I have had some sucess with rattling, but i have much more with my deer call. Two years ago during the gun season up in northern mn, i decided to give it a try around 11 in the morning. I didnt expect much, but about 5 minutes later i hear a crunch, crunch, then a pause, then a couple minutes later a snort and the deer ran away. I am assuming its a buck but who knows. I have called in numerous does with my deer call and several bucks including a 200 lbs. 10 point buck. My advice for you is to rattle ocassionally, but dont rattle when deer are in sight, then i would switch to the deer call.
GOOD HUNTING