6 point. The first time i grunted i used a series of grrrrrrrp grrrrp. Two or three times every hour. I did this and called in a doe and two little fawns, the fawns came no more than 10 yards away. It was a beatiful site. Well the does and fawns left so i grunted about 5 min later and sure enough up came a 6 point 25 yards away, easy shoting with a 30/.06. To grunt depends on weather and the mood the dee are in, i believe it is different in every county. But yes it is true that you should not grunt when the deer is looking right at you, they will surely spot you