Deer scents. Do they work?

[Bill Sweetman]

I used BuckExpert's "doe in heat" the year I bagged my 200 pounder. Last year I decided to try " code blue"(cost way more) and only got a 127 pound runt!! (my weights by the way is the weight the butcher tells me the meat weighed)My question is , did I bag the"big" one by chance or do scents really work??(the tracks showed me there was a monster there ............during the night maybe)..............Grunt calling is still a mystery to me .....should I only call when a buck is in sight or do I call every 10 mins or so ???? PLEASE enlighten me!!!

Bill

[catfish83861]

Morning there Bill, I always hunt hard and have received some pretty nice comments about the pics I post here. That said I believe that scents (the correct scents used at the correct time) have an effect on the amount and size of the animals that you get to see. I consider any buck over a 130 class, a nice buck. That normally puts the buck in my neck of the woods in the 160 pound class. I will pass on several smaller bucks during the season and I always try to collect one that is at least a four by four and normally will collect a five by five. I have had some good luck the "Doe in Heat" and not so much with "Code Blue". Now I am fortunate in the aspect that our Deer Season runs through the rut and the bucks are very aggressive. I also during this time of year like to use a grunt tube say in five to ten minute intervals. I seldom use a grunt tube if I know a buck is already coming in to where I have my stand set up. I do not hunt from tree stands preferring to be mobile. (Old habits die hard I guess.) I also like to use Rattling to attract dominant Bucks and I think this works best for me. Now Rattling will bring in small bucks that are interested in assisting any young willing doe as the larger bucks are fighting. I have seen this happen and thought "Dang why don't I carry my camera up front instead of my back pack." I will see if I can find some pictures of bucks that I have harvested lately to show exactly what I am hunting for. The pictures are as follows,2005 then 2006 then a 2007 buck that I let pass as I knew there was a nicer buck in the area and my 2007 buck that if you notice is wider that my arm length. Oh yea I am 5'09" and way to fat but I do love to hunt. Don't know if this helps but I hope it does. Later and good hunting. catfish

[Bill Sweetman]

I will post a pic of my big deer (13 point..........I wanted to mount the deer's head but in my excitment I cut the cape way too short.....so now I have a european mount(just the horns??)) ......... so if I understand correctly I should stick to "doe in heat" and forget "code blue" and depending on the rut I should use my grunt call roughly every 10 mins and get myself some horns and do a little rattling......I do hunt from a "tree house" not really a tree stand but more or less one on steroids!!!

Bill

[Terry_P]

I have had good luck with a combination of scents and calling. One year I had a nice (8) buck follow my scent line that I had laid out right to 10 yards in front of my tree stand. Another I had my biggest deer ever, an 11 pointer respond to my grunt calls by strutting (the only term that comes to mind with the way he walked) to about 60 yards from my stand. I heard him off in the distance and grunted softly and out he walked. I use both in pre-rut and rut. I grunt less frequently, maybe every half hour or so and as a contact for wary bucks. Other than the rut I will just use a normal doe or buck scent and grunt very infrequently.

[catfish83861]

Well I can't say the deer will not come to "Code Blue" but I have had more success with the "Doe in Heat" lure. I try to let the conditions dictate to me how much I use the grunt tube. When the Deer are moving a lot I will use the tube a little more than when they are barely moving. I figure if they are moving and I use the grunt tube there is more of a chance that a nice buck will hear it and check it out. I have a friend in Colorado that swears that scents don't work that well.so who knows for sure. I feel that it can't hurt anything so why not try it.Oh yea how about a picture of you treestand on steroids. You have perked my interest on that one. Oh by the way if your on private property and it is not against the law in your area. Put an archery target out where you can watch it. You can get some great pictures of bucks coming in to run the "New" buck off. Good luck hunting. catfish

[Bill Sweetman]

I plan on posting me and my stand(s)......... I would like to do it now but I work 600+ miles away from where I hunt!!!!so only in the fall (november _) And at that time I will post a pic of some embosed "tacks" that is on my brother's 30-30 Marlin's stock they are momento's of the animals you have taken with the rifle.....(embossed deer, rabbit ,elk, or a bear etc.)some people put a notch in the stock or some where to keep track of the "kills" a particular gun is responsible for.If you know what I'm trying to get at here please let me know what to ask for and where.

