Hunting Scent Book

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Hunting Scent Book Hunting Scent Book Updated! Packed with New Information! $4.99 Myles Keller, Bowhunting legend and member of the Bowhunting Hall of Fame.

After trying various brands and products over many years, Myles counts on Wildlife Research Center®Scent and Scent Killer® products to maximize the odds when he hunts for trophy bucks. Preface 1.Introduction 2.Smells - Messages to Deer 3.Deer Hunting Scents 4.Human Scent 5.Methods of Hunting Scent Application 6.Hunting the Scrape 7.Rut Time Attractors 8.Curiosity Scents 9.Hunger Scents 10.Territorial & Challenge Scents 11.Trail's End ® #307 ® 12.Rattling & Calling 13.Masking Scents or Cover Scents 14.Human Scent Elimination Products 15.Elk & Mule Deer Scents 16.Bear Attractor Scents 17.Field-Testing & Scent Development Conclusion ©1990 - 2006 Wildlife Research Center, inc. CoverPhoto: Todd Amenrud / Minnesota buck.

Todd Amenrud harvested this big Minnesota buck with the aid of Special Golden Estrus®. Todd made three scent trails, each about 80 to 100 yards long. He lead them to a hub about 25 yards cross-wind from his treestand.

Where all of the scent trails came together, he also hung four Pro-Wicks®soaked with Special Golden Estrus®. Todd says, cWhen I first saw his massive, palmated antler beams my heart started pounding and my left leg started ... more. less.

to shake. This buck just loved the smell of the scent. Aside from stopping two or three times to wave his nose in the air and do a lip-curl, he followed the breeze right into the smell. I calmed my nerves and arrowed him at 22 yards." 1 T ABLEOF C ONTENTS DEDICATED TO: The Whiteface Wilderness Area, where the Timber Wolves still howl and eat more than their fair share of the deer. To the many years we 9ve enjoyed hunting the wild areas up there. And, our Great Friends up there! H unting and Trapping scents have been used effectively for countless years by modern day hunters and trappers, hunters and trappers from long ago, the American Indians, and probably way back to the cave men. Deer find food with their nose, they keep track of other deer in their territory with their nose, they avoid danger with their nose, and their nose plays an extremely important function when mating time comes. They are constantly testing the air for whatever scent may drift to their nose. When the right scents are properly used, they can greatly increase a hunter's odds of success. This book will cover many of the various scents and scent products. It will also tell you the most effective ways we have found to use them. Scents are not magic, but if you have an understanding of what scents to use and how to use them right, you can definitely give yourself a big advantage by using scent when you hunt. This book explains various scents, when to use them and how to use them - in great detail. There is nothing like the feeling of satisfaction you get when you watch a nice Buck react to yourscent set-up and see him do just what you wanted him to. Some of the key people at Wildlife Research Center ® have experimented, researched and tested many hundreds of different scents and scent related products, and even worked at it for many years before Wildlife Research Center ® began in 1983. These products have been tested on wild deerin theirwild environments. Every year, more hunters use Wildlife Research Center ® scent products than the year before. The two big reasons for that are, they produce results, and if they don't, All Wildlife Research Center ® products are 100% money-back guaranteed to work foryou! It has become cThe Brand Hunters Count On ® . d The question that we have for you is cCan you afford to spend yourvaluable hunting time experimenting with otherbrands? d 2 P REFACE There are quite a few different brands of hunting scent on the market. We have not tested every product. In fairness to the various scent companies, the information in this book is based on our testing and experience. It is possible that another company may have products that do not fit into the experience that we have had. W e attend a number of Deer Hunter shows every year and talk personally with many thousands of hunters each year. Because of our special contact with those hunters, we feel that we have a good handle on the types of questions most often asked and have seen a need for a book like this. " What's the best scent to use early in the season? " Which scent should I use during the rut? " What scent works best at a scrape location? " Which scent works best later in the season? " What do you think of the scent I am now using for my situation? " Which is better - glass or plastic bottles? These are just a few of the questions that we hear from hunters. While opinions will sometimes vary, we feel that we are in a position to give you answers to those questions and many more you may or may not have even thought about. There are quite a few different brands and types of scent on the market. To walk into a store and pick out which type and brand of scent to buy can be a hit and miss situation for a lot of hunters. By taking the time to read the package you can usually get a fair idea of whether a particular scent is right for your situation. Combined with the information from this book, you will be in a very good position to evaluate which products you need and how to use them properly. This book is not extremely lengthy, but it is packed with important information on scents and scent products. By reading and really digging into this book, you will have access to knowledge on hunting scents and usage of them that far exceeds what most hunters are aware of. If you take your hunting seriously, read and study this book carefully. The knowledge it contains should make you a better and more successful hunter. If you see us set up at a hunter's show, feel free to stop by and talk to us. Additional information can be obtained from watching our well reviewed informational and instructional video cScent Secrets d . This video is packed with cneed to know d information on the most effective methods of scent usage and human scent control. 