Rattling whitetails can be an effective way to hang your tag around a territorial old buck, but many hunters fail to see the type of success they see on hunting shows and videos filmed in Texas. This leads them to believe that rattling in Texas bucks is easier than duping mature bucks in other regions of the country. To find out if this is true, I talked to Blake Marshall of King of Eights outfitters. Marshall grew up hunting the pine thickets of Georgia before moving to Texas and starting his outfitting operation. Here’s what he had to say:
Timing is Everything
Marshall was quick to point out that rattling success hinges on the time of year, no matter where you’re using the tactic. He doesn’t break out the rattling antlers until late in the pre-rut period. At that point he calls sparingly and tickles the antlers together rather than slamming them like you’ll often see on television.
Marshall doesn’t rely on rattling alone to bring in bucks. He said, “I use a series of things. I use mock scrapes. I’ll make my own scrapes pretending that I’m a big deer in that area. I use a series of grunts along with a bleat can, and I rattle.” As the rut picks up and the bucks in his area start focusing most of their attention on breeding, Marshall gets more aggressive with his rattling sequences. Marshall said, “Sometimes I’ve gotten so aggressive that I’ve broken points off my rattling antlers. I’m hitting them so hard because I’ve heard fights like that.” You’ll see more success rattling whitetails by paying attention to the phase of the breeding season and adjusting your calling tactics accordingly whether you’re hunting in Texas or not. As the season passes, you'll want to change hunting tactics during the whitetail rut.
Location Matters Most
Rattling whitetails can be more or less effective based on the ground you are hunting. One of the reasons that rattling looks so easy in Texas is that the state offers lots of opportunities to hunt large, heavily managed pieces of private property that hold tons of deer. Marshall said, “I’m from Georgia. I didn’t move to Texas until I was 24, but I’ve rattled in my fair share [of bucks in Georgia.] I’ve also used rattling [in Texas.] I’ve used it and scared away deer and I’ve used it and rattled in ten bucks in a sitting.” Marshall said that rattling whitetails in Texas is a commonly used strategy because “there’s a lot more land and there’s a lot more animals on that land and there’s a lot of bigger bucks that will challenge each other. I think that is the reason why people think that it is ‘easier’ to rattle in bucks in Texas. It’s because of the numbers we have here, not necessarily that it’s more effective here than any other place.” When it comes to how effective rattling will be on any hunting property Marshall said, “It matters where you are. It matters how it’s managed. It matters how much land you have around you. It matters what the people are doing around you.”
Is High Fence Rattling Different?
Aside from the ease in which whitetails can be rattled in, Texas is also known for it’s many high fence hunting operations. Once again, every property is different. Marshall said, “There’s some high fence where it’s not a challenge at all to go in there and corner a 230” class buck and shoot it. But there’s some ranches and some high fence properties I guide on that it’s equally as hard to take a buck, if not more so, because they’re smart. They know what they’re doing. You think you’re patterning them and they’re actually patterning you at the same time.” These cagey old high fence bucks will come to rattling if they’re in the right mood and you’re in the right location at the right time of year, but don’t count on seeing ten or twelve bucks every time you hit the horns.
Set Realistic Goals
Setting hunting goals based on what you see on TV and hunting videos is a sure-fire recipe for disappointment. What you don’t see on TV is the countless hours of stand time with no deer sightings and the many failed attempts at rattling in deer. Hunters should also keep in mind that the properties the “TV hunters” are hunting on are typically better managed than you uncle’s farm.
Marshall said, “There’s a place down here called the Golden Triangle. That’s where people go out and they’ll crouch down between the mesquite and cactus and they’ll rattle and they’ll have 15-20 different bucks come in [during] a three or four hour hunt and that’s insane. But that’s also because they’re surrounded by 20,000 acres of private ranch land that there’s not many people on. So many people get out there and they try to do all this stuff that they see on TV based off of what [the hunters on TV] are doing alone and not taking into account where those people are at and the homework that they’ve done prior to the hunt. There are places in Georgia where I won’t grunt, I won’t bleat, I won’t rattle because it’s so overhunted. You can get good deer there, but you’ve got to go in there, slip in, play the wind, find good sign, hang a stand, and be real quiet.” On the flip side of that, there are many areas in the country when a rattling sequence paired with grunt calls and doe bleats can aid in your success.
Is rattling whitetails more effective in Texas? No. Are there more opportunities to rattle in mature bucks than in other areas? Yes. Marshall said of hunting in Texas versus Georgia, “When I first started guiding out here it blew my mind. It’s a whole different ballgame. But in the end, a whitetail is a whitetail and he’ll get you every time if you let him. It’s a game of chess not checkers.”
King of Eights Outfitters offers both high and low fence hunts for whitetails, turkeys, hogs, and all kinds of exotics. To book a hunt, contact them at www.guidefitter.com/kingofeightsoutfitters or call Blake Marshall at (210) 740-6411.
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