Rattling can be very effective if you live in an area where the buck to doe ratio is low, like Texas, up here in MN it's about 50-1 so the bucks do not need to compete and will avoid a fight unless it is a big dominant buck, and will usually go downwind from the rattling and try to figure out what you are and will nail you and spook. The trick is to not let them pinpoint your location, you want them to look for you, and if you can put yourself in a tree next to some water so a buck is not able to go downwind of you, your chances are better, now remember every state is different, like model722 says every half hour, the few times I have had luck with them I used Loman dynamite sticks, higher pitched sound carries farther than normal, and has the sound of two younger bucks fighting, so they do not intimidate a bigger buck. When you use them during pre-rut just tink them a little to sound like sparring two or three times, during rut simulate a fight from 15 seconds to 1 1/2 minutes. good luck!!!!!!