3 Introduction 1 4 Lars Aga took this massive South Dakota buck with the aid of Wildlife Research Center ® scents and scent elimination products. Lars says c Wildlife Research Center ® products produce positive results for me year after year. I won 9t use anything else. d I t is commonly acknowledged that deer have an extremely sensitive nose and that they are very capable of using it. Their sense of smell plays a vital role in their day to day life. Smells are some of the most important messages deer receive. They keep them in touch with what is going on in their territory and what is happening around them. Smells supply the following information to deer: 1. Location of food and other food related information. 2. Information on animals or humans that have been traveling in their territory. 3. Awareness of when danger is upwind, be it a human or a four legged predator. 4. Information on which deer are traveling in their territory. 5. Any new smells or changes in smell are taken in. 6. The sense of smell is extremely important during rut time activity. The sense of smell has a wide range of uses by deer and the list goes beyond what is listed above. Because of the importance of smells to deer, it is extremely important that hunters have a basic understanding of smells and how deer are likely to react to them. If you have watched deer in the simple act of walking, you are sure to have seen them stretching out their nose from time to time and taking in messages from the air. They also like to stick their nose down near the ground, to read the story in smells of what has been going on. When watching a Buck during the rut, you can really see the nose get a workout. That guy is working it as hard as he can. Smells are his best source of information in regard to locating a receptive companion. He uses his nose in his travels and he uses it to evaluate the activity at scrape locations and throughout his territory. Smells have a life, they usually weaken and may change as time passes. Because of this, a deer can often times evaluate the smell and can guess when it was deposited. This is especially valuable when the deer is examining a location where another animal has been, whether it is a deer or another species. When a deer is aware of cwhen d another deer or animal has been passing through its territory, it gives them the option to either intercept or avoid the animal, if it sticks with the same pattern. 5 Smells-Messages to Deer 2 Because of the strong impact smells can have on the behavior of deer, good hunting scents and the knowledge of how to use them can be a tremendous asset to the hunter. 6 2 - Smells-Messages to Deer Leonor C. relied on Wildlife Research Center® products to help harvest her trophy. I t is actually a real step forward for the hunter that there are now many different types of hunting scents available for them to choose from. Over twenty years ago the selection was far more limited and, Trail's End ® #307 ® , perhaps the most effective all-around attractor on the market, was not available to the public. There are a number of ways in which scents can appeal to deer or have an effect on them. Some of the types of scents are listed below: " Territorial Scents: Territorial scents generally are scents from the same kind of animal you are after. Urine or musk are oftentimes used in Territorial Scents. Generally, when a buck smells a Territorial Scent, he will notice that a new deer has entered his territory. The buck will probably take a strong interest in it. He will want to know if it 9s a buck or doe, whether or not it is in breeding state, and if it 9s a buck 4is it dominant so that it is a threat or is it just a run of the mill intruder? " HungerScents orFood Scents: These are smells that appeal to the deer's sense of hunger. Since an important part of a deer's life is looking for and eating food, the right food scent can be effective. Most food type scents are derived from various plants that deer eat. Some food scents are far more effective than others. One thing you might find interesting is that the type of food scent does not have to be native to the area to be effective. Have you ever walked into a restaurant, etc. and smelled a new smell that really grabbed you? The same thing can happen with a deer. Although, if you know what the deer in your area are eating, that type of scent would be a good one to use. Most food type scents are made from natural plant derivatives. " Curiosity Type Scents: There are some smells that are not from a deer and are not from something a deer eats that really seem to hold an appeal to them. We call these curiosity type scents. There is a big difference in the performance of curiosity scents and the only way to know what works best is to test them. That is why you want to use scent manufactured by a company that does extensive field-testing. 