Deer hunting is for those of us who love the cold wind in our faces, drizzly damp mornings, and believe that wet and muddy is in our DNA. After 60+ years of hunting, the love of nature, the expectations of opening morning of deer season, watching and waiting for our opportunity to harvest food for our family and friends never gets old.

By now, most deer antlers are velvet-free. Bachelor groups have started to thin out. It’s “Every Buck for Himself” time. They’re looking for an area to call their own — a place that has heavily traveled trails to and from winter food sources, and one with good entrance and exit points for quick getaways, and most importantly, somewhere FREE from HUMAN scent. The bucks start to make rubs, then create scrapes, which leads to the RUT, no matter how warm or cold it is. Bucks are trying to connect with a doe, and we’re starting to set up our own area for the season to bag our perfect trophy! So, I want to introduce you to Hot Trails® Scented Hunting Candles, the new TOOL in your hunting toolbox this season.
Several years ago, I was hunting a buck that I had only seen once. He was walking on a trail that weaved in and out of heavy brush and trees. This mature 6½-year-old buck had 12 points, good mass, nice tine length, and a 21+-inch spread. The next year, I put a feeder near the area he was inhabiting (we are allowed to feed in Texas). One afternoon, I put out a mini lantern with one of my lit Hot Trails® Doe-N-Heat candles in a spot where some small, young bucks and a few does were eating around the feeder. Suddenly, they jumped and ran about 20 yards. Out of the brush stepped MY BUCK, obviously, the dominant buck in the area. I was sitting inside a blind with shades, but he knew I was there. I’ll never know what gave me away, but mature bucks have a great sense of what is going on around them. Before I could grab my rifle, he was gone. However, my candle had done its job in bringing him out to me.

Using Hot Trails® Scented Hunting Candles will bring bucks to where you want them to be. Just like any other scented candle, it will burn for hours, putting out a consistent scent. When you light a Hot Trails® candle in the woods, the scent is carried by the wind, making it unique in the scent and lure business. Hot Trails® maintains the same smell and strength from start to finish, so you can hunt upwind from wherever the deer are by situating the candle so the wind blows the scent to your target area. If I’m hunting in a stand, I try to set up with the wind blowing right-to-left or left-to-right. If blowing from the right, I would place the candle at about 45-degrees to the right, thereby bringing the deer from the left, crossing in front of you, on the way toward the candle. The smell is stronger the closer the deer gets to the candle, so they focus on moving in the direction of the candle, while you’re preparing your shot.

Using Hot Trails® Scented Hunting Candles is not magic. You must use your knowledge of deer and their behavior, good scent control, hunting techniques and safety to be successful. But if you’ve never heard of Hot Trails® before, it’s “the best kept secret in hunting” to bring the deer to you.