Scent use, mainly estrous, will be going into a lot of peoples bag of tricks in the next few weeks. Myself included I guess. Regardless of whether it is an estrous scent or just an attractant scent. When you put the scent out there as a marker in hopes of the deer stopping for a shot, how do you determine it with wind direction? If the wind is in your face, you wouldn't really want it directly out in front of you would you? Seems like that would entangle your scent within it and neutralize any effects by having the enemy scent within an attractant. I've used scents, both bottled and "bomb" variety but not sure if there is an actual strategy I am missing, other than a hope and prayer the deer stops at that point within a shooting lane. I've never had luck with any scent, but I'm going to try fresh scent again this year and hope to eliminate any of my own mistakes. The better stands I hunt really are one wind determined, so they really aren't going to be smelling anything that's not blowing at them. Do you want it in more of a crosswind spot at your furthest comfortable range? Is there really a strategy to it, or just the hope and prayer aspect? Hopefully this topic isn't beat to death, really curious.
Placement of one scent or any scent will perform different to one than another , trial and era till it works for you
I mainly was curious about estrous scent, but figured it would apply to any attractant scent as far as how to play the wind direction when implementing strategy. Didn't know if you would want the scent to travel more across the grain as far as your facing direction to the wind or just a hit and miss typed approach while hoping for the best. I've used scent, but I'm not sure I've ever utilized scent. Hope that makes "sense". I just dont't want to get out there and over saturate an area or just place it in a spot it should have never been placed.
I'm gonna really toy with it this year... I've gotta couple of mock scrapes out and have been using tinks power scrape... switching over to some 100% real doe estrous from a farm sometime next week. I'm really looking forward to seeing how it works out.
I place scent wicks in a 360 degree circle around my tree stand. I usually put them approximately 25-30 yards apart. I have had good luck using this method as it acts as both a cover scent and attractant and wind direction isn't a factor because deer can pick up the scent no matter when direction the wind is blowing.
i have had most success with the buck bomb and drag rags. ill use a drag rag on my way in and go past any active scrapes that i know are close by and then once i get to my stand i use the buck bomb and spray all the underlying foliage about 20 yards from my stand but dont pay too much attention to how the wind is moving. Then i take the bomb and spray it up on the tree where im sitting as a cover scent as well.
Generally I've put scent in a shooting lane just to get a buck to stop long enough for a shot. But on 2 occasions I've had a buck come down wind of my lane and stop long enough to get a shot. That was pure luck that where they stopped I was able to get an arrow thru.
I do the same thing as rybo. I usually only use two or maybe three wicks and they're placed on shooting lanes about 20 - 25 away from my stands. It's a crap shoot really, in terms of having a buck downwind of you and downwind of your scent bombs. A lot of your mature bucks if seen at a distance and called to, will circle downwind of you anyway. I've seen this time and time again. You see a good buck at a distance and grunt at him, he acts like he doesn't hear it or ignores it, only to show up 15 minutes later down wind of you. They're cautious like that. Of course I can remember back in the old days when I would just bust open a bottle of tinks and sit it on the ground, only to have a buck come in and stick his nose in the bottle, dumping $10.00 worth of scent on the ground. Deer use their nose a lot during the rut. They use it to find estrous does as well as ID other bucks that could be trying to steal does from them. Chances are, they'll get downwind of you if you call to them anyway. The best thing you can do is pray he's in a "stupid" rut crazed mood and pay no attention to your scent. This is the reason why I think, especially during the rut and you're using scents, to be as scent free as possible. There is no way of knowing which direction a buck could be coming from. This is the only time of the year I honestly pay less attention to the wind and more attention on where the deer are or what they're doing.
Thanks for the replies guys, kind of figured it was an inexact science but thought I'd throw it out there anyway. I've tried a drag before, but only with shelved scent. I'll give it a go with the fresh estrous, sounds like that would be the best bet. But more than likely anything that follows the trail will follow it the wrong way.
Early season I use "doe P" by buck bomb. During the rut I use "Doe Estrous" buck bomb. Both i apply to the bottom of my boots for the walk in to the stand and once I get to either the tree I am goin to climb or my ladder/hang-on I spray down bushes and grass as well as the tree itself with the buck bomb. I do not lock the cap down and expel the entire can i believe this is a waste of $$. Works wonders for me.