Bill

[bluesea112]

My best success comes from using a good, "make you damn near vomit", skunk cover scent combined with horn rattling. If you are hunting during the rut, rattling will bring the big boys charging in. The skunk scent just helps to keep them standing in front of me long enough to get my bow drawn. I dip the cuff of my shirt sleeves and the bottom of my pants legs in skunk scent. The first 5 minutes are almost unbearable, but after that your sinuses get burned out. A few years ago I was getting ready to go back to camp so I lit up a cig. When I stood up to climb down from my stand the rattling horns bumped each other. When that happened a huge 10 point (5 x 5 for you northern boys) came charging in, and I was standing there blowing cig smoke in his face. The skunk cover scent was so strong that the smoke did not bother him. I dropped him at 15 feet with an arrow through the heart, and had a lit cigarrette between my lips to boot...lol. I have tried ALL of the "doe in heat" products, and they have never worked for me. I'm not saying they don't work....they just haven't worked for me. I get a nice buck every year, but skunk cover scent is all I use.

[carver]

Those boys up north have it made! Down here we don't get to hunt the rut. Like you all I ever use is skunk cover sent. I hunt over a feeder filled with corn, and don't use a tree stand, but instead hunt form a ground blind. They talk of shooting deer that weigh well over 150 lbs., down here in the South we hunt white tail deer that might go 100 if he is a big deer. Here, in East TX the Wildlife Admin. have released some mule deer into the pineywoods, and both of my sons have taken one of these each. These deer are twice the size of whit tails, weighing in arouond 200 lbs. on the hoof. Hope I get a shot at one soon!

Y'all be safe now, ya hear!

[jim summers]

My son uses deer scents all the time and will not go out in the deer woods without it, i took a leak by his stand one season and i thought he was going to have a stroke.


To Whom Much is Given, Much Is Required.

[durk]

I use doe urine for a cover scent. Sometimes red fox. I would think any non predator, indigenous to the area would be ok. That's just my thoughts.

[bluesea112]

Jim, you and my father must have been potty trained by the same teacher, because my father did the same thing to me a couple of years ago. I only had my back turned for a moment, but that was all the time it took for him to commit the crime. I shouted, "Dad!!!", and it startled him well enough that he cut it off mid stream. I had to drive all the way back to camp to get a five gallon bucket so I could dig up the dirt he had "marked" and move it to a different area. Then I sprayed skunk cover scent in a 5 foot diameter area in case there had been any "splash" from the impact of the urine hitting the ground.
Let your son know that he is not alone. I feel his pain.

[navarte]

Originally Posted by Bill Sweetman

I will post a pic of my big deer (13 point..........I wanted to mount the deer's head but in my excitment I cut the cape way too short.....so now I have a european mount(just the horns??)) ......... so if I understand correctly I should stick to "doe in heat" and forget "code blue" and depending on the rut I should use my grunt call roughly every 10 mins and get myself some horns and do a little rattling......I do hunt from a "tree house" not really a tree stand but more or less one on steroids!!!

Bill

My experience with store bought urine has not been that great. I have had better luck with fresh urine collected from pen raised whitetails. How fresh do you think the store bought urine is and what kind of additives were added to keep it fresh ?

[ski9393]

Bluesea112, with that kind of results, and a lit cigarette, all I want to know is where can I get some skunk cover scent?

[kingchip]

It's hard to beat a nice, fresh pile of coon s**t for cover. I can usually find some in a ground blind, or creep(cattle) feeder. Get a little bit and put it at your feet in your blind. Hard to beat natural.
The alternative was the time a guest dropped and broke a full bottle of fox pee in the bunkhouse. It wasn't pretty.

[flannelman]

I have used scents and they seem to work sometimes. I go with Tinks doe scent. I use the scent eliminator spray every time I hunt and it works for sure. Something else that works is acorn cover scent. I'll spray it on my boots and then walk into my hunting area. I have had deer trail me to the stand.

[Terry_P]

I have had good luck in recent years with a doe grunt call and a rutting doe bleat (can) when the rut kicks off and toward the tail end of the rut when bucks are trolling for does. I believe at each of those times the bucks are looking for receptive does and if you sound like one they will move to you. I never use any call a lot but perodically like ever half hour. I remember when I was in NC hunting the bucks down there were pretty vocal during the rut. Up here in NH they are more stoic. I once heard a doe grunting everytime her left front foot hit the ground as she was looking for two skippers she had but usually you just hear a couple of soft grunts.

[herrysmith]

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[questor]

My partner who smokes like a steam engine, always harvest a big buck. A few years back, he was smoking away and a 6x6 Elk followed the smell right to his stand. Unbelievable.

Jury still out on the scents.