Attractant scents

[Win Mag]

Do you use an attractant scents for whitetail hunting ?

If so, what type scents do you find most successful for you.And lets break this into 3 parts Pre Rut / Rut / Post Rut.

Pre rut i use little if any scents,i basically sit in stand and watch and wait.about the 3rd week of oct.I will start doctoring up scraps and making mock scapes with tarsonal gland lure and doe urine.and some soft grunting and tickling of rattle antlers.Till about the 2nd week of nov. Then i break out the Tinks 69 and Code Blue estrus lures and domanate buck urines,leave drag trails in a figure 8 around the stand sites,and hit the rattling antlers hard along with the grunt tube and doe bleats.
Post rut i quit using scents and just move in to where they have changed their patterns after the gun seasons.By this time they are so leary of any changes in the timber,i just sit and wait them out.

[THE GOB-FATHER]

For the most part I only use scent during the pre rut and during the rut itself. Sometimes it's hard to identify when the rut is in full swing around here. We call it the "drizzle rut" because the buck to doe ratio is so skewd that bucks really don't have to travel much to find a receptive doe thus making it hard to use the scent attractant effectively. The pre rut normally brings lots of rubs and a decent number of scrapes. If I find a good scrape line I'll throw in a couple of mock scrapes and add doe in heat urine to let him know she's been there and hopefully he'll be downwind from them checking the air throughout the day.

When the rut seems to be at it's peak. I'll use a combo of the doe in estrus and dominant buck lure all in one scrape. This way, whatever mood that lurking buck may be in he'll have an aroma for his liking.

I also like to use a scent drag with interdigital gland oil on it all the way to the stand in hopes of a buck crossing my trail and following it all the way to me within shotgun range.

Most times I can't quite say that I KNOW for sure that the scent distribution worked or not. But I do use it because I'll take all the help I can get!

[Win Mag]

You know it works when they are coming in with their nose to the ground and doing the lip curl in the wind.Or when you spot one downwind a ways off and he does an about face and comes right in checking the wind all the way to the stand site.
Then theres the buck that will circle you once or twice before commiting to coming in.These deer i believe have been educated before and are not easily fooled.Or they may have caught wind of something that alerts them,curiousity usually will get them to come in if your patient and motionless

[turk2di]

I will use some doe-n-heat stuff hunting near the rutt, but otherwise, nothing.

[tphunter]

I use Code Blue's Dominate buck scent early in the season warming it up on my ThermaSCENT...Early season here is when the bucks are staking out their territories and the dominant buck scent acts as a challenge to them...Combined with rattling it works very well...

Later as the rut approaches I switch to Code Blue doe in estrus on the ThermaSCENT...There's something to be said about heating a scent on cold frosty mornings...I feel the scent carries better in the air when it's warmed up...

[kahuna]

Pre-rut, I like to use a food scent; acorn or corn or apple. During the rut, I usually mock scrape with Active Scrape, and also use dominant buck tarsel scent...killer combo. Post rut, I go back to food scent.

[bamabandit]

During the early season i will use an acorn or similar scent to try to stop a deer in a shooting lane but other than that just cover scents early. We don't have a well defined rut like some parts of the country so a doe in heat scent doesn't work as well as it does other places. But it does work on occasions. Dominate buck urine works better from what i have seen. Even though opening day of rifle this past season the buck i shot was coming strait into the wind sniffing all the way. I had some doe in heat scent out.

[trkyhntr]

Whenever I bowhunted I used nothing but Karshner's lures. In the early season I used a curiosity lure. I would spray it on logs and rocks and laurel bushes around my stand. I noticed it drew in more does and fawns than anything. Then in the pre rut and rut itself, I used Siver Top II. I would make canisters out of 35 mm film containers. I would hang these on laurel bushes about 3 to 4 feet off the ground. I killed a small buck this way once. I saw him above me walking out the mountain. The wind started kicking up and he got a whiff of this scent and walked straight towards the canister, neck stretched straight out. I was on the ground. When he got within inches of the canister I let loose and shot him at 10 yards thru the heart while he was still walking! I also use SilverTop for laying down scent trails. I would put it on the bottoms of my boots. This also was very effective. One time I layed down a scent trail on a deer trail that was about ten yards from where I was hidden in a laurel bush. When it got daylight, I saw a doe coming up the trail with her nose to the ground following the scent. When she got her head behind a tree, I pulled my bow back and as she got in my shooting lane she stopped. I thought I would let her go to see if there was a buck behind her, but then she started walking towards me!! Then she lifted her head and was staring me down. In that instant I let the arrow fly and hit her square in the neck at 8 yards!!

[2Poppa]

I always shoot a doe or two with my bow right after opening day. I take a long syringe, and after gutting it, I place the needle into the bladder gently and draw the urine out.

I place the scent glands on the front of my boots under the boot laces and apply the doe urine there. This way I'm assured the doe urine is "common" to the area and doesn't alarm the community deer to a tresspasser. Helps me to blend in better with my surroundings...

[texasrack]

I use only Tink 69 and gang it WORKS. Last year in pre-rut and rut I used a drag to my stand. A young 8 point walked in and had (as Winmag stated) his lip curled and nose to the ground. He came in FAST...

Well stupid me, I climbed about halfway up my ladder before removing the heel drag I was using. WOULD you believe that the little buck walked UNDER my stand and started SPARRING with the darn ladder..one of the most incredible things I have ever experienced..the stand was literally SHAKING..I was cracking UP!

Last year my buck (most of you have seen him) came in and was in hot pursuit of a doe. I had 3 scent boms with Tink's hangingin the trees and he nosed up to ALL of them..