No I have never used the preorbital scent... I am not even sure if and where it could be purchased? Deer saliva is ammonia based, bucks and does alike lick their tarsal glands.... Having urine on a licking branch is not an uncommon occurrence in the woods, so I keep it simple with just the one product for when I make them.
I googled it and there are a few online sites that sell it. I wasn't knocking your method...simple is GREAT. So...you don't care much for scent drips?
I didn't take it as a knock at all... Didn't mean to come across as that.... I own a dripper that I bought years ago and it is still in the package in my basement... I don't use a dripper when I hunt a mock setup I want the area to be fresh once in and once out. I may hunt the mock setup again if all details tell me to hit it again. Other wise it is one and done for them.
Here ya go bud... http://www.kishelscents.com/COMERSUS/store/comersus_viewitem.asp?idProduct=3187 I have heard good things about these guys and I'm going to give them a try this year. I have a similar setup as a couple have mentioned in here with the old logging road going through the woods with a bedding area nearby. I was planning on trying a few mock scrapes this year. I tried one about 10 years ago and the deer tore it up and destroyed my dripper! Wish I had a trail cam on it back then
Not knocking your method cause you have more experience than I and the results speak for themselves. However isn;t the purpose of the dripper to get them to 1. Take over the scrape and 2. Get them to come to the scrape in daylight hours. Why are we waiting to make the mock scrapes until late October...I'm going to make mine as soon as I see them making them in my area. I haven't decided if I will use a dripper or if I will pee in it myself. I am going to try the preorbital scent I listed above though. Fresh scent from other deer...that ought to drive every buck in the area absolutely crazy!
I go at it a bit different than most.... I am not trying to condition bucks to use a scrape nor am I trying to alter their daily behaviors / routienes... I attempt to place myself in a location I believe a buck would be using for that time of year / daily conditions during daylight hours. The "best" place to sit today usually isn't the best place to sit tomorrow... When I hunt a scrape or mock scrape setup or any setup I choose for that matter, it is because I feel that is the best area / option to get on a big buck for that hunt and chances are I will not be there tomorrow or even a couple days later (unless conditions are right to hunt it again and I cannot come up with a new sit for those conditions that I feel would be as good or better. Just because a buck may be on his feet checking a scrape during daylight does not mean that scrape is even huntable that day due to the wind or other variables. So him being on a "conditioned" scrape in an area I can't hunt rather than naturally moving does me much more harm than good. This is why I set them up and hunt them the same day, seldomly but at times hunting the same one again the next day or two days later. I just believe there are to many variables as conditions change from hunt to hunt let alone day to day to be "planning" to hunt a certain area (conditioned scrape) again. I won't think about an area again until the time of year / conditions make me think it is a worthy sit. To me it is all about trying to be where they want to be not trying to put them where I may want them to be.... As we all know, they rarely cooperate
Good information to bring back and review again. I will probably use them a few times this year, I've got a couple of places you speak of in mind. One is a outside breakline along hardwoods and a brushy bottom field. This field is always torn up with buck sign, and we see quite a few bucks there each year. In fact, my buddy shot this buck along that break last year. I like to set my stand about 5 yards inside the woods for good cover, and with the field going down hill and lower than the woods I can see the entire field, although it's actually only a few acres in size. But it's thick and brushy, and the deer use it. Hardest part of that spot is the wind. It's only huntable on a south wind, and it blows back into the woods I'm sitting in. Which causes obvious problems with carrying the scent in the scrape. It's not going anywhere the deer will be coming from but......I don't use it as an attractant anyway. Mine are designed as a distraction so I can shoot said buck. Another little thing I do with these is to place a large oak leaf in the center that's "cupped" upward, in the shape of a bowl if you will. I put buck urine in that leaf so it doesn't soak into the ground. Now, maybe that's just for my own peace of mind, as I would think the deer could still smell it when it soaks in the dirt but.........it's just one of my little quirks.
