I was growing impatient. Nothing, not even a yearling buck had responded to my rattling. Two days earlier I had rattled bucks every time I brought my antlers together. Some charged in, while others sneaked in cautiously, but today, even though the temperature and wind direction remained the same, not a single buck reacted.

As I stood to leave, I heard something behind me. In that moment, as I turned, I watched the best whitetail I had seen all season bound away. Lesson learned! I knew better and should have stayed longer before moving, at least 20 minutes after I quit rattling.

Three sessions later, I rattled in a 20-inch, typical 10-point that grossed 160 even on the Boone and Crockett scoring system. He too had taken his time. I had laid down my rattling horns about 15 minutes before he came slipping in, circling downwind of where I was hidden, next to a gnarly mesquite. My 7x57 Ruger Model 77 shooting Hornady 139 grain SP did an admirable job, but patience had been the key to success.

The next morning, well before daylight with my whitetail in salt, delicious venison aging in the cooler, I was asked by the landowner to rattle a buck for his friend who was arriving later that evening.

The following morning, en-route in the pre-dawn darkness, the rancher’s friend bragged about hunting throughout North America and Africa. “I shoot a 300 Win Mag handloaded with extremely light bullets loaded beyond the max. Speed is what kills!” said he.

As we stepped into the brush, I noticed his rifle was topped with a variable cranked up to the maximum 24x power.

I found a place to rattle where the buck should appear in a shooting lane to our left. I hunkered down next to a tree and asked my hunter to sit just beyond my outstretched left leg. I leaned forward and whispered: “When he comes in, he’ll be less than 20 yards away. I’ll try to stop him and keep him occupied by rattling and grunting long enough for you to get a shot. I saw a really good buck here last week. He’s a mature buck with swelled neck, a massive 10-pointer and 24-inches wide. He’ll easily score 155.”

No sooner had I started my rattling sequence when the buck walked into the shooting lane, 15 yards away and looking in our direction. I expected to hear a shot but none came. The buck started to walk away, so I snort-wheezed. He turned, stood broadside for 15 seconds and again, no shot.

I looked at my hunter and he was looking over the top of his scope. Finally, the buck walked away, no longer paying attention to my pleading grunts… But still the buck gave my hunter 45 seconds to take him.

Before I could ask what had happened, he said: “I couldn’t see him when I looked through my scope. I raised up to look over it and could see him.”

I looked and his scope which was still set on 24x, which is a great magnification setting if you’re shooting extremely long range, but not so good if you are rattling in whitetails at close range.

A half hour later my hunter was now hunting with my Ruger 77 300 Win Mag, loaded with Hornady ammo and topped with Trijicon AccuPoint, with the magnification cranked down to 3x.

I found a place that just felt good. As I prepared to rattle, I noticed my hunter was fidgeting with rifle’s bolt. I suspected he was simply making certain it was properly closed.

As soon as I started rattling a huge-bodied 10-point buck appeared 20 yards away. His antlers, barely spread to his erect forward ears and were extremely massive. The bases were as big around as his ear butts. His tines were extremely tall, nearly twice as long as his ear length and his tarsal glands were stained nearly black reaching to his ankle. He was one big mature whitetail.

I waited for the shot, keeping an eye on the buck, as I wanted to see where the bullet struck and how the buck reacted, but again no shot came.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the hunter jerking the trigger, yet no shot. The buck started walking away, so I grunted and he turned and came back. Surely now my hunter would shoot.

Still no shot! The hunter kept pulling and jerking the trigger, when the buck walked away. I glanced at his rifle and the bolt was not all the way down. Thankfully this kept the hunter from firing a shot.

I wish I could tell you I later rattled in another buck for that hunter, but it did not happen. There are some things we have control over and some we do not. Take care of those over which we do have control and learn from mistakes we make and those of others.

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