11 replies to this topic

[Brubaker]

I know its getting late in the season to rattle. But curious what people use. Rattle bag, real horns or plastic horns?
This is the first yr I have tried it, not much success. I use a smaller frame 8 pt set.

[dbllungem]

I've had "some " success using both a rattle bag and real antlers. My experiences have shown me that a lot of your success will depend on 2 factors...the buck to doe ratio in your area, and the natural disposition of the buck (I believe bucks are like people, with some just being more naturally aggressive than others). I've also had my best results in imitating a light sparring match rather than a knock down drag out fight.

[H&S Archer]

I have great luck with rattling bucks AFTER I see them. If it looks like they are not going to cross my path beak out the rattling bag. Here in Michigan I think you best going light on the rattling. There is no monster 12 points 4 1/2+ year old bucks battling it out in any of the wood I hunt. Go just load enough to get there attention 4 out of 5 times they will come closer for me.

[OLDFLYER]

Do I rattle? No. But I do gurgle sometimes. It all depends on what I had for breakfast.

[Hunter2]

I have many times when its right to try but it doesnt seem to make much difference.

[SPECIALIZED]

Yes,in the past have had some success with rattling, but recently more productive with the grunt call.

[Thunderbolt]

I've used the rattle bag myself and it does work, where their in a few hundreds yards and you can see their moves.but never rattled and had a buck just come in...Thunderbolt

[webfarmer]

I've had zero success rattling here in southern Michigan over many years and attempts. At least nothing I can absolutely say was success. Far more reaction with grunting. Good luck!

[TRG3]

After several years of not rattling, I decided to give it another try after reading several "how to" articles. My rattlin' antlers were six pointers of medium mass. I quickly learned to remove the brow tines to avoid smashing my thumbs! As per the article, my method was to rattle for no more than one minute every 20 minutes or so, keeping it loud and trying to immitate a shoving match by grinding the antlers together, much like you'd see on YouTube. I probably rattled in 6-8 small bucks over about that many trips to the deer woods, but as was pointed out in most of the articles on rattling, the bucks will often come in with the wind in their face, which happened to me every time, resulting in them winding me. I saw deer but got no shots. Sooooo...I gave up rattling and went back to my favorite method of hunting, which is to locate funnels, especially along steep creek banks, while paying attention to wind direction. While funnel hunting didn't improve my buck sightings, at least the bucks I did see were relaxed and within bow range had I decided to shoot. My conclusion from limited rattling in Southern Illinois is that it works for bringing in bucks, but probably will not result in a shot for the one doing the rattling. If I were hunting with a buddy who was set up some 70-100 yards down wind from the rattling location, then it might be a method to consider. Of course, YMMV.

[Cyclonic]

Not yet, but I creak and pop a lot!

[Buddly]

The two largest bucks I've killed came in to rattling.

[Stalker]

A friend of mine has been rattling and has had two coyotes com running in.Ive had no success but haven't done a lot.