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Antler Rattling on the High Plains

Luke Clayton

DEER SEASON is in going strong right now and the rut is either in the early stages or full swing, depending upon where you hunt.

I have a hunt in early December planned with Steven Ray who is an expert antler rattler.

Steven developed and markets a unique set of rattling antlers he calls Rattling Forks www.rattlingforks.com. I first learned about Steven’s Rattling Forks from Larry Weishuhn, aka Mr. Whitetail. He was telling me about how far the sound carries from the Rattling Forks compared to other antlers he’s used. Since first learning about them, I’ve put them to use myself and discovered that the sound does carry appreciably farther.  I’ve since visited with Ray a good bit and learned more about this unique tool for getting bucks in close.

“I’ve been rattling bucks for many years and often in thick, brushy country or big, deep valleys that tend to muffle sound.” says Ray. “ I’ve known for a long time that if given the time to come in close, antler rattling will pull deer in from a great distance but, they first have to hear the sound of what they perceive to be two bucks fighting. My Rattling Forks are much thicker than conventional rattling antlers and because of their unique design, can be used to make light ‘tickling’ sounds of two bucks sparring or mimic full out battles when banged together.”

I will be hunting with Ray out on a big west Texas ranch in a couple of weeks and eagerly await the hunt and learning some new tricks from someone that has a passion for using antlers to trick big bucks in out of the brush!      

Outdoors writer, radio host and book author Luke Clayton has been addicted to everything outdoors related since his childhood when he grew up hunting and fishing in rural northeast Texas. Luke pens a weekly newspaper column that appears in over thirty newspapers.