Deer Scents

[Hal]

I am courious how many hunters use and have success with scents like doe estrous? I bought a bottle of Knight & Hale's Doe Estrous Gel.Never used the stuff before.I'm headed to the east kootenay next week-end and I'll let everyone know if it works.

[mntman]

I have used scents for moose,elk and deer with great results always spray some on your boots, and after you harvest your beast be sure to milk the bladder nothing beats the real stuff keep it in a bottle out of the sun and will last you 3 years.

[Byson]

I have used scents for moose,elk and deer with great results always spray some on your boots, and after you harvest your beast be sure to milk the bladder nothing beats the real stuff keep it in a bottle out of the sun and will last you 3 years.are you saying there is no diff from male and female urine, will other males come out to male urine i don't know?

[mntman]

all that i have milked has been male, and seen great results

[NightOwl74]

Last year my hunting buddy was hunting from a treestand for a couple hours before he got tired of sitting. So he went to ground level and had a nap in the grass. He was awakened by rustling in the grass, sat up and a forky mulie was standing at his feet. Before we seperated we sprayed our boots with doe in estrus urine. He grabbed his gun and actually got it! I'm a believer!
:-)

[mntman]

I sprayed some on new guy to our group as he thought I was full of it, he was surprized to see that the moose were tracking him like a griz would when he saw their tracks on top of his in the snow now he is a believer also

[we3grants]

Hunting scents. I love them and have had great results using them on Whities and Blackies. Here are some things I have learn't over the years and hope it helps. Sex attractents, during the rut, will bring bucks in, no doubt about it. One day I freshened up two scapes using tinks 69. Then sprayed some on my drag line and proceeded to walk out with my buddy to discusse our set up for the evening hunt. This was around 3:00 the 1st week on November. We walked out into the field from the tall timber about 100 paces and started to plan out our hunt. I was facing the direction we came and him facing me. Out came the biggest 12 pointer, nose down following my drag line. Shocked the Sh*** out of us.

Important point do not place on any of your clothing if you are still hunting from the ground, use a drag line so you can leave it where you plan on shooting. Why? I was almost run over by a buck by forgetting to remove my drag line prior to sitting in my ground blind. Had to shoot at roughly 5 ft in front of me. As he caught me off guard. I was hunting blackies in the thick woods and he came out fast and hard to me.

On your boots is ok if your hunting from a tree stand or have lots of visability. Best used by walking on the trails around you to bring them towards you for the evening hunts as you can get in early to do that. Morning hunts for Whities I freshen up scrapes and use a drag line to lead them to a clear shooting spot. For Blackies I use a drag line crossing over the trails I know around my hunting area and place it in my shooting spot. I hunt them here on the island with shotgun, so need them close. So far the furthest kill shot for me has been 10 paces using this technique.

Curiosity scents, the ones that smell like black licorice, work great as well anytime of the year. They can bring any deer in close. Gel is more for placing on objects as it will stick like flem to trees and what ever. On boot soles you will lose it very quickly your fist few steps. Sprays use the same as liquids. Hint warm up your scents prior to using them, car heater, under arm pits, any place to raise the temperature. Be carefull with eye dropper types and vehicle heaters. You just might end up with the rubber around the eye dropper seperating from the tube and a nice smell running throughout your vehicle.
Cover scents apply on your clothing, make sure your using the same type as the terrain you hunt.
These have been my findings, mistakes and successes with scents. They work if the deer are around. Hope this helps.

[Dieseldog6]

For Blackies I use a drag line crossing over the trails I know around my hunting area and place it in my shooting spot. I hunt them here on the island with shotgun, so need them close. So far the furthest kill shot for me has been 10 paces using this technique.

Can you recommend a good Blacktail scent available locally? I'm going to be hunting in thick forest (mixed older and newer growth) with only small clearings on Galiano in the next week or so. I've been thinking about using the same technique to draw the bucks to the shooting spots. However, I've been wondering if it will be too late for estrus scent.

Thanks in advance.

