to use deer scent or not to use this is the question...

[jay83196]

Just curious If I should waste my money again this year Im torn on if the attractant scents even help or if I'm wasting my time and money. I think cover scents help but do the doe in heat etc... just wondering what others think either way...and what works best, I have used probably everything out there at one point and I just don't know, maybe just makes me more confident ?

Thanks

[hookset]

I have the same internal struggle. Do they work or do I hunt harder when I use them? I have stopped using them for a few years and have had the same amount of opportuites as when I used them.

I think they work great during the chase/rut if you use them as a drag to lead deer into your area. i cant say they have ever brought deer to my area when hanging from a tree.

I do use coon pee as a cover sent and that seems to help.

[B. Amish]

waste of money in my opinion. the only thing they attract is hunters wallets.

[nonteepical]

be as scent free as possible, dress for the weather, bring your weapon and a grunt tube along with a pair of binoculars. everything else is a long shot. oh, and don't do push-ups in your stand when your bored, i did that once when i was 10.

[elkhuntingfan]

I think the right scent used at the right time can be effective. I have had some response to the scents closer to the rut. I have also had some response to Trails End 309 early in the year by does. My experience has been that 95% of the time, they ignore the scents. I don't think I've ever seen a deer that was bothered by the scents.

[pureinsanity]

Ive bought these scents and scent cover ups as well. A waste of money in my opinion. I smoke and I will smoke in the stand or even when stalking. Only time I have ever gotten any deer is when im not in my stand sitting there, No scent cover up either. Use the wind to your advantage when stalking.

I just walk around till I find a deer, take a windage check and work my way around that deer using the wind to my advantage. best luck ive had to bag my deer over the years. Last time I shot my deer ( one in my advatar picture) it only took my 10 mins through a walk in the woods.

[mrklean]

i use scents during the rut and thats about it

[Bear55]

In my opinion scents and most of the other junk out there is all garbage, its designed for the hunters and not the deer. You might say it doesn't hurt anything but I would disagree, big mature deer know the difference between the fake stuff and the real thing. Think about this for a minute, I bet 90% of all hunters put some kind of scent out during the season, any deer that has a few years under its belt has caught some of this scent in the air, they also are probably winded you at the same time and they learn to stay away.

Now with that said it doesn't mean that the stuff can't work one time under the right situation, but the odds are very. I don't even want to think about he $$$ I wasted when I was young on this junk, I should have been buying more stands.

[fr0sty]

I am going to skip this year. I haven't noticed a positive effect in the 5 years I have tried them. I also worry they are scaring away some deer.

[NoWiser]

I've never been much of a believer in scents. I used to put them out bowhunting quite often and often saw bucks crossing my scent trails without so much as stopping to take a whiff. I pretty much gave up on them.

Last year, since I knew there was nobody within a mile of us gun hunting and the deer might be acting more natural than where I used to hunt, I put down a couple scent trails opening morning on my way to the stand. 9:30 a.m. something wakes me up and through the brush about 80 yards away I could see a deer. He was walking towards my scent trail, but if he continued in that direction there was no way I could possibly get a shot at him. Sure as hell he hits the trail, turns, and follows it right up to my tree. Decided at the last minute to pull the trigger and ended up with a decent sized 8 point buck. Old, swollen, big bodied, gray deer.

I would have seen that deer, but without the scent I am 90% sure he would not have passed close enough to get a shot at through the brush. I'll probably give it another try this fall. Will it help me shoot a buck? I doubt it. But, until I find that it is hurting my chances, I'll probably keep trying it. One more toy to play with, I guess.

[deerminator]

I would agree that its most effective during the rut. That is, leaving a scent trail might attract the curiousity of a buck and might help direct him to your stand. But I've never had much luck with a scrape dripper when I know bucks are in the area, traveling through. Unless you spend a lot of money, you have no idea what you're getting or how old that urine is, etc. And even then, you can't be sure of these premium brands since nothing is regulated. My take on it is this, if I'm hunting the rut, I buy a $5 bottle of whatever and then make a couple of scent trails and see what happens. Sometimes something, many other times nothing. So it's a shot in the dark as to how bucks will react, just like people. I've never seen one be alarmed, though.

[JeffB]

I have had two bucks follow the scent trail I left right to me. Its not a sure thing, this is two times out of 28 years of hunting, but I still use them some.

[pulleye16]

Love the scrape drippers. WORKS AWESOME! two out of the three years running them, we have taken the largest buck to date checking on one and another VERY mature buck (large large eight) the following year, also checking it out and walking right up to it. The third year a nice six was in the area of the drip but was taken before getting to that area. All three were taken during rut though...as with most MN deer with rifle season. I'll be pro scrape drippers until I see one run away from it! As for doe urine...I'm not completly convinced as you can get a bad batch. I have had bucks walk with their nose to the ground following my steps with doe urine but It's been far and in-between. I'm all for all natural as its been proven for many of years to work, but during the rut- thoughs scrape drippers work better then rattling or doe bleats...IMO of course.

[BobT]

I personally don't believe it is possible to mask or remove your own scent but I do believe it is possible, if applied correctly, to use scent to grab a deer's attention but that's about it. Maybe that moment when it grabs his attention gives you and edge you might otherwise not have had.

