RattlingPosted on 11/19/2015 12:18:26 PM PST by w1n1
Rattling
When they were first introduced to the national hunting community, these novel methods for bringing in bucks were considered unconventional at best, and harebrained schemes by most. Now deer hunters everywhere use these tried-and-true tactics. We take a look back in our archives to when these trusty standbys were still considered downright bizarre.
The brush-country hunters of Texas and New Mexico were crashing antlers together for decades before the trend caught fire in the rest of whitetail country. Although native hunters likely developed the technique, legend has it that an old market hunter accidentally discovered the phenomenon:
"He was coming to town one day, his wagon loaded with deer carcasses, when a buck came barging out of the mesquite. The hunter, so the story goes, added him to the load. A short time later, another buck pranced up-and was soon in the wagon. The puzzled hunter stopped to figure things out and discovered that two carcasses were lying so their antlers clashed as the wagon jounced along the rough country road." -Hart Stilwell, "Why Not Try to Rattle Up a Buck," May 1951
By the 1950's, most hunters in the rest of the country had heard of rattling, but few had tried it. Almost everyone who had tried tickling tines reported the method didn't work on hill-country deer, although a rare hunter outside the Lone-Star State would claim success.
CALLING
The concept of calling for deer was less established even than rattling in the middle of the 20th century. In August 1949, an experienced deer hunter traveled to Alaska for a Sitka blacktail hunt. "He was sure it was just a gag," reads the story. "Who ever head of calling a buck?"
"Now I've used crow calls, duck calls, and turkey calls, and I'd read that down in Texas they lure bucks by rattling a couple of antlers together. But a real deer call I'd never heard of. Probably my voice expressed my skepticism. 'O.K. I'll bite. What's a deer call?'" Read the rest of the story here.
I just drive a white pickup and soak myself in diesel or a little drilling mud.
All deer ignore you and assume you are an oilfield worker. They’ve even come up to you, looking for handouts.
I used to live in Southeast Alaska and have taken many Sitka Blacktail by use of a deer call. The brush can really be thick with Devil’s Club and the like - park on a muskeg with your back to a tree and blow a few toots, worked best during the rut.
I’ve got 10 point bucks laying in the yard. Deer often do. They’ve become so tame here that they don’t flinch when a car drives by or if you go to check the mail.
And I've called in deer..many times.
This is not knew info....
In South Central Alaska we called in Bull Moose regularly, sometimes out of season just for fun. Once had a large come right up to the pickup and nose the window.
We'll be wringing our hands over human privilege and microaggression towards deer.
When I was a kid Loggers used to “Call” deer while they (the Loggers) were eating lunch.
They would start a chainsaw and just leave it running (at idle) on a stump, we would move back 50 yds or so to the shade and eat, not even being quiet, deer would just appear, wander out to the chainsaw and sniff it.
We ate a lot of Venison, lunch and otherwise, year round.
If they wanted they could get 2 or 3 every day, when I was with them they took about 1 a week, split up the meat and we would basically wrap it up with our coats or a shirt whatever we weren’t wearing.
Mostly they just liked looking at the deer while they were eating lunch, the shooting and butchering was after hours and not during lunch and not a single conversation about antlers or trophies etc. (Deer are food, big ones are more food, little young ones are tender food)
Tender was on the menu more often than not.
In retrospect what I should be amazed about is how small chainsaws have gotten, 50 years ago they were huge with metal horns instead of mufflers weighing 30-40 lbs and not real efficient ... some guys were really good with an axe and could beat guys with a chainsaw which really didn’t matter because the Mills wanted cut butts so the guy with the Chainsaw would Clean up “AXE MAN’s handiwork
Those were the days! Gimme a Time Machine now!
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They say deer run to the sound of a chainsaw, because it means the tender new growth of a tree is on the ground.
Scents work- I have killed many bucks with their nose on my drag line. Pre-rut, scents scare the does away.
rattlin’ works- when a non-shooter buck walks away, I rattle and he comes running back.
I have killed a number of ruttin bucks with a moan (little can with a diaphragm inside). I have seen feeding bucks try to mount a doe after I hit the moan.
When I talk to other hunters about these tactics, they are always surprised.
LOL! I won't name the Army post I was stationed at, but I had to call a cease fire on the rifle range so a range safety NCO could walk down to my target and "shoo" off a Doe and her fawn next to my target.
Another time on the same post a Doe walked up during a Change of Command ceremony with a couple hundred of us standing at attention and stood between the old and new Commanders.
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