[7mmag]

I'm going to 100mile for mulies nov 11th-16th this thread has inspired me to give scents a try. Anyone know what are the best ones to use at that time and in that area are?

[Bigbuckadams]

Haven't used scents for mulies so far, but going out this morning with some I picked up @ crappy tire yesterday. They had no doe-in-heat for mulies, but they did have some called "4X4 Mule deer lure" made by Wildlife research center. I'm gonna put some up and see what happens, if it works it works, if not, I wasted 10 bucks...no big deal. I have used scents for Whitey's, some success with it....trying the scrape dripper this year....we shall see what happens :lol: .

[we3grants]

Dieslesdog6; here are what I have been having success with for blacktails.
Curiosoty scents. I have used "Buck Nip" and "Prime Time". The ones that smell like anise. I have had the best luck with these ones on blacktails.
Sex attractents. Gel or paste type, like a deodorant stick. I use them to mark the area/trees I am hunting in. I stick with the well known brand names.
Curiosity Calls makes blaktail scents. I am using a dominate buck spray which is driving a big buck nuts. I found his big rubs and sprayed it on a tree next to them. Well he now has his original rubs tore apart and twice the size as when I found them. Dominate sprays will keep some bucks away so watch where you use them.

Good luck and leave your drag line in a good shooting spot, not on you.

[BCrams]

I have seen some good success with scents.

One example of evidence:

In Saskatchewan where its more open, I tied a rope with a rag on the end soaked in doe urine and drove through a long timbered section leading to some fields on the ranch I hunted (got dropped off at my tree stand) and sat for the day. There was no snow. Before noon, I watched several different bucks follow the scent on the exact drive path to my tree stand from over 800 yards away. Nothing huge but it convinced me that under the right circumstances, it could prove deadly.

More often than not, I see it as a cover scent to help mask my own.

[BlacktailStalker]

Dieseldog;
Too late?? Contrary to manys beliefs, the rut is yet to come. You will be in prime time to use those scents. YEs there are deer chasing does etc etc but thats what bucks do, they look for the does that might come into estrous early. But they also spend a lot of time staking out a claim area, with rubs etc.
If you want a bull elk, act and smell like a bull elk. If you want a buck, act and smell like a buck. Let the does and cows in the area be your natural attractant and the males will want you out of there so they'll come looking for you.

[NightOwl74]

In the Kelowna area does it make much sense to hunt a rub line from last year? For example a couple days ago I found a stand of large aspen saplings that were rubbed last year.....will this buck return to this area? I read that it is smart to hunt year old rubs because the bucks return to the same spot, but the story I read was written in a U.S. magazine. Maybe Whitails don't act the same from different geographies/latitudes? I mean the whitails at the altitude where I saw the rubs would have to migrate down in the winter, whereas a lot of whitail hunting in the states is done on relatively flat terrain compared to here.

[Dieseldog6]

Thanks for the info BTStalker!

I'll stop in at Specialty Shooting Sports in Langley and see what they've got. I'll only have two or three days to hunt, but the area will be relatively small and I'll be shown the most active areas by the land owner. I figure this will allow me to spend a morning dragging scent to a shooting spot or two and then I can watch and see what comes in later. That should set me up to drag again next morning prior to sunrise. Perhaps it'll give me an edge for a hopefully nice sized buck to come in.

I've been a bit suspicious of the posts here declaring that the rut happens in October on the islands. Pre-rut activity sounds more likely to me. Does anyone agree or disagree with the timing of the rut?

[quadrakid]

i,ve lived on quadra for 18 years and the rut, when bucks chase does and gets stupid, begins last week oct, peaks on about nov 11 and lasts till a week or so later. i have seen a nice three point hot on a does ass dec 7 , my only proof of a secondary rut. i,ve used scents with great success, i find doe in heat works best. first time you watch a buck following your scent trail,nose to the ground you will be hooked. bucks will often be grunting ther way in, a little blow on the kmeerdeer call drives them crazy sometimes. good luck ,let us know how you make out.