i was just wandering if the rattling of the horns would possibly scare off the smaller bucks?

I was "tickling" my rattle bag yesterday, a very small spike entered stage left (let him walk).

A buddy of mine told me that you ought to match your rattling to the size of the bucks in the area, i.e. don't make 160 class noise when the big bucks in your area are 100 class.

Makes sense to me.

I have a set of 8pt horns that would have scored about 115. i think they are ideal. i used to have a smaller pair, lots of small bucks came in so i went to a big pair and the little ones shyed away, but still got responses in some cases from the lil' boys. i thinks it's more a matter of mood. i do know that rattling does not scare deer. if a deer is in eyesite just don't pound them together. you have to remember that if you can see the deer, likely he can pinpoint your rattling spot and if he doesn't see another deer, he certainly isn't gonna respond. if you are gonna rattle in open areas, i would use a deke. just my two cents.
good huntin' boys

I just had my first encounter with this last Monday. Sitting on a ridgetop CRP field and saw a nice 120-140 class come out on the opposite side of the field (100 yards). I just touched the rattle bag to get his attention, but didn't see the doe sitting behind me who went running into the field when she heard it! Bottom line, she walked around in the CRP and ended up going to the other side and he eventually followed after her. All I had to do was sit there and he probably would have found her behind me, but live and learn! OOPS!

It just depends on the mood of the buck....like you or me... some people like to scrap and some dont.

Yes, depending on where you live like myself in PA, in my 20 plus yrs of bowhunting, rattling scares more bucks away than it draws in. This is one reason I will usually only tickle the horns together as a last resort type call. I rely on stand location and deer calls first.

Yep, I've seen bucks take off running the other way after I get done rattling. I saw it Saturday again, someone near me was rattling and a I saw a buck walking the opposite way. Rattling just does not work where i hunt. I think the deer are just too pressured...they've probably heard every call ever made.