Larry Weishuhn
“No Senor! Ningun otro cazador ha sacudido los cuernos est ano. Y tienes razon, ya es hora!” responded Juanito to my query.
It was good to know no other hunter had thus far rattled antlers on the property this year. And, I agreed with Jaunito it was time to try to rattle up a buck.
“Has visto algun dolar maduro viejo con atas grandes?” I questioned.
“Si Colorado! Seis con mucho puntos, vigas masivas y tiempo altos. Vi la semana pasada cerca del pequeno Molino d viento d peces.” Said Juanito pointing to the northwest where I knew the Little Fish windmill was located. If they had been near the mill last week there was a really good chance one or more of the six many pointed, massive and tall tined bucks was still in the area and would hopefully respond to my rattling horns.
I thanked the vaquero, grabbed my rattling horns, rifle and shooting sticks then headed toward the northwest pasture. The Little Fish windmill pumped water into a shallow pond which was bordered on the south side by a dense stand of whitebrush (privet) that covered at least five or six acres. To the north was a slight rise, a ridge covered with blackbrush. Both brushy areas were ideal places for older mature bucks to bed. I knew the slight rise also had an abundance of granjeno (spiny hackberry), guajacon (one of the few evergreen browses in deep South Texas) and blackbrush, all excellent food items for whitetail deer. Jutting into both the whitebrush and blackbrush thickets were small openings covered with knee-high prickly pear cactus. I knew I would have several choices where to set up so I would have shooting lanes to my left and right and directly downwind.
Responding whitetail bucks, especially those with age should either make their initial approach from downwind or circle to get downwind of the rattling sounds. That is why I wanted shooting lanes to my left and right as well as directly downwind. I too, wanted to set up where I could see what approached my rattling. It does no good to rattle in a buck and then not be able to see him.
As a youngster I taught myself to shoot both right and left-handed whether hunting with a handgun or a rifle. Being able to shoot left-handed has helped me take many animals I would not have been able to shoot had I merely shot from the right side.
I still-hunted my way toward the distant windmill making a downwind approach. In so doing, I slipped within mere yards of several deer, then circled them. If they were going to spook I wanted those deer to drift downwind, rather than running into the wind alerting deer upwind of where I was planning on rattling.
As I got to within about a quarter of a mile of the windmill I slowed down even more to taking three or four short steps, grunting with an “aaacckkk”, then taking more steps and again grunting. I had often listened to and watched mature bucks do the same thing as they walk during the rut, essentially letting their presence be known to any buck in the area, almost challenging them. While at the same time, they are alerting does, proclaiming themselves to the be sweetest lover in the area! Walking slowly, stopping frequently, and grunting I have had bucks follow me into the area where I wanted to rattle, particularly during the peak time of the rut.
Thirty minutes later I was set up with my back against an ancient gnarly mesquite, my .270 Win Mossberg Patriot, loaded with Hornady 145-grain ELD-X Precision Hunter rested on shooting sticks. Before sitting down I had turned down my Trijicon 2.5-12.5x42 variable down to 3x, in case my shot might be really close, as I expected.
Set up, rattling horns at my side, the same one I have been using for 30+ years, I sat back and waited for ten minutes before starting my rattling sequence. My intention was to rattle for about a minute to 90-or so seconds, wait two minutes, then repeat the rattling, this time upwards of 2-minutes, long trying to make much noise as possible with my tightly gripped rattling horns and by digging my heels into the ground, pushing and if possible also break some limbs with the rattling horns, but also with my feet. If nothing had responded by the time I finished that sequence I would wait a minute or so then repeat my last step and rattling this time up to about 3-minutes, or until my arms really tired! Upon finishing rattling, I generally do a snort-wheeze as I have often seen a “winning” buck do, when he chases away the loser.
The snort-wheeze in those instances is a challenge for the buck to return or one issued to any other bucks with earing distance. I always plan on staying about 30-minutes after finishing, before moving on about a half mile or so to again set up a rattling sequence.
So very often older and frequently bigger antlered bucks are slow to respond. Or, they respond immediately but do not come running in, rather than doing so they will stand downwind for numerous minutes assessing the situation before coming in or turning to walk away. Even when they do, they sometimes return and wait until well after the rattling sequence has been completed.
Sometimes too, bucks particularly when it is relatively quiet, come great distances. So it is important to give them plenty of time to respond.
Even if I have rattled in one or more bucks in a “sitting” I still stay approaching 30-minutes after I finish before moving on. In years past whether I rattled in a buck or not, I was anxious to head to a new area to try it again. That restlessness cost me untold numbers of older and bigger bucks. All too often as I stood to leave I spooked a big bodied, larger antlered buck, just now coming in…
I am fortunate, several ranches I hunt in Texas are sizeable, ranging from 1,200 to over 8,000-acres. Thus I can move around.
When hunting smaller acreages, I tend to stay on the same stand all day, or possibly move very short distances if wind directions change. During the “approaching” rut, peak of the rut and post-rut hunting those properties I stay “on stand” all day long and do a rattling sequence once every 45-minutes to an hour.
Buck fights last mere seconds to hours. I have seen mature bucks fight, never separating their antlers for as long as 8-hours. During that 8-hours, which happened at night under a nightlight on one of the ranches I used to manage, twenty-two different bucks came by to investigate, including five bucks I saw only that one time.
When bucks do respond and start to leave I generally start grunting at them, using my natural voice. Bucks are like people, even bucks with big antlers and huge bodies can and often do make higher pitched grunts!
If you have not yet rattled in bucks, do not give up on rattling. I like starting with sizeable antlers. With big antlers I can make louder rattling sounds, but also rattle softly. With small rattling antlers I can only make “soft” rattling sounds.
Rattle where you expect to rattle in a buck, where they exist. Interestingly, the more bucks in an area the better the chance one or more will want to investigate the rattling sounds you make. There seems to be no rhyme or reason why bucks tend to respond better some days, or even during different times of the day.
In deep South Texas where I spent considerable time hunting in the past, some mornings I thought were ideal for rattling did not produce a single response. But then usually those same days after lunch bucks responded. Some days I have had great success at first light, other times the last moments of the day, and all different and odd times of the day. This is one of the reason I hunt all day long, and why I rattle throughout the day.
Now if you will excuse me, I have a date with a massive antlered buck that likes the sounds I make with my rattling horns.
Should you wish a copy of Larry’s newest book DEER ADDICTIONS, all about hunting deer throughout North America from Canada to Campeche, or, CAMPFIRE TALK which he co-authored with Luke Clayton you can procure copies by going to www.catfishradio.org and clicking on BOOKS in the upper right hand corner of the website. Both books too, are available through the SPORTING CLASSICS STORE and now also on AMAZON.
You can also with a bit of “investigating” on this site order both books right here!
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