You Must Be Wise When Rattling In Big Bucks

There is nothing more fun in the whitetail world than rattling and grunting to call bucks in to your position. Being active and having the ability to make deer come to you certainly adds a lot to a hunt.

As with anything, the wind must be in your favor to successfully call in bucks. Youngsters will often charge right in to your setup, but a smart old buck will attempt to circle downwind and try to smell before he comes in. That is the key to calling deer. The best scenario is to put some sort of boundary behind you while the wind is in your face, so he cannot get downwind and smell you.

My favorite situations are to have either a river or decent sized creek behind me. Bucks are not going to cross a river to get downwind. They may circle some and come in from the side, but they should not get your wind.

You can use a fencerow, major terrain change, or even crops to cut deer off that may sneak in around you. Looking for these areas before you set up to call is a key element that will up your calling success greatly. If you just call from anywhere, who knows how many bucks actually respond to your call, come in and get your wind, and then disappear without you ever knowing they were around?

I also like to put out some buck urine when calling just in case the deer do get a whiff of scent, the buck urine may make them think there are actually bucks around. You just have to take his nose out of the game or he will win every time.

When rattling, I like a versatile rifle caliber because you never know if a buck will end up at 30 yards or you might get a shot at 250 yards.

Classic whitetail calibers like .270, .308, and .30-06 are all great choices and their versatility has proven itself over the years. I love Winchester’s Deer Season XP line in all of these calibers with either 130, or 150-grain bullets. They truly have come up with perfect deer loads because these bullets exhibit:

*Large Diameter Polymer Tip – Accelerates bullet expansion for rapid trauma upon impact

*Ballistic Profile – Streamlined profile and polymer tip combine for improved downrange performance

*Contoured Jacket – Tapered profile for rapid expansion and terminal penetration on deer.

*Alloyed Lead Core – Optimized for energy transfer and impact power

*Deer Specific Performance – Terminally optimized for massive knockdown power on whitetail

Calling deer into your position takes a generally passive sport and makes it active. Couple that with Winchester Deer Season XP’s loads that you know will perform no matter the whitetail situation, and you have a perfect combination for one of the most exciting and rewarding deer hunts of your life.