Early Season attractants

[traphunter]

How many of you use scents during the early season? I have heard of others using vanilla and having good luck with it. I guess this time of year you would want to put down some curiosity scents to bring them in. Im not jsut talking about bucks, but mainly does.

[deerhunt45]

How many of you use scents during the early season? I have heard of others using vanilla and having good luck with it. I guess this time of year you would want to put down some curiosity scents to bring them in. Im not jsut talking about bucks, but mainly does.

i have used a doe gland bottled lure early season and have seen the does lick/nose the scent rag hanging up on the limb. some times i have used it early season and they seem to ignore it.

i've been told that curiousity scents such as vanilla will bring them close on occasion but never have used it. my theory is it may work once on a younger deer, if they live after that they are educated :mischeif:

45

[bowhuntinoh]

apples work

[OhioHunter88]

Apples work very good...

[countyroad]

I've used straight doe urine, as much as a cover scent as an attractant.

[coonskinner]

apples work

apple cider...drink nothin but water and apple cider...you will have an apple odor in your scent...:D

[OLDHAT]

Only scents I ever use is possibly some "Tinks" during November and might only use it once or twice. Using the scents I've had too many doe come in and check it out. They get into it and get a bit spooky. One year I had a mommy doe snort at it for nearly 30 minutes, she kept coming in closer and closer to it, snorting, stomping, etc. I had the bottle opened and sitting on an old log about 15 yards in front of my stand, when she stuck her neck out real long to sniff the actual bottle, I decided to go ahead and take her before she knocked it off the log with her nose. Put one of the most perfect shots on her I think I've ever had... she made it maybe 40 yards, kept her from knocking over my Tinks though, her nose was not more than 2-3 inches away from the bottle when I let the arrow fly.
Outside of the doe's, I've only had young bucks react to it.
Now on the "calling" side of things, I carry the "can" but as far as I can tell only the doe's have reacted to it. "Tip" my hunting buddy calls in 5 or 10 does a year with the can, hell you won't even know they are in the area, hit the can and they literally come running to investigate, it's pretty amusing actually.

Oldhat

[coonskinner]

i think i got a few more "cans" left...was sellin em for 5$,sold a bunch...maybe i'll try it if i got one left...i'm always into some xperimentin,especially in early season...heh heh heh:biggrin:

[mrex]

I've had some "bad" luck using attractants in the early season. On opening morning about 10 years ago, I laid down a scent trail of supposed dominant buck urine the last 100 yards before my stand in an attempt to cover my scent and possibly lure a buck to me out of curiosity. Later that morning, I watched a buck I wanted to take cross my path about 75 yards out and almost flip over backwards and bolt off once he caught the scent.

Something all hunters should remember; we smell in parts per thousand and deer smell in parts per million. Cover scents are like spraying perfume on manure. It just makes for sweet smelling manure!;)

[OLDHAT]

Mrex:

I'll have to agree. Most deer I've seen were really "spooked" by scents. Always gets them a bit "on edge". I like to try and keep them acting as natural as possible in an area.
To me, using a scent to get a deer in get's them a bit to "curious", if they are spooky, they are going to check everything possible out with their nose, if they get on edge because of the scent then I think your chance of getting winded drastically increases, this is something I'd rather not attempt to do, I'd rather take my chances by going as "natural" as possible.

My further theory: As stated I've only seen doe's and up to around 100" class bucks come in to scent, again all of them were "spooky". Now if I think about this then I've got to ask myself how many "dominate" bucks got wind of this scent from 150+ yards away and decided that something was wrong and they high tailed it or slipped out of the area, when they could have been coming into me naturally.

I don't mean to "toot my own horn", but I think I'm pretty damn good at patterning "good bucks", when it comes to habits, bedding, feeding, rut, stand location, wind, etc., I can get on a "pattern". So I take that to the bank and do not attempt throwing the "hell Mary" scent thing out there. If and when I do it's in a "secondary" stand type location just to see the effects, but never on one of my best stand sites.

Another "fear" of mine is say you have a deer come in that is not one you want to take, say that deer is spooky due to the scent, that deer is more than likely gonna get on edge about the scent, circle around the area then finally get on your scent. What would it be like to have a scrub buck rat you out when a "shooter" is 80-100 yards out working his way in to you. yeah, that sucks, been there too many times. We all know that once a deer gets a bit spooky then the chances of getting busted drastically increases.

Oldhat