7 DeerHunting Scents 3 Many hunters at shows tell us that if a deer hasn't encountered a smell before, it can't appeal to them. We feel that the only way to decide is to try it. The fact is, that deer are very curious animals and some of the most effective curiosity scents are smells that a deer has never encountered before and they want to check it out. Sometimes someone has a story about how after-shave attracted a deer. That could very well be true, if it happened to be a smell that appealed to deer. Again, the only way to know is to try it out. I once used a spray lubricant (no longer on the market) on the hinges of my car doors. It had a very strong fragrance and I was concerned it would scare off the deer, so I parked the car further than usual from where I was hunting. When I returned at dark, there was a doe and a fawn just down-wind from the car. Once again, the point we are making is that you don't want to be an armchair expert - trial and error testing, out in the field, is the only way to evaluate the effectiveness of scents. There is a big difference in the effectiveness of curiosity scents. We have field- tested more than a hundred different single ingredients and large numbers of combinations of scents. Most hunters do not have access to the many types of scent ingredients and do not have the time to spend many years testing them out in the field. We feel that it is a really good deal for the hunter to have access to high quality commercially made scents, just by going to the local sporting goods store. " Sex Scents: Of all the scents sold in the sporting goods stores, probably the kind most hunters purchase, are the doe estrus type scents. Wildlife®makes theirs from Natural whitetail doe urine with estrus secretions, which is put-up in amber glass bottles. The appeal is that when a buck smells the doe urine with estrus secretions during the pre-rut and during the rut, he will become sexually attracted. Doe in heat scents are sometimes a lively subject with various cexperts d. Once in a while an cexpert d tells us that pheromones have a short life and will not remain intact in a bottle. The truth is, while no one totally understands how everything in the urine really affects the buck, it does. 8 3 - DeerHunting Scents Here we go again - the only way to really find out if a scent is good, is to go out in the wild and do field-testing with it on wild deer (we feel that tests on penned deer are not real tests or valid tests). The fact is, our #1 Select Estrus® and other estrus scents do work on bucks during the rut. Besides attracting bucks during he rut, I have actually seen a buck start jumping up and down when he smelled #1 Select Estrus® . Even though doe in heat urine sounds like it is a fairly simple thing, natural organic compounds, such as doe in heat urine are extremely complex. To the best of our knowledge, no one has been able to fully analyze even a simple plain urine and certainly not a doe in heat urine. We don't fully understand exactly what is in it that makes it work, but good quality natural doe in heat urine is highly attractive to bucks during the pre-rut & rut. We will discuss the collection of doe in heat urine in the chapter on Rut Time Attractors. " Challenge Type Scents: Challenge type scents actually fall into the category of territorial scents. They represent the smell of a strange buck entering into the territory of the buck you are after. The rut time is when a buck becomes most concerned about new bucks intruding and spending time in his territory. The scent is usually the urine or other excretions of a buck during the rut. During the rut, a buck wants to find receptive does to breed with. When he goes to a scrape for example, he is hoping to find the scent of a hot doe. If he finds the smell of a rutting buck at the scrape, it can be upsetting to him. We have come up with two excellent challenge type scents: Mega-Tarsal Plus ® (a territorial intrusion scent) is a blend of strong natural tarsal musk, urine drippings and a secret musk we add that makes it even more effective. The other scent is called Active-Scrape ® , a blend of strong natural buck urine and natural doe urine with estrus secretions, that offers both territorial intrusion and sexual attraction appeals. Both of these scents really get bucks going and concerned about the other buck that is spending time in their territory. Challenge type scents and sex scents are both good to use while calling or rattling in most situations. They offer a smell to support the sounds. More times than not, a buck coming into calling or rattling will circle and approach from downwind. 9 3 - DeerHunting Scents 10 3 - DeerHunting Scents Kent Amundson took this buck with a combination of Wildlife Research Center ® attractor scent and the Scent Killer ® System of scent elimination. " Masking Scents: Masking scents serve the function of preventing the deer from detecting human scent. Masking scents can be from many types of smells. They may be from plant extracts, animal urines, etc. Generally a masking scent does not have high attraction qualities, but instead it is intended to mask your human scent by putting a strong smell into the air. The smell of a masking scent is usually fairly strong and is not offensive to deer. Sometimes a masking scent will actually have fear reducing qualities, in addition to the ability to mask human scent. Masking scents are very useful to the big game hunter. Some of the better masking scents are: Red Fox Urine, Coon Urine, and various plant derivatives. Since various scents do play such an important role in the day to day life of a deer, it is obvious that they can be extremely important when you hunt