b2simple

During the pre-rut, when is the most effective time to rattle, Morning, Afternoon or Evening? Thanks!

lemond33

mannn, i would think any of them. i have rattled them in at different times of the day. morning and evening probably are the best.

TURKEY FAN

Well to rattle you have to have a great buck to doe ratio, if its backwards, then there is no reason for deer to fight because there is plenty of does to go around, and they will not respond to rattling, except the real young 1 and a half year old and small 2yrs olds. Rattling dont work where i hunt.

Tree climber

not to start anything ; but I have heard the ratio thing all my hunting life and that is a good while.
where I hunt there has not been a lot of does taken,I mean you can see 20 does to 1 buck.I think that is way out of wack!
to get to the point ; I take 2 to 3 bucks(good bucks) a year by rattling them in(close)15 to 20 yards most of the time.it is late bow season and then B/P season is when most of the rut is where I hunt.
Morning , evening , anytime I can get off to hunt.I got off at 3pm on one hunt,was in my stand by 3:20pm,started to rattle,in less than 10 min. I was dragging a nice buck to the truck.I took another one from the same stand the next morning,the wife watched both hunts from her tree.

so I think if you are close enough for a buck to hear you and you don't beat the horns to death,you have a good chance of a buck coming to just see what is going on.
When I rattle , I just tickle them as it is called,maybe it can be heard 100 yards if it is calm.

where I hunt I like to hear the other hunters say we have to many does for the rattling to work.I just set and smile and listen.go to my stand and get out the horns.

Double Creek

I too live in a high doe to buck ratio area. I have had limited success on rattling. Most of the bucks responding are small bucks. I've probably rattled close to 50-60 hunts over the years, with about 4 responses.

muzzyman88

Tree climber, I totally agree. Our property is polluted with doe. We do have a good number of alpha class bucks though. I normally don't rattle too much during pre rut here. The big boys really don't get too excited about the rut until its time to breed. Seems they realize how the whole thing goes each year and know when to turn on the machismo and when to lay back and let the little buggers waste all their energy. I'll rattle the first two weeks in November, when they are chasing does and I start to see the big boys coming out of the wood work.

Bukmastr

Just like most aspects of whitetail hunting, rattling has different results regionally. In S.E. Wisconsin we have about 2 or three days of heavey response. Usually around Nov. 1st. Before that is waisting time and after that is waisting time. My best results come in the mornings. But evenings have been good also. I generally only rattle as a last resort, prefering to catch them off gaurd instead. I used to rattle alot when I was younger, but every year more and more peaple are trying that tech. and by the time a buck gets to an age worthy of harvest, he has been introduced to hunters rattleing and learned to check the situation very carefully before comeing in, that is, if he comes in at all. My best results for rattleing have been by carefully picking the set ups. I try to set up on the down wind side of a known doe bedding area. If at all possible I try to put an obstical down wind of my set up, such as a river, gully, road, building, etc. to keep the big bucks from circleing down wind. There will usually be a decent trail 20 to 50 yards down wind of the doe bedding area that runs paralel to the bedding area. Bucks will cruise the down wind side to sent check for does. Rattleing should be short but heavey, or bucks will pin point the noise to your exact position. At least thats what works best for me here. Good luck!

Solax

I hunt in MD and have tried rattleing with very little success. I was wondering if any one in MD has had any luck with rattleing?