© By Othmar Vohringer
Antler rattling and calling can be an effective part of a smart hunting strategy during the rut, when bucks become more aggressive.
While rattling up a big buck is more effective in areas where the buck-to-doe-ratio is even or close to it, because bucks have more competition, it also can work well in areas where does outnumber bucks and with that have less or no competition. Meaning, there is no need to fight for breeding rights.
Still when a buck hears two others fight he may come in to your rattling to investigate what the ruckus is all about. Here are a few tips that will help you to maximize your antler rattling success.
Set up
The set up is very important for antler rattling success. Bucks that respond to antler rattling almost always approach from downwind as they try to smell first before they see. Whenever possible bucks stay in cover that camouflages them. A great deal of thought and planning is necessary to find a good stand site for rattling. The stand site must fulfil the following: Force the buck to leave the cover and cross at least one of you shooting lanes within shooting range as he tries to get downwind from you. The stand site also must prevent the buck from seeing for a long distance. This is a problem for many hunters. Hunters like to see for some distance but a buck that responds to your rattling fully expects to see two other bucks and if he can’t see them he will hang up. In order to prevent that the stand must be located in such a way that the buck has to walk into shooting distance to be able to see where the rattling is coming from. You also should be able to approach and vacate the stand site from several directions. There is nothing more
detrimental to hunting success then approaching and leaving the stand site using the same route each time you hunt that stand. Deer are smart and will pattern your comings and goings faster than you can pattern deer movement. Keep them guessing.
Good stand sites for rattling are field corners, thicket tips and bottlenecks (See illustration, click on image to see larger version)
Antler rattling and calling can be an effective part of a smart hunting strategy during the rut, when bucks become more aggressive.While rattling up a big buck is more effective in areas where the buck-to-doe-ratio is even or close to it, because bucks have more competition, it also can work well in areas where does outnumber bucks and with that have less or no competition. Meaning, there is no need to fight for breeding rights.
Still when a buck hears two others fight he may come in to your rattling to investigate what the ruckus is all about. Here are a few tips that will help you to maximize your antler rattling success.
Set up
The set up is very important for antler rattling success. Bucks that respond to antler rattling almost always approach from downwind as they try to smell first before they see. Whenever possible bucks stay in cover that camouflages them. A great deal of thought and planning is necessary to find a good stand site for rattling. The stand site must fulfil the following: Force the buck to leave the cover and cross at least one of you shooting lanes within shooting range as he tries to get downwind from you. The stand site also must prevent the buck from seeing for a long distance. This is a problem for many hunters. Hunters like to see for some distance but a buck that responds to your rattling fully expects to see two other bucks and if he can’t see them he will hang up. In order to prevent that the stand must be located in such a way that the buck has to walk into shooting distance to be able to see where the rattling is coming from. You also should be able to approach and vacate the stand site from several directions. There is nothing more
detrimental to hunting success then approaching and leaving the stand site using the same route each time you hunt that stand. Deer are smart and will pattern your comings and goings faster than you can pattern deer movement. Keep them guessing.Good stand sites for rattling are field corners, thicket tips and bottlenecks (See illustration, click on image to see larger version)