big game. Understanding scents and how to use them can be the key to a successful hunt. Anybody can speculate about scents, why they work and how good they work. People can also speculate about what a deer thinks. The truth is that the only way to really know if scents work and how well they work, is to take them out in the wild and test them on wild deer. At Wildlife Research Center ® , we do our field- testing on wild deer out in the wild and that is why we are able to offer a money- back guarantee on our scents - because they work. 3 - DeerHunting Scents 11 Rob Evans is one of our Nation 9s top trophy hunters with many P& Y whitetail bucks to his credit. Rob says, c Scent Killer ® products keep me and my gear odor free. Trail 9s End ® #307 ® is phenomenal, it really brings them in! d 3 - DeerHunting Scents 12 Hot Musk ® is a high-powered break-through lure that really attracts bucks. It is a unique formulation of musks in a non-urine base. Moon Fire® is a favored secret formula, used for years by key Wildlife Research Center®people. Unbelievable pleasant musk smell. Formulated without deer urine or animal by-products. Really attracts whitetail bucks. M ost hunters are well aware that one good whiff of human scent can often send a deer bounding away. In an area where deer are used to encountering human scent, it probably won't scare them. But, get that human scent in a place where it normally isn't and you can figure that the chances are real good that when a deer encounters it, he'll be gone. We believe that it is a strong trait for deer to fear human scent. Since humans are their main predator, deer that do not fear human scent tend to be culled out. Thereby the deer that do fear human scent tend to live longer and pass on that characteristic. The currents in the air will carry your human scent downwind. When you are walking or in a treestand, any deer downwind from you are quite likely to pick up your human scent and flee. The breeze will carry your human scent, just as it carries smoke and the odor of the smoke. To better understand the breeze, you can use visual aids ranging from small down feathers to commercial products. Avisual aid will help you determine the speed, direction, and subtleties of the breeze 3 even when it is so slight, you might not otherwise notice it. There are products that will help you to eliminate the human scent your body gives off. We will cover those products in the chapter on human scent elimination. If you use the right products, they can be very effective and really increase your chances of success when you hunt. Masking scents also attack the problem of human scent carrying in the air and good masking scents are also excellent odds boosters. When you are walking out to your stand, you may be leaving a trail of human scent. You should also take care to avoid contaminating your boots with various smells from your vehicle or camp. As you brush against weeds and brush, hunters are often leaving human scent on them from their clothes and hands. Try not to touch weeds or brush with your bare hands. The less you touch with your clothing, the better. Clean deodorized rubber boots are a big help at eliminating human scent on the ground where you step. It's a good idea to tuck your pants into the rubber boots, so that only the clean deodorized rubber is exposed. 13 Human Scent 4 To keep your rubber boots clean and odor-free, they should be stored either out in the clean air or in an airtight container, like a closed plastic garbage bag. To initially deodorize them, you should wash them, preferably with a non-scented soap. Then air them out thoroughly. It is a positive thing to walk in a shallow stream or spring, while wearing the rubber boots - that also really helps to clean any foreign odors off of them. Scent Killer ® Liquid Soap" is probably the best soap you could wash the boots with. The boots can also be treated with Scent Killer ® , which will attack the odor causing molecules and prevent them from forming a gas, which means no odor will form. Scent Killer ® is pump sprayed onto the boots to deodorize them. Your clothes can be deodorized by washing them in Scent Killer ® Clothing Wash" . There are several non-scented detergents available and they will clean your clothing without adding any smell to it, but they generally do not actually deodorize your clothing. Besides cleaning, Scent Killer ® Clothing Wash actually attacks the odors at their source, which results in clean and deodorized clothing. Sometimes if a treestand is located high enough, the breeze will carry your human scent right over the deer and the smell will never pass by their nose. If you do decide to use a high stand, be sure to check out your game laws and also be sure to exercise care and consider the risk of falling. One other hunting advantage of a high stand is that deer generally do not look high up and the chances of them seeing you are also reduced. One more very important thing to always remember is that if you hunt a stand and a deer detects you, it will quite likely pattern your stand. That means they will quite likely make sure that the area of your stand is excluded from the places where they will walk. Adeer can pattern your stand from smelling you while you are in your stand or by smelling your trail to and from your stand, so it is extremely critical that you exercise care in eliminating the human scent. If a deer hears you or sees you, it may also pattern your stand. Remember, a deer's job is survival. Deer are constantly on the lookout for danger - smelling, listening, looking, and smelling some more. Anything you can do to prevent deer from detecting you will increase your chances of a successful hunt. Masking scents and human scent elimination products are both real odds boosters. 