How can I attract more deer by rattling?
This subject is the source of many a debate but think about this. You are trying to convince a mature Whitetail buck that there is an opportunity. Simply tickling horns may attract some young bucks but a big bruiser could care less. He hears small bucks sparring every day. He needs to be convinced that there is a real battle taking place and he has an opportunity. In my opinion, nothing less will fool a mature buck.
When I set up and let things quite down for a few minutes, I pick up my Rattling Forks and give it hell. I rattle as loud as I can until my arms get weary, generally 2-3 minutes. Then I wait. If nothing shows, I do it again in 5-10 minutes. I repeat this performance for 45 minutes at which point I move on if nothing has showed.
Note..I can’t count the number of times I started my top drive and pulled forward and busted a mature buck that was staring at me from the brush 100 yards away.
I have been lucky to observe the movement of big trophy bucks from the onset of the rattling until they are fooled and move in. As mentioned above, they like to begin by evaluating the situation. This period is generally several minutes, maybe even 20 minutes if he is really wary.
If you can convince him that the battle is ongoing, he won’t be able to resist and will make his move to get downwind. As he is moving, continue to rattle, change it up, add variety, and keep him interested. You can even pause him in an opening for a shot by rattling at the proper moment when he is in view.
What are the best things to use to rattle in deer?
Most any rattling tool will work under certain conditions. I’m not taking anything away from rattling tools on the market but it’s not about using tools that are shaped like antlers. Yes they work, but they are unnecessary, hard to use, and generally don’t make enough noise. After all, the Native Americans would rattle in deer by banging two sticks together.
The most important thing is that deer hear the ruckus and you have convinced them there is an opportunity. I designed Rattling Forks for this purpose. They project sound like no other rattling tool. I am able to reach deer that would otherwise not hear me if I were using something else. I believe the extra volume also separates Rattling Forks because a fight to the death between two Whitetail bucks is no small affair.
Going back to my statement in an earlier post regarding rattling into the wind, it becomes even more important to get that sound out there. Heck, if you’re rattling sound only travels 75 yards into the wind, any buck that close was probably busted during setup.
Get a set of Rattling Forks, follow my recommendations in these tutorials, and I believe you will have the best of all possible chances of rattling in a big mature buck.
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