Normally I don't start clashing antlers until about the 1st of Nov. Maybe the week before but no earlier. The deer are smart enough with out me making them smarter.
Too early yet and I just do not have much luck with it in Oklahoma. Kansas is a different story. Maybe as our buck numbers go up due to the 2 buck limit, we will have better responses rattling. It has worked for me a few times here but not very often.
I read something the other day that said if you want to try something this early. Try just tickling them together. Their reasoning was that while in bachelor groups it is common to see a couple of bucks kinda hook up and shove each other around but not really fight. They said it had worked several times for them in early season.
I personally have never had much luck with it. I killed one buck that I might attribute to rattling but can't be sure.
I've rattled up plenty of bucks but as already said, it's too early. Any sign of the rut and rattlin works great. the last deer I killed I rattled in ... 5 min. Into gun season and I had me a nice 160 lb 9 point buck at about 5-6 yards so I popped him with my Taurus 44 mag.
Rattling is usually more effective in areas with a ratio of bucks to does being somewhat close together.
This year:
Oct. 30th---->>>>>-----------Nov. 6th---->>>---->>>---Nov. 20th
Lighter rattling, ------- A little more aggressive -------- Grunting, snort/weeze
Soft tickling of the------ rattling after a grunt call.----- aggressive rattling,
antlers together. ------- Doe bleat, may be effective.----- kicking around leaves.
The dates aren't on and off like a light switch, but should be pretty close. The time between them would be a transition period where either may work, but its easier to start quieter than to appear like the dominant bully buck in the area.