December is For Rattling!
A “blue norther” had blown through two days earlier, dropping temperatures and sufficient rain to settle the dust. The icy, gale-force north wind had finally slowed to a gentle breeze. The famed South Texas Brush Country was at its best, “plumb showy.” The whitetail rut was kicking in; bucks were roaming and should be responding to rattling horns. My time of the year!
Promises made of rattling in bucks for my guests from Alabama, unfortunately, had, however, thus far gone unfilled. All I had to show for my rattling efforts to that point were skinned knuckles and empty promises. Finally, the weather, which had been unseasonably warm, had changed. I felt assured the cold would bring a change of luck. But alas, only one afternoon remained for me to prove rattling was more than a tall Texas myth!
I had saved a honey hole for my last afternoon’s rattling efforts. In years past, I had never failed to rattle in bucks at that location. Leaving the pickup, the three of us slipped into “my” thicket. The center, nearly a half acre, was relatively open, the perfect place to rattle!
I positioned one hunter to my left and the other to my right. Once the crickets again started singing, I started grunting, doing my best to sound like two mature bucks squaring off. I ended my vocalizations with “fit,fit,feeeeeeeeeee,” the challenging snort-wheeze call. Then, I immediately loudly clashed and meshed my rattling “horns.” The simulated fight was on!
Rattling and digging my heels into the ground, like two mature bucks pushing against each other, I caught movement charging our way through the thicket. I glanced left and right. “Get ready; he’s coming!”Â
Thank goodness! Finally, after four days of nothing but the wind responding to my rattling, something was coming and coming fast!Â
Redemption was at hand. Pride and satisfaction welled up inside!
But much to my total surprise, in ran a fighting rooster! In his full iridescently feathered splendor, he jumped on a mesquite stump and started crowing!Â
Certainly not what I hoped for nor expected. The rooster’s crowing was soon drowned out by the howling laughter of my two hunters!
I admit I was seriously tempted to shoot the rooster…
Later I got to thinking about what had happened. Anyone with two whitetail or mule deer antlers can rattle a whitetail deer, but it takes real talent to rattle in a fighting rooster. I feel I am one of the few who can make that claim, particularly in the presence of witnesses! Have you ever rattled in a rooster?
This was not the first time I had rattled in something besides bucks. Over a lifetime of hunting whitetails, I have rattled in coyotes, bobcats, javelina, cougar, horses, cattle, goats, sheep, exotics, illegal aliens, fellow hunters, vaqueros, ranch owners, and a couple of game wardens, now a fighting rooster! And oh yeah, I also rattled in a substantial number of whitetails bucks of all sizes and age classes. Really! Occasionally I even had does respond, usually followed by a really young or really old buck.
How to Rattle Up Bucks
What does it take to be a successful horn rattler? Two antlers, preferably with four or five points, not counting browtines. Those should be removed, so you do not jab yourself with them when in the heat of rattling. Secondly, you need deer! It would be best if you rattled where bucks exist and, for better results, where numerous bucks live. Frankly, rattling works best where there are a lot of bucks, one of the reasons the Buck-to-Doe ratio is important. If you rattle where the buck to doe ratio is 1 to 6 or more does, there are a whole lot fewer bucks which will hear your rattling sounds than where the buck to doe ratio is 1 to 2 or 1 to 1. Successful rattling becomes somewhat of a numbers game; the more bucks, the better the chance of one or more responding. But, that said, I have rattled in bucks where the supposed ratio was one buck to every twelve or more does. Those responding bucks happened to be close and were interested.
I personally start rattling when I see the first active scrape. I rattle according to what the bucks are doing at the time. I rattle timidly during the early pre-rut if bucks are sparring and not really serious about fighting. When the rut is kicking off, I rattle more aggressively. If bucks respond to short rattling sequences, I rattle more that same way. If they do not respond to short rattling sequences, I rattle longer or more aggressively. I keep rattling until I find a scenario the local bucks like and respond to. I, too, rattle throughout the day. Sometimes bucks respond best early, sometimes mid-morning, mid-day, mid-afternoon, and/or late. There does not seem to be any real “rhyme or reason” for what time of day bucks respond best to the sound of simulated fighting.
I have had “dream mornings” with cool or cold temperatures and slight wind at a time of the year I love to rattle, just as the rut is starting to kick off when bucks are actively cruising, that “perfect” morning. On numerous occasions, I started rattling at first light. Nothing responded. I watched bucks totally ignore rattling. Yet, an hour later, those same bucks respond at break-neck speed. Why does this happen? I have no earthly idea! No way to explain such things other than simply accepting those things do happen!
I am “formerly” a firm believer in “playing the wind,” knowing bucks, especially mature bucks, nearly always approach rattling from downwind. That is why for years, I set up where I had/have shooting lanes to the left and right. I shoot handguns and rifles equally well from the right as well as the left side. Being able to shoot left or right, I am prepared no matter which side a buck approaches. Shooting lanes to the left and right allow me shot opportunities before bucks get directly downwind. But, that said, using TRHP Outdoor’s Scent Guardian and spraying my clothes, hat, boots, equipment, and self with it, I simply disappear into the deer’s extremely acute sense of smell. I guess it is merely an old habit of being concerned about the wind, but one I no longer have to be worried about when using Scent Guardian.
Beyond rattling for whitetails, I dearly love hunting with handguns, especially revolvers. This fall, I am hunting with my Taurus Raging Hunter (www.taurus.com), chambered in .454 Casull, shooting Hornady’s 300-grain XTP ammo (www.hornady.com). My Raging Hunter is topped with a Trijicon SRO red dot 2 MOA sight (www.trijicon.com). From a rested position, I can cleanly and quickly take down a whitetail out to 100 yards, knowing I can keep my shots within a less than a 2-inch group at that distance. With rattling, I hope to reduce that distance to within less than 20 yards.
Should I rattle in another fighting rooster, I will be having chicken for dinner, even if it might be a bit tough! Now that would be something to crow about!
Professional wildlife biologist/outdoor communicator, Larry Weishuhn, known to many as “Mr. Whitetail”, has established quality wildlife management programs on over 12,000,000 acres throughout North American and other parts of the world. He has hunted big game with rifle and/or handgun on six continents. Larry is a Professional Member of the Boone & Crockett Club, life-member of numerous wildlife conservation organizations including the Dallas Safari Club, Mule Deer Foundation, and Wild Sheep Foundation. He currently serves on the DSC Foundation Board of Directors, is one of three co-founders of the Texas Wildlife Association; is a member of the Legends of the Outdoors Hall of Fame and the Muy Grande Hall of Fame; he too, received the Zeiss Lifetime Achievement Award among many other honors.