In over 40 years of wandering the deserts of Utah I've seen three rattlers.
Normally, I just pay attention to where I'm putting my feet.
Rattler #2 I did not see till I was standing about a foot away, looking into a large crack in a cliff face to see how far back in it went. Eventually looked down at the sagebrush between me & the opening & saw a baby rattler in the brush right in front of me. I moved out of range in a hurry.
#3 was about three years back, sizable enough to hear over the engine of my ATV as we were slowly following an old dirt road & I'm half deaf.
It was coiled about a yard away from the road on my side.
We stopped to get out & say hi, then drove on. Actually, I said hi, my buddy wouldn't get out of the passenger seat.
I've considered snake boots, but they can get pretty hot in the summer.
Denis