14 4 - Human Scent 15 4 - Human Scent 16 4 - Human Scent Mike Berggren & Todd Amenrud both used WRC products to harvest these two P&Y trophies. Mike says, c Scent Killer ® works awesome! I shot this buck at 15 yards after it had passed downwind of me. For a mature buck to pass that close downwind and never know that I was there, I attribute success on this buck to Scent Killer ® . d Todd says, cIt's like the Trail's End ® #307 ® had him mesmerized. He followed the breeze right into the scent. d Although there are many different ways to disperse scent within your hunting area, Pro- Wicks ® are possibly the most versatile and easy to use scent tool made. They can be used with any type of liquid scent and are designed so that your chosen scent is dispersed out liberally and evenly. They can simply be used by applying scent and then hanging them on a branch to lure in deer from downwind. One of the best tools for making a scent trail is a Pro-Drag ® . A Pro-Drag ® is a big 7 inch long piece of special synthetic felt with two tails. The tails will fit into a bottle of scent and make reapplying lure easy. The Pro-Drag ® is connected to a string that can be attached to a branch or stick. The scent trail can be laid off to the side from where you walked. W hen you are using hunting scents, the method that you use to set up the scent can increase the effectiveness of the product. We have developed several scent dispensers, which we feel are the most effective ways to use hunting scents. This chapter will discuss the different scent dispensers and how to use them. The chapters on the different types of scent will explain the most effective scent dispenser to use with each type of scent. Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® The Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® is for use at natural and mock scrape locations. It is a special device that drips the scent out in a regulated manner. The important thing that makes it so different and effective is that it drips daytime only . Abuck knows when another deer has visited his scrape. Normally deer visit scrapes at night, so that is when the buck also visits the scrape hoping to intercept either a hot doe or an intruder buck. Since the Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® drips in the daytime and shuts down at night, the buck is forced to change his pattern and start visiting the scrape during daytime hunting hours, instead of at night. The Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® is activated by the rise in temperature each day. It only drips while the temperature is rising, then it shuts down when the temperature stabilizes or starts to drop (at night). It does not matter if the temperature rises from 30Ú to 40Ú or from 80Ú to 90Ú, the rise in temperature is what makes it drip, so it works in any climate and any time of year. There may be a day, now and then, when the temperature does not rise during the day and the dripper will not activate. But usually, on a day when the temperature doesn't rise, the weather was bad and perhaps raining. Your valuable scent would have been washed away by the rain, so it is actually an advantage that it doesn't drip on those few days of bad weather. Under normal fall weather conditions the Ultimate Scrape- Dripper ® will drip a little scent out every day for about a week when filled with 1 FLOZ of scent. Set it up 4 or 5 days before you hunt. That way it has time to really get the bucks worked-up and hanging around the scrape. There is no need for you to visit the dripper during those 4 or 5 days and contaminate the area with human scent. 17 Methods of Hunting Scent Application 5 To set it up, just pour in 1 FLOZ of Active-Scrape ® scent and screw the dispenser valve back on. Then hang it up as high as you can conveniently reach over the scrape. Scrape location will be discussed in the chapter on hunting the scrape. The Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® is a Wildlife Research Center ® product and we consider it to be by far the most effective method of dispensing scent on a scrape. Pro-Drag®and Boot Scent Pads The Pro-Drag® is a 7 inch long piece of special felt with two tails. Scent can be applied to the Pro-Drag® by dipping the tails into a bottle of your favorite lure. One of the features of a Pro-Drag® is that it comes with a special string that can be tied around a branch or stick. This allows you to drag it along side of yourself, so you don 9t walk on the same trail where you laid the scent. When using a Pro-Drag® , it 9s easier to control the scent trail 3 for instance; through wet areas, over obstacles, or through tall grass & weeds. Boot scent pads are a scent pad that is made to strap onto your boot. Scent is applied to the pad and is laid down on the trail as you walk. Wildlife Research Center ® boot scent pads are a felt pad onto which the scent is applied and it has a piece of elastic that holds it in position on the boot. Boot scent pads can be used with cover scent (the same thing as masking scent), to hide the scent on your tracks. They can also be used with an attractor scent to lay out a trail that a deer will want to follow. Laying out a trail for deer to follow: Place the attractor scent on the drag or pads. Then walk the trail where you want the deer to follow. It is often a good idea to stop and put a few more