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Rattling up deer #8477414 12/16/21 01:34 PM
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spacejunkie Offline OP
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I've only seen one post on here lately about rattling up a buck. I have a set off an 8 point that I used for many years that had good sounds and brought in a few on certain occasions. How many are still doing it and what technique works best for you? I found that you either banged them together or off a bush. One or the other but never mixed the techniques together.

Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8477430 12/16/21 01:51 PM
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When you start seeing scrapes , start rattling,. When you start to see bucks roaming and pointedly looking for either their first piece of companionship or looking for the very last one, start rattling.

Sneak in quietly and rattle like all get out. You cannot match the nose of a real encounter, believe me here. Conceal where you can. try to go with another and have the shooter at a somewhat higher elevation and with the rattler concealed as best as possible. Take a four foot 1X2 and stomp it on the ground and utilize it to smash the brush. You can't really do this effectively with your set of horns.

it's a wonderful thing whet it all comes together.

[Linked Image]

Last edited by Hudbone; 12/16/21 01:52 PM.
Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8477665 12/16/21 06:03 PM
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I have rattled up hundreds of bucks in west Texas. I simple find a good vantage point. hit the horns together loudly for one minute,
Stop for one minute, then hit them again for one minute, stop one more time, and hit them once again. If nothing has shown up
I move at least a mile away. I don't pound the ground, scrape a bush, nothing fancy, just hit the horns together. When I see
a buck coming, I start to tickle the horns instead of pounding them. I love rattling. I've rattle two shooters up in east Texas in four
years, but lots of young bucks come in.


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Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8477848 12/16/21 09:22 PM
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A fresh set of antlers with some tine length (10 point rack is best.) Cut off the brow tines. Start by banging the antlers together then grinding them for about a minute. Stop, look and wait another minute then rattle again another minute or two. Wait about 5 minutes. Then rattle again about 1 minute, wait about 10 minutes. If nothing, move. Be sure that you are hidden well (either sit on the ground or a chair) and wear camo. Bucks will try to get down wind of you. Spray a cover sent around your area.

Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8477895 12/16/21 10:25 PM
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I've got some old mule deer antlers that I use that work pretty well.


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Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8479024 12/18/21 12:31 AM
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I've rattled for years. Usually when there's no deer movement and I'm bored. This year I've seen so many deer it hasn't been necessary. When it works it's like magic. I've killed my largest bucks by rattling.


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Re: Rattling up deer [Re: Hudbone] #8479271 12/18/21 06:14 AM
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Originally Posted by Hudbone
When you start seeing scrapes , start rattling,. When you start to see bucks roaming and pointedly looking for either their first piece of companionship or looking for the very last one, start rattling.

Sneak in quietly and rattle like all get out. You cannot match the nose of a real encounter, believe me here. Conceal where you can. try to go with another and have the shooter at a somewhat higher elevation and with the rattler concealed as best as possible. Take a four foot 1X2 and stomp it on the ground and utilize it to smash the brush. You can't really do this effectively with your set of horns.

it's a wonderful thing whet it all comes together.

[Linked Image]



I like that beard and spur display u got there. Always looking for different ideas.

Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8479392 12/18/21 02:53 PM
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Timing has been key for me. Right before or the right after the peak of the rut has been the best for me. In eastern LaSalle county it was always right around Jan 1st every year. I mimic 2 bucks trying to kill each other and they are not lightly tapping antlers together. They will be plowing into and over brush, cactus, small trees, rocks, etc. They are making noise and a lot of it. I have witnessed many bucks fights and most are short and intense. When you witness one that is very long it will show how to rattle. Any fight with good buck numbers will show you how fast other bucks and how far they will come into the fight. I mix in a grunt tube. When deer are aggressively coming to horns you don't need to do much but rattle. That is when it is fun. Other times I may have to paw the ground with an antler, scrape/thrash brush with an antler, rattle aggressively for longer periods, etc. Every time is different IME. For me when rattling responses are usually under 2 minutes or 7 minutes or longer. The shortest rattling setup response time was less than 10 seconds and all I did was scrape the ground with the antler and then thump the ground with the main beam. No rattling was needed for that buck, but I continued and had two more bucks respond. The longest was 29 minutes when a buck finally snuck in and stepped out. On days when it is calm and sound carries I have had bucks come on a dead run from 600+ yards away. One buck, I rattled...he run to me...I stopped...he stopped...till he got to 45 yards down wind from me. I watched a VHS video from way back in the early 90's of two South Texas bucks fighting. The fight lasted 40 minutes IIRC. The hunter was so busy videoing the 2 bucks fighting he never saw a really big deer with droptine(s) run thru the frame till he got to camp later and watched the video with friends. A buck he would have shot but was so busy videoing he never saw the buck and hunted the rest of the season and never seen the buck again. Most bucks I have rattled into one spot was 11(that I saw). When bucks stall out just out of range, throw in a snort wheeze and watch a change in how aggressive they will become. Fun to experience and fun way to hunt.


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Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8479609 12/18/21 06:57 PM
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I know that it can work well if the timing and sex ratio is right. However, I dont do it often because I dont feel it usually offers enough of a good look at the buck to properly age and score and get a good shot.


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Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8479947 12/19/21 01:49 AM
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Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8480437 12/19/21 05:03 PM
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I mix rattling and brush knocking. Kick a couple rocks around too. Make it as realistic as possible.

Re: Rattling up deer [Re: spacejunkie] #8480465 12/19/21 05:55 PM
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Nice post , thank you.


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