Maine’s habitat of heavy forest, especially throughout Aroostook County, has dictated the most productive styles of deer hunting since the early 1900s. Old-fashioned walk and stalk tactics such as “still hunting,” or quietly wandering the woods along obvious deer trails or finding and following a fresh set of tracks, still works more than 100 years later.
Fifty years ago, sitting on a stump overlooking a fresh cut became popular. More recently erecting a tree stand or setting up a portable ground blind along the edge of game trails, near agri-crop feed fields, wild apple orchards, beech ridges and fresh scrapes or rubs are more popular and effective.
The one characteristic all of these options require is silence. Hunters need to be hidden, motionless, scent free, patient and above all, QUIET! Well, there’s a new game in The Pine Tree State, imported from the West, and it actually uses noise to bring deer to the hunter rather than the silent, sit and wait option.
More and more whitetail enthusiasts are enjoying success by rattling antlers to coax bucks closer during the rut.
Tactics for bringing the deer to the hunter include attractant scents, and proven methods based on sounding like a deer to attract the animals.
Rattling antlers was the first such practice I was exposed to more than 30 years ago. Originating in Texas, a set of horns are hit against each other and on nearby brush to imitate a fight between two bucks. The method is also used to call a bull moose in.
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 and rattled and shook the bushes with them on and off for 30 minutes.
A fat, four-point buck 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 smelled us and bounded off, but during firearm season there would have been venison on the table.
During the rut, seeking out a doe in heat keeps male whitetails on the move steadily, making it possible for hunters to stake out a rub, scrape or well-traveled trail to intercept amorous traveling bucks. You can make a fake scrape or a drip site with one of the many effective doe estrous solutions too. Add the sound effects that a couple of other bucks are in the area fighting over a doe and any other nearby buck within hearing range will likely investigate.
Antler rattling has yielded some trophy deer in Maine. The technique is simple. Cut off a set of real antlers at the base, join them together with a rawhide thong for ease of transport and to prevent loss and carry them to a tree stand or ground blind in good whitetail cover.
Once in place, grab the antlers by the bases, clash and smash the tines together loudly at intermittent periods as well as raking the nearby limbs and bushes for about five minutes. Wait a few minutes and repeat the fake antler dual, watch and listen for a horned interested interloper.
A couple of words of caution. Wear gloves and pay attention to the antler position as you rattle. Many hunters have scraped or gored their own hands when overzealous. Also have your rifle ready and near. Bucks frequently will come running into sight ready to join the battle rather than sneaking around.
There are fake antlers, more lightweight and synthetic with even better sound quality than the real things, for sale from several companies. Also effective and simple to use, even one-handed, are a couple of mechanical devices that imitate antlers rattling when shaken; check out Bang Bag, Rattle Bag and Battle Bones to name a few brands. They are inexpensive and effective.
The height of the rut is a perfect time to attempt rattling up a buck, but this tactic will really work anytime during the season on many curious deer. It might even be worth a try in the upcoming muzzleloader season.
Times and tactics have changed in the regional deer woods, so with just a few weeks left to bag a buck, it might be time to sound like another deer. Silence isn’t always golden while deer hunting.
