I think Rut is hard to predict. In my NE WA camp over the last 10 years real rut only happened during the late season one time. Every other year we've seen pre-rut pattern. Archers and muzz guys, well they start right where that late rifle ends so they see rut for sure.
Scents work some where we hunt, more the closer you are to the end of the season. The other deal on whether or not the rattles/scents work is the pressure on the ground you hunt. I hunt high pressure public land. We've yet to rattle up a buck. We've had some luck with grunts etc but I'd not call it dramatic. In high pressure areas they just get very spooky. The less pressure the area and the closer to the end of the rifle the more value you get out of all of that stuff.
In the mean time, find rub lines and scrapes. Do that and you'll have a trail that a pre-rutting buck makes the rounds on, sit tight to those spots.
