scents...

[volboy5]

I have used doe estrus urine and have had does react negatively.  I know lots of guys kill deer with the stuff but I consistently seem to spook does with it.  They have walked across my path, under my stand, downwind, and have not spooked from me but they come to the urine and turn and run off.  Anyone got anythin? 

[msbadger]

It could be you have too many guys in the area doing the same thing and not being careful...they'er associating that "unknown" doe with danger...doe will spook at the sight of an "unknown doe" decoy where they'll walk around a buck decoy....slay little things they are

[ranwin33]

You make an interesting point.  Last year I had a doe come out and stand around in front of my stand for 15 minutes.  While she was there I watched three other does come down the trail, look at her and then head somewhere else.  I figured she would serve as an attractor but the opposite was true.  I eventually shot her.

[howhill1]

i definitely think that doe scents are over used and deer do come to associate them with danger. i also remember reading that when a doe comes into estrous she will isolate herself from the other deer and that estrous scents can actually send another doe the other way to avoid a wuppin.

[Woods Walker]

I my opinion, the best scent, is NO scent.
 
I find this to be especially true for bowhunting, as when you have a scent out, and if the deer don't ignore, or are spooked by it (which when I still used them, one of these two things would happen about 85% of the time), and they actually come in to it, you now have to make a bowshot on a deer that is ON ALERT, in that it's LOOKING for something.
 
Now that something might not necessarily be YOU, but if they are looking, then even any SLIGHT movement that you make is better able to be picked up by them.
 
Then there's the "jumping string" factor. A deer that's in "alert" mode, is going to be all that much "faster on the draw" when a shot is made. God made them fast enough, they don't need any help!
 
Maybe it's just me, but I want the deer I shoot at to be RELAXED, with not a care in the world, other than where that next fat, juicy acorn is under those leaves where his head is lowered to, as his near side front leg moves forward, exposing those lungs..........YES!!!!!  [:)]

[PrairieShadow]

I believe and have found that scents are a very valuable tool if used at the correct times but by no means are a cure all. Use them at the wrong time and it is certain disaster to a hunt.

The worst part is no 2 years are ever identical in timing.

[EatDeer]

I have used scent lures for many seasons. You should use non-estrus early in the year.  Use estrus in the rut, when hunting bucks or dominate doe's. Buck rut scent is good for the rut, but will normally only attract estrus doe's and other buck's. If the "queen" has been chasing off other deer then they may be lerry of the estrus scent. Sometimes younger deer will slip in a check out the scents as well out of curiosity, and to mimic the scent marking.  The main thing to remember is you never know what will happen next when deer hunting with scent lures. I like to spray dominate buck urine on a mock scrape to get the mock started. Then  next to the buck scent, a few inches away spray the doe scent nearby in the scrape, but not to close,so the deer clearly smells both. Do this a few times and deer start using the mock scrape themselves within a couple days.  Many large bucks will also check a scrape from down wind 30 yards.  I notice that later in the year when deer have been hunted all season, the are turned off by stronger smelling scents. That is when you should hunt with a sweeter less potent smelling estus scent. Hunting with scents is not always going to produce, but when it does, its great to see it happen. You can find some of the best hunting scents on the market at this website, and the trophy gallery and field photos prove it.  www.wildlife.com   

[msbadger]

Food scents are pretty good though....but here ya have to be careful you don't cross the line into bait....I take a mesh bag with a long string and put a couple of half rotted apples in it....when I hit the trail I'll be taking to my stand I stomp the BeeGEEGEE's out of the bag...then drag it to my stand stop a few yrds out and walk a semi circle....I then.... to be legal put that bag in a big ziploc and in my fanny pack....deer come in nose down......for cover I do the same thing with Blk walnut husks they also act as a curiosity scent..............

[Woods Walker]

ORIGINAL: msbadger

Food scents are pretty good though....but here ya have to be careful you don't cross the line into bait....I take a mesh bag with a long string and put a couple of half rotted apples in it....when I hit the trail I'll be taking to my stand I stomp the BeeGEEGEE's out of the bag...then drag it to my stand stop a few yrds out and walk a semi circle....I then.... to be legal put that bag in a big ziploc and in my fanny pack....deer come in nose down......for cover I do the same thing with Blk walnut husks they also act as a curiosity scent..............

 
That's a good idea!  It's CHEAP, and it's natural.
 
BTW:  The man who still has the #1 Whitetail P&Y buck, Mel Johnson of Illinois, used and still swears by plain old vanilla extract for his deer lure. I've never used it, but if the deer are attracted to it, why not?

[mag30079]

Anyone ever use dominant buck urine? I picked some up on close out. I thought I'd give it a try with my buck decoy.
Is there a certain time I should use this?