no luck rattling

[Dbl.throat_patch]

here is my question. what am i doing wrong. i personally have never had anything respond to a ratling sequence. i have rattled on my last three outings out of three different stands. when i rattle it is usually for about 30-40 seconds or so. the other night i read m350's post about pausing for a few moments and banging them again. tonight i tried that and nothing. i'm using a set of antlers off of an eight point buck that was found dead he scores around 120. i have been really hitting them together hard and grinding them. I usually only rattle no more than twice in one outing. I'm getting frustrated and wondering if i would be better off not doing anything at all. any advice will deffinately be appriciated. thanks in advance.

 

[Old Buck]

For what its worth here are some of my observations.

For me 'blind rattling' (when I don't already see a buck) gets a low response rate. I usually reserve it for late pre-rut or post rut. I think it is kind of like yelling 'fire', use it too often in the same spot with the same deer and the effectiveness will decrease.

Some bucks are more responsive than others. I had a spot with a little forkie last year. Every time I rattled he'd come running in like he was king of the hill. He wasn't, but that didn't seem to stop him. The buck I was after never would respond to rattling even though he was top buck. I finally got him by persistence and being in a spot where he thought he'd find a bedded doe.

I almost always carry antlers any time I think they might respond which is October 20 into December. On the other hand I seldom use them unless I see a buck I want to try to bring closer. I have MUCH BETTER luck rattling in bucks when I see the buck first. The key for me is to watch the buck while rattling and see what he will respond to, then give it to him. I start out with tinkling. Close to rut I'll get more and more aggressive if needed.

I like to have heavy cover or a terrain break near to hide the imaginary battlers or the buck may hang up. Under the best of circumstances lots of bucks still won't come in but it works well enough and often enough on the big guys that I keep carrying the darn things. Part of it is just catching the right buck in the right mood and the right time.

My question, who has a good way of carrying a set of big awkwarrd antlers quietly and efficiently?

Old Buck

 

[muddy]

old buck

i have my antlers tied together with a long cord and i wind them up on each other and then tuck them inside BOTH my safety harness and my fanny pack. this keeps them from clanking together and within easy reach. oh, i have them tucked on the small of my back where they're out of the way. it's worked for me for years. if i'm wearing my new climber i just carry them wound up in hand.

dblthroat

what old buck wrote is what i'd write ya. some places work, some places don't. my one tree stand i would rattle 2-4 bucks up a morning and my other stnads wouldn't produce. what made the one stand great is it's situated in a wide ravine and the bucks travel both ridges on either side. they'd hear the commotion in the multiflower rose and literally come running. once you find a "sweet spot" don't continually rattle there. what made my spot so nice was the amount of scrapes in it. I could literally see about 9 scrapes from my tree which told me of a high buck density and that they were all mad at each other. rattling worked there and there only. good luck!!

 

[kingman]

I had little success with rattling until last year. A friend of mine suggested soaking the antlers in a bucket of water the night before. It seemed to make them sound a little better. Could have been coincidence but you know us bowhunters, we're not at all superstitious. You also might try raking them on the tree prior to your rattling sequence.

 

[bowhuntinfool]

it could be that little bucks that are getting their asses kicked by bigger bucks are hearing your rattling, and running off couse they dont want ANOTHER ass beating, and maybe when they are scared and run away that scares the other big boys away!!! never know try not rattling somenight and see what happens never know maybe they just aren't responding to the horns yet, or they cant hear it, just try not doin it somenight and see what happens !!! GOOD LUCK

 

[wisco kid]

I've never had a positive response to rattling, but from observation, I've never had a negative one either. So I always take them with, as a tool.

Last year, on November 1, on a very windy day, I was doing some grunting and rattling at random. Not that I had a direct response, but a while later two small bucks came in ..maybe a 100 inch 9 point and a 4 pt. and just hung out feeding under my stand. They wandered off and not long after, a 160 incher came in and I arrowed him. While I can't attribute my rattling to it, it obviously didn't hurt. What was strange though was that all those deer did come directly to my area.

I wrap the bases of my antlers in cloth tape and I take a rubber band and wind it around the tips to keep them from banging together in my pack.