rattlin mulies?

[Dale]

has anyone tried rattlin mulies? I have rattled in numerous whitetails but i'm not sure if mulies are as agressive. anyone had success with this?

[ruger#1]

i have , works best when you use a doe in heat bleat with rattling. picked up a nice three pointer in clinton doing it. it was like a video game the buck ran out in front of me.

[4blade]

nope it doesnt work at all ,not worth trying,by the way where do you hunt.ha ha .just like whitetails doesnt work all the time but when it does.i rattled a nice 5x5 to 5 yards ,looking like he wanted to give me a working over.he,s still out there sometimes it works too well

[huntwriter]

has anyone tried rattlin mulies? I have rattled in numerous whitetails but i'm not sure if mulies are as agressive. anyone had success with this?
Personally I have never rattled in a mule deer buck, never hunted muleies yet. But I know from a few hunters who say it works as well as it does with whitetails. To me that only makes common sense, since muleies fight to for the does.

Timing is crucial for this tactic to make it effective. Rattling works best in the pre-rut and then again in the full-rut. The two seasons vary in the fight activity of the bucks.

In the pre-rut bucks engage more in sparing rather than in foull blown fights. During the full-rut bucks only fight aggressively if there are more bucks than does. If the buck to doe ratio is even or in favour of the does then bucks fight very little and never aggressive.

Where some hunters make a mistake by rattling is that they rattle way to aggressive and to long. An average rattling sequence should not be longer than maximum ten minutes. Bucks don't run into each other like steamrollers, they start with intimidation. These is done by raking brush or sapplings while stomping the front feet on the ground. If the bucks engage they do so by first grinding and klicking the horns together. From that point on they sometimes bang the horns together and shove each other back and forth.

Try to mimic these sounds by raking brush, stomp your feet, make a couple of buck grunts followed by a doe in heat bleat (provided it is in full rut). Then gently grind the horns together and click them a bit. From here on build up to a crescendo (not to loud and not to aggressieve). Then tone it gently down again and end with a grunt or two and rustle the leafs on the ground. Now take your gun or bow and get ready. The buck might comes running or he sneakes in from down wind. Waith for about 20 minutes to half hour then move on a bit and repeat the rattling sequence again. Moving on is important because raley if ever fight bucks on the same spot twice.

This way you make it sound natural and thus it will work much better. If you rattle in the full rut you also can use some doe in heat urine.

Calling and rattling is like everything else in hunting. It is not a do all strategy but rather a trick which can work well if everything else fits together too.

[rock]

As long as you use 2 different calls it gets there curiosity going, I've called in many animals this way, my best was last year blacktail hunting I've never had deer come in that hard and fast before, could have filled a few tags in one weekend, great fun. With whitetail in rut you just can't beat the excitement when there coming in and with this species of deer I've had them right at arms length away talk about a adrenaline rush.