I used to rattle a lot during the rut, but have not done it much in the last few years. I am going to try to do more this year. Back when I did, it was a lot of fun just watchin the young un's come runnin in.

I have never been able to rattle a buck in. I tried it several times, but I'm probably just doing it wrong and scaring them off rather than attracting them.

Guns don't kill people....Its those pesky little bullets making lots of holes that all the blood leaks out of.

Dana, the best time is as you know in the rut, Don't stop tryin. If you hit it just right some times I have seen 5-6 bucks come in from different directions allmost at the same time. It is a blast to see that.

About 10 years ago I was 'forced' to rattle for the first time after several days with the deer not moving.  The landowner called and asked what was I seeing and I said not a thing.  He asked me why aren't you rattling and I very cleverly responded because I didn't have any horns.  He had a set and said I could use them, so I told him I'd give it a try rolling my eyes the whole time.  Turns out I rattled in a mature 9 point on my first try (which is a bizarre story in itself) and have seen, as long as the buck-doe ratio is reasonable and hunting pressure is low that it works pretty well where we hunt.

With all that we're still what you call "reluctant rattlers".  We've always been 'watchers', hunting foods sources or travel corridors, and usually move towards a more aggressive tactic like rattling only when nothing else is working.  Last year we rattled in 2 bucks, the last one a very respectable, but too young, 8 pointer (we saw a very nice 9 pointer too that was rattled-in not by us, but by a pair of fighting bucks right by us).  With the acorn crop the way it is this year, barring an early freeze-thaw cycle, we'll likely rattle again this season.

Like Hardy we usually rattle before and during the rut.  The big boys almost always come in downwind, some fast, some slow.  But, when they get within 10 yards (or less), wind you, then go crashing back through the brush on a calm, quiet December day it will scare your socks off.  We've also had 'em come in so mad that they start hooking limbs and thrashing around to the point where we've actually considered shooting even if the buck isn't really a shooter.  Big headgear on an immature buck 10 feet from you is still big headgear.  We've never had to do it, but its close at least twice.  We've also had the same situation where its 20-30 minutes before anythign moves in and, we've gotten 'burned' getting-up too early. 

I don't know what Hardy or any of the other folks have seen, but even with all the fighting going on from annual buck territorial wars it appears to us that you can rattle too much and inadvertently condition bucks to become more cautious.

Rattling is one of my favorite ways to hunt.I seem to have had my best luck when the rut is just begining to kick off.It seems like they are more anxious during that time,they are still fat,rested and just cain't wait!Cool,calm weather is good.I like a light mist,45 degrees or less and frosty mornings just when the frost is begining to melt.There are several different ways to do it and how it works depends on the mood of the buck.Some like soft rattling,but I've had my best luck with hard rattling.I like to really whack the beams hard followed by some tine clicking and grinding.If your afraid your going to scare a buck off by this,you probably wouldn't want to shoot it anyway.Those bigger bucks don't mess around.They can be quite loud and aggresive in their fighting.How far can they hear rattling?I rattled one frosty morning.The frost was begining to melt,no wind at all and 350yards away I could see a tall bush shaking.When I rattled,the buck was getting so pumped,he would start tearing up this tall bush.This went on for about fifteen minutes.The buck left the bush and I was expecting him to circle around the brush and come in closer.Fifteen minutes goes by with a few short sequence rattles,still no buck.Thirty minutes goes by and the buck reappears at the bush again,a few wacks of the antlers,he comes right on in.It took about 45 min before that buck got pumped enough to get ready for battle.Sometimes I've had them come in,just a few wacks and there.I think it really depeads how close they are and what mood they are in,you just never know.One thing I know for sure is,when I hunting bucks,my rattling antlers are with me.