who thinks over the counter scents work? And who believes that the only true scent for hunting big boys is the use of a FRESH tarsal and a urine filled bladder off of a fresh killed deer?
Both work for me as I only use them as a distractant rather than an attractant. I use them to stop a deer for a shot.
I use natural urine from a local scent business. They're family friends and just started up recently. I've had some luck with it, and they really sell a lot of their estrus when they bring their does into heat with artificial insemination. I guess it really isn't any different than killing a doe and using her urine though, just costs money.
My use of over the counter scents has never been good. I told my self last year when i had a deer walk up on me from the upwind side about 40 yds. He turned tail and ran for cover.... But i didnt listen to myself. I bought some more this year, i had a medium 8 point walk in and he looked over at my scent bomb ( he was again up wind) and he walked off without giving me a shot.. So there is my story.. Ill say it again "im not using scents ever again" These scents were used in northern WI and in the second and third week of November. Im sure ill use them again .....
I've often thought of doing the same thing, but what happens after you've put the scent out and you're no longer around? I don't pesonally believe in scents too much, so I have a hard time adding additional scent to an area I'm hunting, especially if it's one I'm planning on hunting more than a few times. IMO it would just draw more attention to the spot, thus increasing the liklihood of my scent/presence being discovered. Like I said - not a big fan of scents for deer hunting. Tried them a lot when I was younger, and probably had no idea what I was doing, and never had much if any luck.
I have used quite a few scents in the past and many have left me wondering if I was using stale Cow pee. I had great success with Rickard's Love Potion 9 and a local doe in heat urine from S&P if I remember correctly. I quit using the stuff about three years ago and focused more on blind calling or calling when I have bucks in sight. For me a few 10-20 dollar calls will last a lot longer than some shady urine you spend 10 bucks a bottle on. I once relied on the wind carrying scent and hoping to bring in deer, now I hunt their travel paths, create mock scrapes and rubs and use calls when needed. Not sure I'll ever use urine products again, pissing my money away as I see it;_
I put the cap back on it and take it out of the woods with me. I never leave scent out in the woods. I use clean film canisters with cotton balls that I have wrapped with electrical tape. Unpeel tape....wrap around branch.....hunt.....unwrap tape...take scent and go!
I've done what Greg mentioned quite a few times. I don't think that it has brought in deer that I otherwise would not have seen, but instead keeps them planted in my shooting lane long enough to shoot and distracts them. It has worked for me on 2 different occasions that I can remember. I don't leave anything out though, it all goes with me when I leave. The buck I shot 3 years ago with the bow came cruising through at about 30 yards upwind. I had a code blue tarsal hanging in my main lane at 10 yards downwind of me. I grunted at him, he turned, circled downwind, and stuck his nose in the container full of tarsal. He nose was actually less than 10" from it when I let him have it. Greg: I also use the film can. Get yourself a plastic clothes pin (wood retains scent) and wrap the tape around the can and the clothes pin. It's just a bit easier to hang them that way. I hate looking for the end of the tape when my fingers are frozen and it's dark out.
Also, anyone have any luck with any specific scent for making mock scrapes? Didn't buckeye kill his last OH buck over a mock scrape? I've had really good luck with starting scrapes using Wildlife Research's "Active Scrape". I rarely hunt over them, but have gotten some great trail cam pics over them.
I have had good experiences with "Mrs. Doe Pee" mock scrapes. My buddy Frank has killed 2 mature bucks over "Mrs. Doe Pee" mock scrapes as well.
Tell us more about how you setup with those. Are you setting up in the same type of locations and just using it to keep them occupied in your shooting lanes? The shop I used to work at has the fridge full of Mrs. Doe Pee products.......I can get that stuff at a really good price.
Mrs. Doe Pee is the stuff that Sam Collera sells right? Never checked out his stuff but he has killed some mosters. My first buck with a bow was a small 8 pointer back in 2001. I made a mock scrap 20 yards in front of my stand off a fenceline and used active scrape. I might have to give it a try next year.
Workin in the hunting industry and guiding hunters for a living, I have best experience ( as Myles Keller put it) the best scent is no scent. We dont buy scent away sprays, scent lok clothing and try to keep the property as unpressured as possible to go pressuring the property with unfamiliar scents. Can a scent distract a deer or stop a deer long enough for a shot, YEP. but at what state is the deer really in when he stops??? is he spooked by what he smells but just hadnt made up his mind in how to react?? I have seen areas get shut off from the use of deer scents. FRESH tarsal and a full bladder from a buck or doe is 100% the real deal. Only thing is, even that is only good for two or three days before bacteria starts to set in. If a whitetail can detect a scent molcule of doe floating through the air and know what it is, then I would say they can detect the difference between the real deal and a bottled scent. I agree that fresh urine from a farm can be great. but try to get a fresh tarsal from the farm to combine it with the pee your getting. Maybe they will cut one off for ya, LOL. From over 25 years in the woods with whitetails, I have learned to hunt the differnt stages of the rut accordingly. there is a time to hunt food, a time to hunt scrapes and rub lines, a time to hunt travel coridoors and a time to hunt bedding areas. gotta know what the deer is doing NATURALLY, Stay scent free and kill the deer of your liking in a relaxed state. Remember if ya go putting something out there, the deer are gonna know.
This year I got to watch a yearling buck sight chase and scent trail a doe that wasn't in heat. All this time I had a drag rag with fresh Code Blue soaked in it and he ignored it like it wasn't even there. I know he smelled it because he was downwind of it just a few feet several times. He was in my area from 2:15pm DST until dark and he only checked my rag out once and I think he saw it that time. It was a bright green color. Didn't spook but wasn't interested either. He really go excited when 2 does came in and they were actually tryin to get him to chase them. One of them peed about 20 yds. away and he actually didn't see it. He scent trailed her to the spot smelled around a bit and then went back to feeding. All this time my rag was hanging right in the center of all this action. The does actually came back and tried to get him to chase them again! Women! LOL! He was within 10' of my rag for an hour and actually bedded down a few feet away from it. I don't know what the deal was but the only time he got excited was when the does came through. Of course he was only a yearlin too, I kinda remember puberty too! LOL! The only time I've had a buck trail a scent rag to my set-up was when I was using Mate-Tricks, a relatively cheap doe in heat lure. I'm gonna start hunting away from corn feeding sites and trying not to bring any scents in with me and see how that works. Gonna try to be as "low profile" as possible and see what happens. I'm going to take a map of my lease and mark all the sites that have stands and corn feeders and hunt heavier cover that bucks can skirt these sites in (with trails and sign of course) and see if my buck sighting ratio improves. I see does and yearling bucks nearly every time I go out but it's very rare to see a decent buck in these scent marked and corn feeding areas. It takes me a while but sometimes I start to catch on! lp
