yea I will say I've never had anything come into it but I think Todd Graff from the show likes to do it. Not sure if anyone else has had success on here but I know I haven't spooked anything that I know of.
I'm a firm believer in rattling and have had success with it as have others I know. I will do some very light rattling in mid October. Maybe two sequences in the morning at the most. I've only had smaller bucks respond in mid October.
As soon as bucks are hard horned, they start sparring. As soon as they start sparring, I start rattling. I've called in a lot of Bucks by rattling in the early season. My largest buck was shot on October 7th and I would have gladly shot either of the 2 bucks that showed up that day. I prefer to start my rattling about an hour before dark and I keep it fairly lite but will drag it out for 15-20 minutes. When calling in the early season, you are calling to every buck. If you wait till later in the season, your only calling to the bucks that haven't been whooped up on too bad. Good luck!
the only time I've had success rattling was late November. very big dominant bucks. Early season I've gotten looks but ignored. I have done some light grunts and had bucks come to investigate.
I have only once called in a buck early October rattling. I did a light rattle along with some quiet grunts trying to imitate 2 young buck doing light sparing and had a nice wide 8 point come to investigate. Had the buck literally right under me but he knew I was there before he presented a shot and took off like a rocket. I still believe buck are just starting to create territories early October and you can still catch a bucks curiosity under the right circumstances, but for the most part it seems late for October into November is when rattling is most effective and when you can start getting a bit more aggressive with you rattling and calling.
Dominance is established year round and the only bucks that might be looking for new territories, are the younger ones. As soon as the antlers harden, each season, we get to see the peak in a challenge for dominance! I have called in way more bucks than I could ever shoot and it is my belief that most hunters just do not rattle long enough to attract the bucks in the early season. I have had the pleasure of watching a lot of early season sparring sessions and have shot a couple of bucks that came to the sparring. My favorite was a session that started, near my stand, as I was getting dressed for a morning hunt. It started with 2 bucks but by time I had snuck into my stand and it had gotten light, I had 6 bucks in front of me! At the 30 minute mark, there were 12 bucks and 3 different fights going on. At the 45 minute mark, the big boys started showing up and the sparring came to an end. 1 snort wheeze landed the right buck in front of me and I ended up with the regret of filling my early bow tag and having to wait till mid November for another (that was on Sept. 27th) I do almost all of my rattling in the early season and by time most hunters start rattling, I have moved on to the buck roar as my go to call....... I do like calling to all the bucks though, I'll sort them out after they get there My question to everyone that waits to rattle is: Have you gave early season rattling a serious try? or have you just read all the comments about waiting (till you should be roaring)?
I generally start rattling/grunting the last week of October or first week of November (unless the rut is early) usually use a decoy or two. I have had great success with the combo. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have called in young bucks in mid october rattling, but never anything of legitimate size. I hunt in an area of very low buck/doe ratios though, and generally i try to stay away from causing too much of a ruckus that could push bucks away from an unwarranted brawl. I would mind how bucks are running around in your herd before rattling too loud or too early!
