Schultzy

1st of all its nice to have a matched set, easier on the fingers! I like using antlers off of a 120" 8 or 10 point. Not to big but not to small either.

The buck I got last year I rattled him in with little 50" sheds from different animals. The one side was a small 3 point side off of a whitetail and the other side was a 3 point side off of a Couse' Deer from New Mexico, Couse' Deer are a small version of a whitetail. My brother had my other rattling antlers so I had to make some up that day before I went out hunting that evening. I got lucky and it worked.

Schultzy

They are very hard on tires!!

early in

LT, there's no real specific size that needs to be used. Just a set that has some mass to it (so they will be heard) with some points. You want a set that's not going to bust up too badly when you whack themtogether. A lot of the time, just tickling the points together is all you will need to do to get the reaction you want. There is such a thing as over doing it too.

nodog

True enough, but does it matter? Deer are curious and the sounds we make are geared to get them to come and see what's up. The sounds made by deer have to vary so why would the real deal be anymore effective than the bag?. You'd think a buck would be a little shy about coming in if he thinks a butt whooping is possible so the bag should work just as well. I know they pack a heck of a lot easier and I'm getting older and tierder.

Most hunters want to be seen as top predator, maybe these guys are just using that to get guys who want to be, seperated from their cash. They aren't cheap.


Honestly, I want to step things up so I asked google for the best rattlers, these came up. Having never seen a serious discussion on rattlers (type not use)over the years on these boards, unlike calls, I'm wondering if I'm missing out on something.

Paul L Mohr

I will agree they sound different, but I don't think deer are that smart. And from a distance they don't sound all that different I have tried both and one didn't seem to work any better the other, but carrying around a couple of full sized antlers is sort of a pain compared to a bag I can stick in my pocket.

Paul

Schultzy

Using a real set of antlers you can be as aggressive as you want. You can act like a sparring/screwing around match or you can get right to the fight part of it. The person using the antlers is usually the one screwing it up on how aggresive they are with them. Too much will mess it up, the hunter using them is at fault, not the antlers.

Schultzy

Rattling bucks in Paul isn't that much fun really, its tough to do. Some years I've had awesome success and others I've had terrible luck. Everything has got to be perfect to make it work it seems. In my opinion deer know the difference in these sounds, its no different then a buck grunting in the woods. For example we grunt and nothing shows, a real buck comes by and grunts and before you know it you have 3 to 4 of them running around. I've seen that happen all to often.[8D]

I know they both work (bag and real antlers) but I think one works much better then the other.

JeramyK

I use a rattle bag but I'd love to have a nice set of real antlers. I'm not spending $350 for them though.

early in

There is no doubt in my mind that the closer the buck to doe ratio is, the better results you will have with rattling.If you have let's say,a ratio of 6-8 doe for everybuck, there is NO REASON for bucks to fight with each otherto find a receptive doe because there's plenty to go around.
Conversely, if there's only maybe 2 or 3 to one then there is competitionfor those doe, and bucks will fight over them/respond to rattling. Up north (I'm not allowed to say where) I've had great results rattling because thedoe to buckratio is 2 or 3 to one, and trust me it's fun.Actually watching a buck respond to my rattling was one of the highlights of my hunting career!
I don't even bring my rattling antlers into the woods here in Pa because it spooks them!

BrownBow33

I use a rattling bag. Its easy to cary and very effective.