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Hadwin

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Anyone have any suggestions for convincing a buck to close the gap when he hangs up at 75 yards for a 45 minute stand-off? Had it happen Saturday evening. He came right away to the rattling, but very cautiously and then stopped at about 75 yards. At one point I got him to come about 25 yards closer, where he stopped again. Finally, he was scared off when my buddy rattled 45 minutes later and 400 yards away. All other bucks that I've rattled in, have come in like a freight train to the base of my tree (an awesome experience). This one was much more cautious.

Thanks for any useful tips.
 
My guess would be one of two things:

First he may not have come in any further because he's already recieved a whoppin' or two, and isn't all that eager for a third.

But more than likely, even though he heard the sounds of two deer sparring, he didn't see any deer, and became suspicious. Was there a direct line of sight between you and the buckr? If so, you're not doing anything wrong, just rattling to a very smart deer.

I rattle with a decoy about 15 yards in front of my stand.That way if I do rattle a deer in he sees another buck and will most likely come to challenge the decoy.
 
I saw eight bucks yesterday morning. One was a 130's 9 point. Needless to say, he fell to my arrow! While waiting a while for him to give up the ghost, a real dandy 10 point (160-170) motored by. Yes, a tear did well up in my eye after watching him walk, but I am very happy with the buck I shot. For me, a majority of the fun is setting up a stand in a spot thet ends up being very good and getting a deer from it. And this stand is awesome.....first time I ever hunted it. You would never know that deer go thru there (no trails,scrapes,etc.) but it just looks like deer would use it.

I guess the chase is the juice for me. I will post a pic when they come back from the developer. This just reminds me how much I love bowhunting!

Now I can't wait for late muzzleloader.....it is almost as fun as bowhunting.
 
Congrats!

Can't wait to see a pic, thanks for sharing your story.

TLH
 
NateW

I never thought of it that way. If he was trying to avoid another headache, he did it well. Actually, there were other deer in the area and at one point during the standoff a doe and fawn were browsing under my stand. I could only see them out of the corner of my eye as I was trying to remain motionless. Maybe their calmness made the buck suspicious that a fight had actually taken place. Who knows.
 
R. Hadwin S.

when it comes to the antlered ones, sometimes you just need a little luck on your side. How about that buck you shot last year in mountain lion country.
 
Have had excellent results rattling past 10 days. Hit the horns and brought in an 11 pt on 10-30-01. Took him at 15 yds. This morning I filled my landowners tag by rattling in a 12 pt to 10 yds. Let it fly,watched him crash about 100 yds out, turned my head and a second 10 pointer was coming into the stand. No hot does yet but bucks still responding to horns in central Iowa. Good luck!!
 
Try a bleat can. Like "Bleat n' Heat" from Quaker Boy or "The Can" from Primos. <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hadwin:
Anyone have any suggestions for convincing a buck to close the gap when he hangs up at 75 yards for a 45 minute stand-off? Had it happen Saturday evening. He came right away to the rattling, but very cautiously and then stopped at about 75 yards. At one point I got him to come about 25 yards closer, where he stopped again. Finally, he was scared off when my buddy rattled 45 minutes later and 400 yards away. All other bucks that I've rattled in, have come in like a freight train to the base of my tree (an awesome experience). This one was much more cautious.

Thanks for any useful tips.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
If you have any indication of a buck coming in to the rattling antlers, DO NOT RATTLE!

Whitetail bucks are born with more patience than we will ever have, and will very often hang up at 100 yards give or take. The best thing to do is to let him think about it and come looking for you when he decides it's the thing to do. I have had bucks come in after several hours that I could hear the whole time, rubbing trees and making a racket 100-200 yards out.

I know 45 minutes seems like too long but I would suggest that the reason he did not come right in is that you rattled while he was inside 100 yards. The thing is, these whitetails know what's going on. If you rattle when they are really close they know exactly where you are. If things don't feel right they often won't budge.

Patience is key and it's better to let it get dark and try to get him another day than to educate the buck to rattling!

Just my $0.02 worth, good luck rattling!
 
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