it is october 26 and i was wanting to rattle this evening
any strategies

I use my bow rope and tie the antlers on and just tug on the bow rope and it sounds good and it is low to the ground doesn' t sound like its up in the tree.

yes, have a good buck to doe ratio! I dont have that here in my area of Pa. I see you are from illinois. Your lucky!

Depends what you are looking for as far as bucks are concerned. If you are looking to take any legal buck, try to sound like a pair of small bucks tussling vs a couple of monsters. Deer already know the pecking order, so a subordinate buck is less likely to come in knowing he may be next in line. The dominant buck might respond to either scenario. You can use a grunt tube prior, during and after rattling. And be ready as soon as you stop rattling get your bow ready! Sometimes they come in quick.
If at all possible have a buddy rattle for you, especially if you are on the ground. The deer know exactly where that sound is coming from and will see you move. I had this happen last weekend. Not to mention the deer came from the opposite direction I was thinking they might. He snuck up to within 15-20 feet of me. When I turned to see what was behind me he saw me move and took off for parts unknown. Oh yeah he showed up within three minutes of me rattling.

I rattled in 3 bucks this morning, but none of them were big. One was a skinny racked 6 pointer. One was a forkhorn with decent mass. The last one was messed up, nothing on one side but 4 points on the other coming out from the base and going in all directions. I was rattling hard for about 30 seconds with some decent sized 4 point antlers(different sized ones).
Like chris said, be ready, because they can come right in from any direction.