I don't use scent myself but my brother does. I don't know if he is any more successful than I am but he can share stories about times when deer have come in nose to the ground following his scent trail. There me be some validity but I'm with Bear55 on this topic.

[Lipriper84]

I usually go out smelling like Captain Morgan and so far it has been my most effective cover scent. I have had the best luck in my Deer Camp. Granted I'm one of the only guys that actully make it to the woods in the morning hahaha.

[Bear55]

Love the scrape drippers. WORKS AWESOME! two out of the three years running them, we have taken the largest buck to date checking on one and another VERY mature buck (large large eight) the following year, also checking it out and walking right up to it. The third year a nice six was in the area of the drip but was taken before getting to that area. All three were taken during rut though...as with most MN deer with rifle season. I'll be pro scrape drippers until I see one run away from it! As for doe urine...I'm not completly convinced as you can get a bad batch. I have had bucks walk with their nose to the ground following my steps with doe urine but It's been far and in-between. I'm all for all natural as its been proven for many of years to work, but during the rut- thoughs scrape drippers work better then rattling or doe bleats...IMO of course.

You know I can actually see scrape drippers as having a little potential, I still probably won't use them but if you can get some real deer to use the scrape then you have something on your hands that is worth something, real buck scent in the scrape. I've made plenty of mock scrapes over the years, used my own pee and had bucks hit them, not all of the time but it did work on certain scrapes. The key to this whole thing is to find a primary scrape, its got to be a big scrape or scrape area that gets opened up every year in a given area. If you are parked next to any old scrape or scrape line I doubt you will have as much success. A scrape dripper also allows you to only go to an area once and it keep working over and over, when you put out scent near your stand or on a drag you still have human scent all around it so I don't think they can be as effective.

[gurkster]

I don't really use them much.

[jay83196]

when using drippers over mock scrape what have you guys put in them, tarsel or scrape or both? DO you make several scrapes or just the one? I have had good luck with Mine in the past just curious what others have used.

[pulleye16]

In my drippers I use buck-in-rut and doe-in-heat urine. I bought the Larger dripper that lasts about 2-3 weeks. I place it out late Oct usually two weeks before season opener. I look for a fresh but hard hit area of rubs and go from their. The thing is, you need to scout and find where the bucks are anyways, these drippers don't attract big bucks, they just make them come out hopefully during shooting hours and will give you a good shot when they investigate the scrape. On another side note, sometimes making some noise while walking in will help bring out a buck that doesn't care for this scrape in his area. I had one buck follow me in when I walked to my stand at early moring as I walked passed my mock scrape to my stand. I was thinking that he though I was the buck messing with his area. Use a buck grunt too, he'll think the fake buck is in his turf! Biggest thing is to cover your scent as much as possible with rubber boots and gloves.

[MattL]

I like putting scent wicks on the trail where I expect the bucks to come by. This is a good way to stop them in your shooting lane. Otherwise they are almost useless when you try hard to play the wind, all of the deer scent goes downwind along with your human scent.

[MrCrappie]

Don't expect to hang a few wicks out there and have bucks running into the area. Not gonna happen.

I will say that it can be used as an effective cover scent. This year, I'm using Code Blue single buck urine.

Scout, have multiple stands, and hunt a heavily used deer trial with the wind to your advantage.

[Archerysniper]

I have used all types of scents the best results have been with golden estrus but the key is useing the at the right time if you use them too early you will do more harm then good. I will not use it till at least Oct 23 that is the normal pre rut in this area. I got a p&y 8 on the wall that followed the drag line into the scent wick on Oct 23 a few years back he was even doing the lip curl when the arrow hit home. Also on mock scrapes I love to be the first one in the area to make them i normally start around Oct 20th and put 2 on the upwind side of the stand at 20 yards then when the bucks take them over I just sit back and wait.

Now I have the connection for the freshest scent you can get I just go rub on the kids pet before going to the tree stand.

[reinhard1]

thanks for the info. i realy dont use much of anything, but maby i will get some golden estrus this year. great picture. good luck.

[mabr]

Now I have the connection for the freshest scent you can get I just go rub on the kids pet before going to the tree stand.

AS, your raising deer? Its a ball but can be frustrating at times. Wait till they get a little older and you'll have the freshest dirt imaginable for your scrapes.

[MNBIGBEAR]

I always pick up a bottle of doe in heat every season. Been doing this since I could sit in a stand on my own. The first year I used it, I was probably 12 years old. Didnt read the directions and proceeded to spray the entire bottle onto the trunk of a pine tree. Within an hour, I had my first buck standing there with it's nose glued to that tree.

The only other time that it has worked like that for me was about 5 years ago. Last day of the season. I could hear the bottle sloshing around in my jacket pocket and decided to get rid of it. I poured the remaining half bottle or so all over this small pine tree on the trail into my stand. Within ten minutes I looked down the trail to see a nice eight pointer with its nose glued to that tree and dropped him in his tracks.

In both cases, I used WAY more than the 5 or 6 drops the bottle recommends and also these are the only two times it has worked in 20 plus years of hunting with the stuff. Yet, I will most likely be buying my bottle along with everyone else here in a few weeks!