There’s an old saying that too much of anything isn’t a good thing. We can certainly think of several things in deer camp where that is absolutely true. Cousin Mike’s burbling pot of “cowboy beans” is one of them.
Often, though, too much of something simply makes our task more difficult. Take, for example, deer scents. Walk into any well-stocked sporting goods box store and you’ll know what we mean.
Way back in the day, picking out a bottle of deer lure was fairly simple. There were a few perennial favorites that all the stores, big and small, carried. You grabbed your favorite juice or maybe one that a friend said he had luck with the year before, and out the door you rolled. No muss and no fuss.
Today … not so easy. We have attractant scents that mimic food sources, scents to use early in the bow season when it’s so hot we’re seriously considering the logic of wearing green shorts and applying camo paint to our bare torsos, scents that get deer fired up during the pre-rut stage, and, of course, scents designed to bring randy bucks in like you’re pulling them on a string. There are scents you put on the ground, scents you hang in trees, scents you puff into the air … you get the idea.
Compounding those choices are the basic ingredients of these scent formulas. Some are based on natural ingredients, such as real deer urine with estrous scent. Others are carefully blended synthetics designed to smell just like the real thing (or as close as humanly possible).
Choosing a Deer Scent
So, how do you choose between the many shelves and pegboard panels stocked full of a dizzying array of deer scents, and does real or synthetic scent make the most sense for you?
Let’s start with the fundamentals.
Natural Deer Scents
Natural deer scents are developed from urine collected from does. The best of these scents come from urine collected when does are in their estrous cycle. This estrous scent is what bucks key in on during the rut because it indicates a doe that is ready or about ready to be bred. The premium scents are dated for freshness and are to be used within the hunting season in which they were purchased. A good example of this is Special Golden Estrous. It is collected from does at their peak estrous cycle and quickly processed and bottled for use in the current season. Each bottle is uniquely serial numbered to backtrack quality control and includes the season date so that hunters are guaranteed the freshest, most potent mix.
Deer scents such as Special Golden Estrous are intended for use during the height of the rut for your area because its scent tells bucks that there is a ready-to-breed doe in the area. It is perfect for applying to an active scrape during the rut, using in a scrape dripper, or hanging from a wick in a spot where you want a passing buck to stop, allowing you to take a shot.
Not all natural deer scents, though, are keyed for peak rut. Early in the season, when deer are shifting around to follow hard- and soft-mast food sources and bucks are just starting to feel a little antsy about the upcoming breeding season, estrous-infused scents are out of place. Bucks aren’t expecting to sniff a breedable doe this early, nor are they looking for one. This is the time of year when the bachelor groups are breaking like a rack of billiard balls, and bucks are establishing their pre-rut routine, working their home territory and paying attention to who’s who in the zoo this year. Scrapes also begin to show up along frequented areas and travel routes.
It is this time of year when estrous-free natural urine scents such as Golden Doe or Select Doe Urine work well. Using this type of scent on scrapes (existing scrapes or ones you make) or applying it to a wick or two around your stand has the dual advantage of causing a traveling buck to pause and investigate, plus it provides a calming effect on deer entering the area. That’s a particular benefit to early season bowhunters working in tight quarters and in high-foliage conditions.
Two additional approaches to natural scents can be used with good results in the transition phase leading up to the rut. These are scrape scents and buck scents.
Scrapes (and their frequently associated lick branches) are the communication centers for deer xe2x80x94 sort of like the bulletin board hanging outside your hometown grocery store. By urinating on the scrapes and licking and rubbing pre-orbital glands on the branch overhead, deer leave their unique smell so that others know they are there. Natural scrape-specific scents like Golden Scrape do well here because it contains both doe and buck urine. Use this in a dominant buck’s home range, and he will be intrigued and eventually become agitated that an interloping buck and a new doe are prowling his turf. This is a good scent to apply to existing scrapes if you’re hunting a scrape line known to be frequented by a resident buck.
Just before the rut kicks into high gear, you can switch things up by using a natural buck scent. Golden Buck, for example, combines buck urine and tarsal gland scent and is intended to represent a challenge to the resident dominant buck. One strategy for a challenge scent like this is to employ the Magnum Scrape Dripper. Since the Magnum Scrape Dripper dispenses scent only during the day (when the rising temperature drips the liquid scent onto the ground), you may stand a good chance of getting the dominant buck to come in to investigate while you are on your stand instead of at 3 a.m.
Natural scents are tough to beat because, well, it’s tough to beat the real thing. The odors in deer urine are complex, as are the olfactory senses of deer. Nevertheless, years of testing and research have provided some truly remarkable and effective scents that do not contain deer urine yet can be just as effective.
Synthetic Deer Scents
Synthetic deer scents have been developed to cover all the same applications as we’ve just described for natural-based scents. The primary difference, of course, is that they do not contain deer urine or any whitetail biomaterial. Are synthetics capable of fooling a deer into thinking it is smelling the real thing? The answer is probably a resounding, “No.” Does this mean synthetics are less effective? Absolutely not.
For the serious deer hunters, it is best to think of synthetic scents as “something different.”
Deer are a curious lot, as any hunter who has spent a lot of time in the woods can attest. A snootful of synthetic doe estrous may not make a buck think there’s a hot doe on the other side of that tree, but you better believe it’s going to get his attention. And that’s exactly the response we want. Maybe it stops him long enough for you to get a shot; maybe it’s enough to bring him in close enough for the slam dunk. Either way, synthetic scents have proven themselves to be highly effective from the early season until well past the rut.
Sometimes, we want to use synthetic scents as a way to mix things up a bit. If you’ve used a natural scent for, say, a couple weeks straight and nothing has happened or it is evident that no one is paying attention xe2x80x94 something that can happen in areas with high deer densities xe2x80x94 switching natural scent with a synthetic may be enough give a buck a curiosity jolt.
Using both natural and synthetic at the same time can also liven things up. Last year, Wildlife Research Center came out with an innovative spray dispenser for their synthetic Estrus Gold. We brought in a couple bucks using it to “freshen the air” every couple of hours in conjunction with a scrape dripper loaded with Special Golden Estrous (a natural scent). The Estrus Gold utilizes the WRC’s Scent Reflex technology, which seems to magnify the scent. Whether those bucks were coming in to investigate the natural scent or the synthetic, only they know. The point is, when it’s time to get serious, the dedicated deer hunter should pull no punches xe2x80x94 even if that means toting a couple different scents in your daypack.
In some states, concerns (whether founded or unfounded) over urine-based scents being a possible vector for the transmission of chronic wasting disease (CDW) have caused these lures to be prohibited for use or sale. Fortunately, quality synthetic scents are available for all the applications we have discussed here and should not be overlooked as a critical tool for early- and late-season hunters, no matter where you hunt.
When to Use Your Deer Scents
Whether you intend to use natural deer scents, synthetics, or both, keep in mind that there are all those scents on the store shelves for a reason. Some have advantages in early fall, some are ideal for that mid- to late-October transitional phase, others are intended for use when the rut has a full head of steam. Heck, some scents, such as the always popular Trail’s End #307, are effective any time. Which one will work best at a particular time, though, is the question.
The old “grab a bottle and go” routine may have worked back in the day, but to stack the odds in your favor, it pays to consider all those scents on the shelf and select a few to meet the ever-changing conditions that is guaranteed when hunting whitetails.
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