I hunt out of a ground blind and only use apples and corn... What can I use to get the bucks in? I have a few code blue scents... One is screaming heat another is buck urine and I have regular doe estrous and a double scent drag..
Right now you're not going to have a lot of luck drawing bucks in. Over the next few weeks you need to find the does and hunt them, right now bucks are changing up their early season patterns, and while it's not impossible to kill one, doing so out of a baited blind is probably a long shot. Give it a few weeks pressure free, keep the does coming in and the bucks will follow. Late season food might once again draw a buck in, but food during the day will be playing second fiddle soon.
The doe are not in estrous around here yet I'm in ky. So putting out for estrous isn't gonna do you any good. It'll scare more than draw in yet. The buck urine isn't so great untill the rut either and will only draw in you more dom bucks if any. Try making a few scrapes on some tree lines Paul Pollicks has some great scents for scrapes. Go to www.deerlures.com he has buck tarsal, doe tarsal, buck and doe interdigital which is the gland between they're toes, also the most important part of a scrape is the buck preorbital. It is a mixture of all the facial glands that the big boys rub into the licking branch above a scrape. Don't spray a bunch of it onto the dirt of the scrape either find a few pieces of old dead DRY wood. Small pieces. Halve dollar size or a little bigger. Saturate each piece with a scent and put around in the scrape towards the perimeter if not just on the perimeter of the clean spot of dirt. The the preorbital can be bought in a spray or a gel. The fell works best cause of course it'll stay the longest. You have to freshen it up every once in a while just as a buck would, to keep them coming in to check it. But remember to freshen with more of the doe tarsal and interdigital. That's the whole point of a scrape right? To find the doe. You can also take the preorbital gel and spread it onto small slick bark trees to act as a rubbing tree. Helps do do this on trees around the stand to cover scent too.
Have you thought about moving your blind to a different location? I would think you would have more luck being in a spot where they want to be rather than trying to attract them somewhere else
I just checked the camera and I have a big doe and two fawns coming in right before dark... Should I just keep it pressure free and not hunt until the rut? Or should I hunt and try to be lucky?
Are you doe hunting or buck hunting? If all you are after is a buck, then waiting about 2 weeks and eliminating any potential pressure is probably the safest route. Not knowing your property, deer herd make up or other variables it's really tough to answer. One things is for certain, the bucks will soon be breeding the does, the more does you have around the better your chances at seeing a buck. Making a shot is never guaranteed
I would try some scouting other than throwing out some baits or scents. You have a much better chance of getting on a buck if you can find where the deer are naturally wanting to be.
Well the problem is I am only 13 and I hunt on my uncles property... He does the setting up and doesn't really give me any say in it... So I'm kind of stuck.
Maybe I will get lucky like last year I ended up having this guy come in chasing a doe while I was hunting a bait pile
At this point Patience is your friend. Don't go screwing up your area by throwing a ton of different scents all at once. You might not get bucks now but in a few weeks they should be cruising through!
best bet is to do some mid-day scouting find the acorn's etc...whatever they are browsing on atm. scouting is key to easy deer kill's. deer move around alot they may only feed on a flat etc.. for 3-4 days then will move to another flat. this time of year. rut is coming on that is time to call em in. next couple weeks a young buck grunt and some light rattling could pay off for ya.
Well I can't move my blind so... What if I find some white oak acorns, scatter them around the area? Would that help attract deer?
doubtful...they will be where they are dropping. last week of oct is magical buck's will be looking for doe's if ya have doe's the buck's will come. 1st week of nov' buck's are everywhere chasing doe's. full moon is 27th of oct this year. So next week they will really start getting fired up. best to wait instead of saturating your setup with scent. I don't use deer scent tried it year's ago didnt' seem to do me any good lol. after acrorn's are gone they will come to your bait pile. after the chase buck's will lockup with doe's for breeding. then they will be hungry and come to baitpile's/field's etc...easiest time to kill old buck's for me is dec' due to fact they are easily patterned on food source's just like early season
Give up the scents and spend time in the blind. Pay attention to wind currents and learn all you can while in the blind. Remember, all those cool gadgets you see on TV are there for a reason...to make money. Worry more about your own scent control and less about attractant scents. Most of all, observe how the deer are acting and HAVE FUN! The killing part is a very small part of deer hunting.
