Rattled in a young 4pt. yesterday morning in Young county. Maybe the most fun thing for me to try and do successfully while hunting after 40+ years. When you bring a dude in on a string looking to fight, it's quite the rush. Whom else enjoys rattling?

I love it. Have rattled hundreds of bucks in nearly 60 years of hunting. In EYES FRONT, I wrote several chapters on rattling whitetails with lots of rattling tips. Michael Hanback came down and hunting whitetails with me and he wrote an article for OUTDOOR LIFE about some of our hunts, article was titled "The Rattlin' Man".
Adios,
Gary

My favorite way to hunt when I have the acreage and buck to doe ratios I like. I have rattled deer in a lot of different areas of the state....my favorite area to rattle was up in the lower Panhandle in Kent/Stonewall counties. You could rattle bucks in from a long distance and see them coming to you. South Texas is hard to beat when it is on and the Hill Country is fun with the deer numbers as high as they are. What works this year may not work next year and same for ranches...one ranch may have great success one year and not the next. My place 2 yrs ago was really good for rattling and last year was a bust. Have not tried this year but I do not have a tag left for an over 13" buck anyways. I am going on a hunt this week and really go to try to rattle in a good buck to kill for myself...I have never rattled in a buck that I would put on the wall.

Definitely the most fun way to hunt w/t. I have shed antlers from two different bucks that I use. I've tried the rattling sticks in a bag, but it's just not the same as busting your knuckles with the real thing!

It’s actually the only way I hunt anymore. I haven’t set in a blind and watched a feeder since my kids were little many years ago. Pulling in a big mature buck is the ultimate rush...bar none.

I've had the same experience as stx. When I hunted Kent county it worked like a charm. Sitting on a bluff overlooking salt fork, you could see them coming from a quarter mile away. Here in Erath county it can be hit or miss. I did rattle up 2 nice bucks. One yesterday morning and one this morning, even with the wind howling. My favorite way to hunt.

Any 13 pointers?

^^^^Not yet. It's gonna' happen though. I can feel it in my bones. This is crazy weather. I'm hunting in shorts and flip flops in november. Wind has sure kicked up the cedar dust. Maybe it'll lay right before dark.

I've had better luck with grunting that rattling. I can only remember getting busted by bucks that scent checked me downwind in the brush when rattling. There have been a number of times, the most recent being just last week, when I had bucks show up quickly after creating a tending grunt. Not sure but it might make more sense for a buck to show quicker for what he thinks is a doe than for a fight between two bucks.

IMO, the best setup when using any type of call is one were your downwind side is open, such as a pasture or field, so that nothing can scent check you without being seen.

Best buck of mine was rattled up.

I’ve tried it several times in Freestone county with zero luck. Wife’s brother does well rattling out near Sanderson.

Is there an optimal time that it works best? Before or during the rut?

Me