YOU CAN RATTLE IN BUCKS!

By: Ray Hansen

If one question exists that immediately provokes a love/hate response from hunters, it is: “Have you had any luck rattling in deer?” Some will say it has worked for them and they continue to try it occasionally, while others will say it has never done anything for them and that they have given up trying that strategy. Maybe I can help make some sense of this “deer calling” tactic.

Lets begin with a look at what “rattling” is. In the simplest form, it is the use of a pair of deer antlers, rattled together, to imitate the sound of two bucks lightly sparring on one end of the spectrum or in a death struggle at the other extreme. This is done in hopes of attracting nearby bucks to the sound and providing a clean shot as they move around looking for the bucks they think must be close. For safety reasons, rattling is mainly used when bow hunting. In addition to regular antlers, synthetic antlers, and “rattle bags” are used to produce these sounds.

Many believe that rattling is more successful in southern states like Texas, but I – and many others – have used it to attract and kill deer in northern states such as Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Herd dynamics such as the buck to doe ratio likely have more to do with successful rattling than the area of the country in which it is used. Bottom line: it is worth using anywhere deer are found.

I carry a rattle bag because it is more portable than antlers, and I feel it can be just as effective. As a side note, because I take many things with me when bow hunting, I use a small backpack to keep things handy and to keep at least one hand free since I have to carry my bow as well. This year I will be using a new style bag called the “Treestand Rattl’r” made by Brushwolf Gear of St. Cloud, Minnesota (www.brushwolfgear.com).

Larry Boehm, CEO of Brushwolf and an avid deer hunter passed along a few tips about how to stack the odds in your favor. First off, the Treestand Rattl’r is sold with a detachable thirty-foot cord so that it can be lowered to ground level from an elevated position and manipulated with the cord so the sound is contained at the ground. That may prevent a buck from looking upward for the source of the rattling it hears, and discovering you in the tree.

Larry says he has enjoyed the best results rattling from mid-October to Mid-November in northern states, but that it has also attracted curious bucks in September. He places a log or branch at the base of the tree he is hunting from, in a spot where he can bang the bag against it for maximum volume. He also swings the bag out on the cord several feet from the tree then drags it back in to create additional attractive noise.

Here is something I have learned: at times you will try rattling because you are not seeing any deer and you hope to attract one into range. Remember that bucks will often circle downwind of the sounds to scent-check the area before coming in. For this reason, use “blind rattling” from a stand that deer will have difficulty approaching from downwind. One at the base of a bluff, one with an open area downwind, a place with a river downwind or similar obstruction in that direction are examples.

In other cases, you may spot a deer passing well out of effective bow range, and you may try to pull him closer by rattling. I carry binoculars so I can get a good look at how the noise affects that particular buck, and let that information help me to decide whether to continue rattling or to wait a while.

Finally, you may experience a day when deer are just not moving, so you decide to rattle at regular intervals – say every half hour just to see if you can pull one in that would have otherwise not passed by your stand. I once rattled in a nice eight-point buck this way, on the fifth rattling sequence I completed. I elected not to take that one, but he stayed around my stand for twenty minutes trying to find his perceived rivals!

In any case, check out Brushwolf’s website for additional tips and try rattling again or for the first time this year. Maybe you’ll be the one with a few new stories to tell around the campfire this hunting season.

Copyright Ray Hansen, 2008