I had the opportunity to hear the sounds on the Phantom deer call and I have had a lot of experience in calling of whitetail deer during pre-rut as well as during the rut itself. The grunts produced by the phantom would be absolutely deadly during the times I mention. The thrashing leaves sound would help to convince a buck that there was another deer over there alright. I am not sure how well the call will work this late in the year, but deer would be calmed by the grunting sounds and may approach out of curiosity. Good luck