A Guide to Rattling in Whitetail This Fall

I can hear it now… The sound of a buck tramping in after a rattling session. I love heading into the woods for deer. The excitement that comes with a new year of hunting is tough to match, and the allure of the unknown season ahead is full of possibilities and high expectations. After a few weeks of hunting and challenging conditions, the season can quickly turn into a grind.

Somewhere in mid-October, as late summer bleeds into early autumn and hot days give way to chilly mornings, the real show begins in the whitetail woods. Bucks that had been buddies all summer start to look at each other a little cross-eyed. The antlers they’ve been growing for months start to reveal their purpose. The rut is about to kick off, and attitudes start to harden.

For whitetail hunters, it’s the time of year to switch from being a silent observer, just waiting for something to cross your path, to being an active participant in the hunt. It’s time to grab those rattling antlers (or man-made rattle imitation) and jump into the fray. Rattling during the rut is an effective way to get bucks in front of you. Knowing where, when, and how to rattle will really make the most of your efforts.

Rattling in Whitetail | Play to Your Audience

If a hunter rattles in the woods and no bucks are around to hear it, did they even make a sound? It’s a question philosophers have been asking for ages, and we still don’t know the answer. All jokes aside, if you want to draw in a buck by rattling, you want to make sure you’re playing to a full house.

Crashing antlers together is fun and can really break up the monotony of a long hunt, but you don’t want to just do it for practice. If you know there isn’t a population of mature bucks in the area, rattling won’t really help pull them in from the next county, unless they followed a doe to your area, and it might even spook off the younger bucks in your area.

Location is key. Scouting ahead of the season or using trail cameras will help you identify what your local buck population is like. Once you know who is in the area, you can tailor your rattling strategy to match the bucks that may be around. We’ll talk about when and how to rattle in whitetail bucks, but knowing who you’re trying to lure in is just as important.

When you rattle, it’s important that you are in a concealed place. That can mean high up in a tree or in a blind, but being out in the open is going to get you busted by any buck that comes in. Your rattling is a challenge to any other buck in the area looking to fight, so if they respond and come to your call, they may come in geared up and ready to fight.

Rattling on Deaf Ears

If you do choose to rattle as a part of your hunting strategy, knowing when to do it during the season is crucial. Bucks aren’t always responsive to rattling because they don’t always spar or fight; it’s something they only do during mating season. Rattling to an early season velvet buck is just going to leave him confused, and probably spooked knowing something isn’t right.

So, when does the rut start and you’re safe to rattle? Go ahead and check the calendar on your phone… nope, there’s no set date. Deer breeding season is triggered by photoperiod, or the length of daylight on a given day, which increases or decreases as the seasons change. That change in photoperiod is what sends the does into estrus and the bucks into rut.

As you hunt the early part of the season, watch for cues that the rut may be starting. Bachelor groups of bucks that hung together through the summer will start to break up as those buddies become rivals. You may even see bucks start to spar a little, especially younger deer.

Once those bucks start to actively chase does, it’s time to go all-in with your rattling sequence. At this point, it’s a free-for-all as bucks try to stake their claim, and each new female that goes into estrus is another opportunity for a buck to breed. Bucks will run themselves ragged trying to find a doe in heat, and will often come to a rattle call in an effort to defend his claims.

Putting on a Good Show

Once you’ve found bucks to rattle to and you know it’s the right time of the season, all there’s left to do is jiggle those sheds around and make a little noise, right?

No, of course it’s not that simple. A common term in fishing is “match the hatch,” meaning you want to present the right bait at the right time of year. It’s not enough to throw any old bait out there and expect a bite. The same is true of rattling; it’s not enough to just clash horns together and expect them to blindly respond.

Early and Pre-rut

In the pre-rut when bucks are starting to spar but not quite fully engaging, you don’t want to make it sound like there’s a battle royale in the woods. Some short, light sequences that replicate those small tussles are what you’re looking for. The goal right now is to entice a buck who wants to try out his headgear, but doesn’t want to get scuffed up just yet.

If you’re a visual person, try to visualize the scene you’re portraying as you go through your rattling sequence. In the pre-rut, they’re just feeling each other out, almost playing around, as they practice for the upcoming breeding season. If it would be helpful, go on the internet and look up pre-rut sparring videos. You’ll get a feel for how bucks approach this time of year. A term you will hear is, “Tickling the Tines” for the early rut.

Full Rut

As the season wears on and bucks go into full rut, their attitude towards each other changes. Pre-rut, they’re still buddies and will tolerate each other’s presence, but once the rut starts bucks can’t stand one another. Submissive deer will be chased off, and those that choose to fight will be in for quite a bout. Your rattling should change to reflect the fights this time of year.

Again, I recommend watching some videos online to get an idea of how intense these battles can get. Bucks will break off tines, gore each other (sometimes fatally), and even break an opponent’s neck in these fights. Most of the time the loser leaves defeated, but sometimes he doesn’t leave at all. Bucks fight for the right to continue their bloodlines, and your rattling should reflect that seriousness.

Don’t be afraid to bust a knuckle with those antlers, as unpleasant as that may be in the cold. If you’re on the ground, kick around and stir up leaves to make the fight sound more realistic. If you’re in a tree, you can lower a stick down to the ground with your bow rope and thrash it around in the leaves. Rattle for 30 seconds to a few minutes every hour or so, and be ready once you stop.

As I said earlier, a buck that responds will be wound up and looking for a fight. Don’t blow it by looking at your phone or keeping the antlers in your hands. As soon as you wrap up your rattling sequence, put the antlers down, pick up your weapon, and put your head on a swivel. Bucks will often approach from downwind, but if he’s really agitated, he’ll charge in with no second thought.

Bucks will cruise around in search of does in heat, so if you don’t get a response the first time, don’t give up! You may have a buck in the area in an hour who wasn’t there before, so keep on a good schedule during the peak rut and there’s a good chance you’ll have a buck’s attention at one point or another.

Drop the Curtain

If your rattling is successful and you connect on your shot, you’ve just done something pretty special in the whitetail world. It’s not rare for hunters to convert on a buck they’ve rattled in; it happens often during the season. It is, however, a very unique and cool experience that not many humans will experience in their lives.

Communicating with a game animal effectively enough to attract them, whether it’s by an elk bugle, a turkey call, or a set of rattling antlers, and then making a harvest connects you with nature on a primal level. For a moment, you think like a deer… hopefully well enough to sound like one!

If you’re looking to try rattling this year, make sure that you’re concealed. There’s not better way to do that than with a 12 Point Hunting Blind.

Buy 12 Point Blinds Online OR Locate a Dealer Near You!