missedbigbuck3

Hey everybody, hope season has gone well for all so far. I plan on doing some hunting this weekend, last bow weekend before rifle season here in MO. I was planning on doing some rattling because i think the rut is getting ready to kick in, if its not already here. I am going to drag rag with doe pee and rattle. Does anyone have any luck rattling in the evening, or is it not something you should do except in the morning? Is there any kind of sequence i should be using this time of year? Do you all grunt while you rattle? Will the rattling work well with the doe pee? Thanks and good luck.


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mobow

First, welcome to the forums! Glad to have you.

Second, I've not ever had any luck w/ rattling, grunting, OR doe pee, but that doesn't stop me from using it. I say hell yes, give it a whirl, what have we got to lose? I will be using both for the next 2 weeks.

Buck Huntin Girl

We had GREAT success with rattling last Wednesday and Thursday mornings. My buddy was rattling Wednesday morning, rattled in an 8pt that he took down, while sitting in his stand giving it some time, he rattled in another 3 bucks in shooting range.

Thursday morning, he sat in my buddy stand with me and rattled. Before we even started we had a small 8pt (I think) come in at 10 yards. After that, he started a rattling sequence adn within 10 minutes we had a 150-160 class at 80 yards. He hit the bag, the big guy turned on a dime and came straight at us to 30 yards. I missed the shot, went right under him. 10 minutes after that, at the same place he was initially spotted at, we had two other large bucks come in, probably 120-130 class between the two of them (judging from 80 yards hard to do), they didn't come right to us, but I am fairly sure the rattling brought them to where they were. 10 minutes after that, another good buck came in at 50 yards. 5 minutes after that, I turned to scan the woods behind me and had a decent 8 standing 5 yards to my left. I had no idea he was there, who knows how long he had been there, but as I turned and spotted him, he turned and walked away.

I saw firsthand that rattling is indeed working right now, at least in our neck of the woods.

west_hunter21

I tried some rattling and gunting Saturday mid-morning and again in the evening...no luck, though. I think the wind had a little bit to do with it. I'll definitely be trying it again next weekend!

MidwestJ

Sat on an edge of a clearing/small field and rattled yesterday afternoon.

Heard something run in behind me (up wind of me) but never saw it. Forgot about it (the noise) and then 20 minutes later....I hear the snort like I've been busted. (I've heard that when you rattle, the deer will come in down wind of you to sniff out the noise and then move in to investigate.)

I'm thinking a decoy would've been worth a million bucks. Had the deer seen something to go along with the noise, maybe I could've sealed the deal.

I didn't get too crazy or too loud with it. throw a few grunts and then rattle maybe at about 50% of "full bore buck fighting" loud. Mix in a few grunts as you rattle too.

At first I was reluctant about making too much noise or rattling too long...don't sweat it. Whenever bucks fight, (from what I've seen in the videos) it sounds like the woods is going to collapse.

Smyas01

I would use a little buck urine too, rattling is suppose to simulatea buck 2 buck confrontation. If all an incomming buckcan smell is is doe urine, it may spook him. From what I have read, you should rattle in the morning, just in case you call one in you don't want him hearing you from a large distance and then finally getting to you as your on your way out of the woods.

cwillard

Yes it does work in the afternoons. Main thing is its all about being in the right spot at the right time. O and I grunt while i rattle and if i am on the ground I scrape around while rattling.

Smyas01

Sorry if it sounded like I said it doesn't work in the afternoon,I just meant that you don't want to be rattling an hour before dark and have the buck of a life time see you and run of as your leaving your stand. As for calling, if you do so properly it will really help you out, it sounds even more realistic. If you call make sure you use two different tones to simulate two different bucks, it may also help to throw a doe bleat in there.

fun2hunt

MidwestJ, your post made me think. I'll be on an edge about 15 feet up over looking a wooded hill that leads to a river. I will be sitting in a chair and there are some woods behind be but the edge is about 30-40 yards behind me. I intend to sit and rattle where the wind is blowing my scent behind me and I'm wondering now if I should put a scent bomb with buck urine on the edge in case one circles around behind me. Both for protection and for a chance at a shot if a buck stops to sniff. I had thought about using an estrus bomb down the hill in front of me in case one comes in. What do you all advise?

mofireman

I've rattled some every year but I can only remember "calling" in one buck. I was sitting on the ground underneath a big cedar tree overlooking a big field on the back of our farm. I did a rattling series complete with thumping the antlers onto the ground real hard (footsteps), as well as raking some nearby branches and almost immediately I saw an 8 pt come into the field and look right into the corner where I was sitting!! He was clearly looking to see the fight that didn't exist.

Unfortunately I can't make the same type of sequence from the tree stand because I usually don't have many branches nearby and I can't simulate the sound of the ground battle, except for bashing horns. I don't know that it makes a difference but the one time I do it on the ground, it sounds very real, and I see immediate results. Kind of makes me wonder.