During the late 1970s, 80s, and the early 90s, I was chairman of the Aroostook Ducks Unlimited chapter for 17 or so years. One of my committee members was Donnie Embleton of Mapleton, and we did our fair share of waterfowl hunting together.
Over the course of events I learned that Don was even more enthusiastic about deer hunting; and the first person I’d ever met in Aroostook to use antler rattling to ensure yearly success. He was a pioneer all those decades ago, still is, and has several walls of racks and mounted bucks to prove rattling works.
During the first week of deer season this fall, my cousin Steve Hitchcock of Mars Hill called to talk tactics and techniques. Another avid outdoorsmen, Steve lives for each November’s whitetail season and put a lot of time, effort, and study into outsmarting big bucks. He asked what I thought about rattling as a productive method for Aroostook hunting and I related several stories about Donnie Embleton as well as a bunch of info I’d heard, read, and personally experienced. Two mornings later Steve shot his buck after only 45 minutes in his tree stand and only 20 minutes after he tried rattling for the first time.
I learned how to deer hunt the old fashioned way. My dad taught me to get into the woods and still hunt, to sneak along slowly and quietly doing more watching than walking. Occasionally I’d sit on a stump overlooking a fresh cut and wait for a whitetail to make an appearance just before dusk for a late snack. No motion and no noise were still crucial rules for stump sitting.
Years later I learned that sitting up in a tree on a stand overlooking an active deer trail, feeding field or wild apple orchard could be very productive. Still, the “silence is golden” rule applied. Even the tried and true practice of locating a fresh track on new snow and trailing a deer required the sportsman to be as quiet as possible. Having enjoyed the success of no noise deer hunting for decades, you can imagine my reluctance to actually intentionally create a commotion while hunting.
-
- There are boxes, bags, cans and tubes that make a sound like rattling deer antlers or even a set of synthetic antlers available at the local sporting goods store. And while your there, check out the selection of deer calls. If you want real high-tech, look over the electronic rattles and calls all in one remote unit. (Courtesy/Bill Graves)
After years of trying to sneak up on a whitetail, now there were tactics to actually bring the deer to the hunter. Some of these techniques used attractant scents, but several other proven methods were based on sounding like a deer to coax real deer to investigate.
Rattling anglers was the first such practice I was exposed to. A trick originated in Texas, where a set of horns are bashed and clashed together and on nearby brush and tree limbs to imitate a fight between two bucks, I had doubts it would work in Maine. A friend took me out during archery season and eliminated my doubts the first morning.
He banged the horns together, pawed the ground with them and rattled and shook the bushes with the horns on and off for 30 minutes. A fat, four pointer appeared soon after, well within rifle range but out of bow range. The deer watched and circled nervously while my partner kept rattling the antlers, but fear that a dominant buck was making the noise kept the younger buck out of arrow range. He finally scented us and bounded off, but during firearm season there would have been venison on the table.
A set of real 6 or 8 point antlers cut off at the base and hooked together with a leather lace through a drill hole offer the most realistic sound. There are several manufactured composite antlers to be purchased that will also work. Some companies have become even more innovative and created bags, cans and tubes filled with various items that when shaken turn, tumble and jangle together to imitate the exact sound of antlers rattling.
These are easier to carry and safer to utilize because you can’t stick yourself in the hand while banging them around. The height of the rut is a perfect time to try rattling up a buck, but this tactic will really work anytime during the season on many curious deer, and would be well worth a try in the upcoming muzzleloader season as well.
Deer calls are another noise producing product that can tempt a nearby whitetail to investigate. There are grunt calls that imitate bucks tending a doe, doe in heat calls to attract a buck and even fawn calls that will often bring both bucks and does to investigate. There are several styles of hand held calls that are blown just like a duck or crew call. These are simple to use, easy to carry in a shirt or jacket pocket and very realistic.
Some mouth calls even have clips to attach them to a jacket lapel so the hunter can just bend his head and blow. Such calls are perfect for bow hunters who need to stop a buck from walking while at full draw. Mix a couple of types of calls with antler rattling and the chance of attracting a deer near a blind or stand increases further.. There are times when crusty snow or other weather problems prevent effective still hunting or tracking. If you have to hunt from a stand, why not increase your odds by using an audible lure. Times and tactics have changed in the regional deer woods, so with less than two weeks left to bag a buck it might be time to take some “sound” advice; make some noise.
If you already tagged a deer this fall or you don’t hunt with black powder, keep this technique in mind for next season. Since you can’t sound like a favorite food, the next best thing is to sound like another deer. With the rut in full swing, sounding like a doe in heat or a buck ready to spar can be very productive. Silence isn’t always golden while deer hunting.
