My favorite method of hunting a mature whitetail buck is by rattling two deer antlers together. When I do this, I am trying to mimic the sound that two bucks that are fighting would make. If a mature buck hears this battle, he will go to the ruckus in an attempt to take the doe away from the combatants or drive them from his territory.
I use antlers from bucks that I have killed or shed antlers that I have found. Synthetic antlers can be very effective as well. I have found that a deer call known as a grunt call is very effective for luring bucks even closer to the hunter.
My favorite time to rattle a mature buck is the week to ten days in advance of the rut. It is at this time when the bucks are searching for receptive does and have the most vigor. It seems that it is more difficult to rattle a mature buck during the peak of the rut for most will be with a doe. It is almost impossible to rattle a buck away from a receptive doe.
The closer the buck to doe ratio, the greater your chance of rattling a buck as they must compete for breeding rights. On two different occasions, I have rattled eight bucks to one stand.
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