Deer Calling - Can and Rattling

dak0ta

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Feb 14, 2008
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In your guys experience, have you had much luck using the Primos Doe Estrus Bleat Call and rattling with antlers afterwards during the rut?
 
I’ve tried a time or two. I had one buck charge in like a freight train making a beeline Straight for me. The other one meandered all around Robin Hood‘s barn and never did come within range.
 
Never used rattling antlers and only use a grunt tube. Bucks will come to a doe grunt, dominate bucks will come to a buck grunt and younger bucks will walk away from one. If a buck is an a trail or following a doe he won't even notice your calling. Calls only work when they are actively searching.
 
Rattling can work, if at the right time of the year.
Guys bashing antlers starting Oct 1.................will ruin it. Prime Rut here is after Halloween.

Worked for me at a big spot where deer hung out or travelled through from any direction (increased chances).
Once the neighbors started clanking antler 4 weeks before prime time, the deer had gone deaf.

I gave up rattling.

Grunt call and doe bleat can call. I still use.

Calling, the deer will most likely come in down wind. That's why in bow season the caller should be 50 yards upwind of his buddy.

Grunt and doe bleat can calls do work, and I still have em. They'll be along tomorrow morning LOL
 
Never used rattling antlers and only use a grunt tube. Bucks will come to a doe grunt, dominate bucks will come to a buck grunt and younger bucks will walk away from one. If a buck is an a trail or following a doe he won't even notice your calling. Calls only work when they are actively searching.
Yup.
They're cruising right now in my area.
Mostly at night though :(
 
Topography plays into it too. In the southeast with hils/mountains/thick crap and leaves a foot deep on the ground all year long, they'll work if one is close but just hasn't committed. They'll also get a deer to move enough to give you a shot. They'll also scare one off half the time.
Where it's open and flat and sound carries (Iowa? Indiana? I don't know I'm in the southeast) I am told they work much better.
 
My experiences with the bleat calls, rattling horns and grunt calls is similar to calling turkeys. Sometimes they work great, other times they seem to scare 'em off. Younger animals are easier to call, while those that have been called a few times get real suspicious. Used at the right time, sparingly, they can be a great asset. Used too much and too early, is like burning out your stand. Like with turkeys, numbers and buck/doe ratios are influential. Like with turkeys, a buck locked up with a doe ain't gonna come to nuttin'. During the peak of rut....anything and everything works. I've had bucks come running in to the scraping noise of my climbing treestand and just the walking thru the leaves on the way in. Again, like with attractant scents, use at the proper times and sparingly. Mature deer will most always come in from downwind, because that's how they pinpoint whether the animal making that sound is still there or exactly where it is. Best thing to do is setup so they have to come in from a crosswind.
 
The only time I’ve ever rattled in a buck, was a couple days before the rut. I used a paddle type plastic gizmo and it was a small 6 pt. We had the perfect place for it due to an equal number of bucks and does. We had hammered the does for years and not killed many bucks. Every doe that came into heat was trailed by 4 or 5 bucks trying to mount them. Even so rattling didn’t seem to work.

We hunted does during rut because of the bucks trailing them. That worked best.
 
I have called in a few with a grunt call . Two came running in and they weren’t really big bucks . One just last season . I called for the first time this season Saturday when muzzleloader season opened . I
 
I have tried rattling and bleat calls and others. I got a couple does to come in, a Buck once but after a time they figure it out. I think it does more to tell them where you are than fool them. I suppose you have to be much better at it than I am.
 
I have rattled in bucks during the heat of rut. They come storming in, looking directly at you. If you're not prepared. You'll be the one with the "deer in the headlights" look on your face.
IMHO, you should have a decoy set up close, and upwind when you rattle.

If you rattled at 10 bucks, six will trot away. Three will stop and look...then trot away.
If you're lucky. One will investigate at full alert. That's been my experience.

It does add excitement to your hunt. I dont do it much anymore, but it can work.
 
They do usually approach from downwind,if they approach at all, and will be looking. Some buck scent might distract them..?
I have always thought that the motion of the rattling would be spotted by deer.
 
Years ago I remember 6 of us hunting a property, one guy was sick and constantly coughing. He said he was having a fit and was ready to quit, because of all the noise he was making and along came a curious buck to see what was going on. He was the only one that got anything.

I have played with them a lot. Any quick noise gets them to stand and look your direction it seems.

At out place they follow us while baiting for pigs. UTV's being a dinner bell of sorts.


Depends on how much pressure they are under, from what I have seen.
 
As alluded to, rattling can work best as a Team approach, one rattling and another hunter setup well down wind. We rattled in many in VT, just tough trying to line up the shot with a bow, all around Halloween too, as a prime time to rattle. Like another stated, one buck came in like a freight train and as fast as he barreled in near the rattler ... he was gone. Another time, wow ... smaller bucks and does all started moving to the rattling sounds ... almost like kids flocking to a fight out in the school yard, LOL!

Tip
for grunt calls - Once he has your attention, do NOT call again ... he knows where you are.
 
Is it better to do a doe estrus call, wait like 10-15 mins to see if anything comes, then start rattling? Or just pick one call and sit and wait?
 
Tip for grunt calls - Once he has your attention, do NOT call again ... he knows where you are.
...other than to stop them for the shot. Had a large 8 come chasing a doe past the blind on Friday night, bow hunting with my 17 year old grand-daughter. Luckily, I had the grunt tube in my hand because my first attempt to stop him with my mouth didn't work. Gave a loud grunt from the tube and he stopped dead in his tracks from a full out run and looked at us from 20 yards. It was an easy shot for her.......
 
Never had any luck rattling. The can call has worked for me on both young and mature bucks. I use tinks 69 along with the can call, they come in and usually head for the scent.
 
I have the roll over can that is supposed to be a doe in heat.
This is the honest truth. First time I ever rolled it over while hunting it worked, and I got a buck.
Bet I have rolled it over a couple hundred times since then and no response, even with a buck in sight.
It will draw does in.
Rattling, it works with the wind and luck on your side, I do it on days it is too cold to stay on stand.
But be ready.
 
Where I've been hunting the last few
years, you have to be quiet and still
to be successful. No distractions
or nothing. 9 out of 10 times you'll
see one before you hear it, so if
you're not carefully watching while
you're out, you're just wasting time.
Most all of the animals have been
grossly overcalled, and are very
wary of anything other than the odd
birdcall, varmints included.
There's other areas I've hunted with
much different terrain that a bleat
or rattle horns can be effective at
the proper time of year
 
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