Hi all, I hope everyone is having a great season! I am curious as to everyone's thoughts on the following situation/question. I have multiple daylight pictures of a nice buck on a property I'll be hunting this weekend (but haven't yet hunted this season). He regularly uses a trail that runs past my stand, but I am not sure if he actually walks past the stand, or comes from another trail that intersects the trail my camera is on. I typically spray some doe scent on my boots when I walk into the woods, but I'm wondering if I should drop additional scent from where I see him on camera all the way to my stand? Another question I have is, "how much scent is too much?" Obviously, I won't use an entire can/bottle of spray, but, at what point would it be obvious to a buck that a doe couldn't pee that much and it's just an overzealous hunter? Any help would be appreciated. Good luck and stay safe out there!
If the buck is naturally walking thru the area, why change anything? Any time you add something to his environment, he will notice and the outcome most likely won't be the way you want. Best bet is to get in your stand the most nonintrusive way possible, and hang on for the ride! Let him do his thing and surprise him. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
@Holt-good point. I didn’t mention in my first post that my camera is halfway between my stand and a large opening to a field, and he’s heading to the opening. I guess my fear is I won’t see him on his way out, so I thought the scent would redirect him toward my stand. I’m sure patience is the best bet. Thanks again!
It’s 5 hours away, so I won’t be able to get down there before this weekend, but that’s a good thought for next year. Typically, I only see deer off to the right of my stand, not where he is off to the left, we’ll see. Thanks again.
I'm with Holt. The buck is comfortable with his route and using it often. I'm not a fan of using scent in that situation. You want him to do his normal thing and not have a clue anything is different. Its like a September feeding pattern, I wouldn't risk jacking it up by changing the scenario and causing him to possibly react in a negative way. dnoodles also has a good point...but you're not sure if your current stand location is fine. I'd do a sit and find out. Maybe you shoot the buck, or maybe he passes out of range. If he did I'd move the stand at mid day and be over the top OCD about scent control when doing it.
I think I would feel more confident luring him into range with a grunt call than a scent. At one point in time, I was big on James Valley scents but the direction for using it were pretty meticulous and needed to be started at least a month before in scrapes and bedding areas. It eventually lost its charm on the local population and I think it even spooked a couple of larger bucks.
