RE: rattling methods?
I've had excellent success with rattling. It's all about having receptive bucks that actually hear your simulated fight. My theory has been that the louder you are, the further your sound will carry, the more ears your noise will reach, and the more bucks you'll bring in. However, this is not always true. I scared away a big P&Y 8 pointer last year when I tried to "tickle him in" after seeing him first. He turned tail and ran. So there's no gaurantee. It doesn't work every time. It goes in streaks for me. I had a streak going one season ('99)where I literally rattled in a buck EVERY TIME I called. It was amazing. There are many factors such as, crop location, deer travel patterns vs. time of day that you call, weather, wind direction (which effect sound travel), and others that effect call response.
I'd recommend varying your technique with different combinations of volume, duration, length of pauses and frequency. You never know when you might offer just the right notes to draw the big boys in.
One more thing. In the newest Buck Fever video series, Jack Wittingham talked about doing an rattling experiment where he sent watchmen to towers situated 200 yards downwind of his own stand. He then rattled and observed the response. I don't remember the exact stats, but he only saw maybe 1 in 7 bucks that actually approached his calling. The others hung up out of view. He proved that the caller does not always see every buck that responds to the noise. This could be a useful team tactic. Kinda like teaming up on bugling bulls. Just a thought.