Monday, April 10, 2006
When Rattling Antlers Can Work
You’ve seen the videos and television programs of people rattling antlers. Most of such footage is shot in Texas where rattling has been in vogue for generations.
Many think that rattling antlers work only in southwestern states, but it can work in Michigan as well. The trick to rattling is to do it at the right time of year, and like all calling techniques, don’t over-do it.
I don’t spend much time with rattling but others have on my ranch, and this seems to be the sum and substance of what works and what doesn’t work.
The best times for rattling is before the rut starts. Bucks vie for dominance and breeding rights, and such battles can be death fights. Often, if two really evenly matched bucks begin to fight, other deer often gather to watch. It’s somewhat similar to a bar-room brawl. Most people don’t get involved, but often will sit back and watch.
Over the years I’ve watched bucks do battle on many occasions. Often, there is a prelude to the main event. It begins with two bucks gently “tickling” their antler tips together. This sound makes little noise and cannot be heard if the animals are very far away.
They often stand and eye-ball each other, the neck hairs raising and the ears laying back. They may or may not stomp their foot, but on some unheard cue, they lower their head and smash antlers together.
That loud clatter of antlers is audible for some distance, and then they start meshing their antlers together. Now they begin pushing with their back legs, using the front legs for stability, and begin twisting their antlers by using their strong neck muscles in an attempt to leverage the other other buck off his feet.
This meshing of antlers produces a grinding, clickety-clack noise, and is accompanied by a clatter of hoof beats on the grounds, grunts and heavy breathing, and then the antlers break apart with a loud noise.
Inbetween all of this frantic noise is the raking of tree branches or tree trunks, and intermittent clack-clacks of both animals pushing hard against each other.
The bucks may go back to the fight immediate, take a short breather, and all this time the doe stands by waiting for the winner. Then, again, the bucks jump at each other with a lowered head, and repeat the process.
Fine, that is the detail of the fight. Some fights last 15 seconds and others can last for 15 to 30 minutes between evenly matched animals. The deer hunter must be able to follow some of these key sounds with his fake plastic rattling antlers, a rattle bag or a set of real antlers. Of them all, genuine antlers of size produce the most authentic sounds.
A two-man rattling team works well. One man on the ground with the antlers and one in the tree with a bow. The rattler begins with the tickling of antler tips, a pause, and then a crash of antlers coming together. Those antlers can break away from each other, and the rattle man can pound the ground with the base of the antlers, rake tree trunks and branches, pound the ground some more in imitation of stomping feet.
Grind the antlers together, locking and unlocking antler tines, and smash them together again. Add more ground pounding, brush and tree raking, pound the ground again, smash the antlers together, grind them back and forth, and then stop.
Look all around for any deer movement. Other bucks often try to sneak in and squire away the doe while the two bucks fight. Be alert to this. Some rattlers add vocal grunts, and a grunt-snort-wheeze like a tending buck would make, and then remain still.
Some people wait five mintues, some wait another hour, and others wait 30 minutes before going through the process again. What really helps is if the hunter has watched a good fight. It is a hard, strenuous battle, and like any fight, both opponents get tired.
Some buck fights are to the death, and some last only long enough for one buck to solidly whip the other. Some buck fights leave a buck with puncture wounds, eyes gouged out or other physical wounds.
It is such sounds and tempo that must sound realistic. If you are going to do it, do it in your back yard and learn how to hold the antlers before you get going too hard while hunting. Smashed fingers are common during the learning process, but if you are going to add rattling to your pre-rut repertoire, make it sound real.—The Whitetail Wizard.