jrbsr, of course it can work this is the time that dominant bucks fight for the right to breed a doe. That being said why it sometimes doesn't get the result that late pre rut or very early post rut..is no buck is going to leave a sure thing for a maybe! On the flip of the coin why it does work at this time, Bucks cruising will slip in to get another doe. Also another part of the equation is the smaller, less dominant bucks are not as keen to check out a scrap...after being run off by a bad boy.

Rattling is not a 100% foolproof method, the only way is to try and then adapt to the deer in your area. By this I mean an area that has a high doe to buck ratio will see far fewer bucks coming to the horns, as the rut is not as hard and competition is not as fierce for the does. An area that has a good buck to doe ratio your success will/should be much higher...defined rut and lots of competition.