drops on every hundred yards or so - to freshen them up. After you have finished laying the trail, take off the boot scent pads and give them another few drops of scent or freshen up your Pro-Drag® by dipping the tails into your bottle. Hang them up as a scent dispenser, to wick the scent into the air and attract deer from downwind. We have heard a person now and then say that when you lay a trail with boot scent pads or a drag, it is backwards from how a deer would do it. Their reason being that they say the scent gets weaker with every step. Well, that sounds fine, until you think about how things really work with a real deer. Deer do not have a metered scent dispenser on the bottom of their legs. Urine or glandular material may drip onto the leg from time to time as the deer walks leaving a scent trail - quite similar to the way you freshen up your boot scent pads from time to time. The fact is that it is possible 18 5 - Methods of Hunting Scent Application for a deer to go either direction when he hits a scent trail, so it is not a bad idea to lay a loop to bring him to you - regardless of how you lay a trail. We have frequently observed deer to go either way on a trail, even when different methods have been used to lay it. Using coverscent to hide yourtrail: Cover scent, which is another name for masking scent can really help a hunter to be more successful, by masking the smell on your tracks. Drip some red fox urine or another masking scent onto the pads (4 or 5 drops). As you are walking into your stand, freshen the pads up every hundred yards with another couple drops. After you reach your stand, take off the boot scent pads and hang them up next to your position. Then they will act as a masking scent for you, while you hunt. Give them another good shot of masking scent after you hang them up. They will do the job of a scent dispenser. As you are walking with boot scent pads, pay attention to the amount of moisture on the ground. If conditions are dry or barely damp, have the pads under your foot. If conditions are fairly damp, you can have the pads rotated, so that they are on the sides of your boots. If conditions are wet and you are walking in tall grass or weeds, you may want to rotate the pads onto the top of your boots, so that the scent will be rubbed onto the tall grass and weeds and not washed off from the wet ground. Just keep track of the conditions and use your own judgement. Controlling the scent trail you 9re laying is made easier with a Pro-Drag® , because it is connected to a string that can be attached to a stick or branch. Wildlife Research Center ® Boot Scent Pads and Pro-Drags® are carefully made from the proper materials, so that they will lay a good scent trail and have additional special qualities that really set them apart from other brands. Scent Wicking Products There are many scent wicking products on the market. They range from the old cotton in the film canister method to sophisticated molded plastic cases that expose a special wick when opened up. The wicking action can have a real increase on the effectiveness of scent. What really happens when it is wicked out, is that more surface area is exposed and more scent is able to wick into the air. More scent in the air means it reaches out further, to call deer in from a greater distance. The best way we have found to set up a scent wick, is to hang it about 5 feet above the ground, so that the wind can get at it and carry the scent along. By elevating the 19 5 - Methods of Hunting Scent Application scent to 5 feet, the scent gets real nice exposure to the wind, so it really gets dispersed a good long distance and at the right height, so that it goes right to the nose of the deer. We also feel that it is to the hunter 9s advantage, to set up your scent wicks in multiple locations. The advantage of setting your scent up in multiple locations is that you can set it up so that the deer will come in line with the scent before he comes in line with your human scent. Take a look at the diagram and it will show how the deer comes in line with your attractor scent, before he comes in line with your scent. That set-up further increases your chances of success. The above methods are the most effective, when used with attractor scents. When you are using cover (masking) scents, place a wick or two with your masking scent about 5 feet off the ground, below your stand. If you're on the ground, place two or three wicks with masking scent around you. If you're up in a tree, place the wick, or several wicks, about 5 feet off the ground as mentioned. Then, place another wick or two up about your height, near you in the tree. This will help to keep the masking scent mixed well with your human scent, even when the wind changes. The old film canister filled with cotton is not a bad scent wick, but it does have two major drawbacks. Your wicking surface is limited, because the wicking material (cotton ball) is down in the canister and is not well exposed to the wind. Second and more important, we have found that some materials are affected by certain types of scent and can change the smell after a period of time. We do not recommend saving your film canister with scent and cotton balls for too many days. After extensive testing, we finally found a special synthetic felt that does not seem to be affected in any way by scent and therefore keeps it smelling the same. Our product, Pro-Wicks ® are a special die-cut shape (long rectangle and a convenient hanger hole) made of this special felt. They come four in a pack and are priced very reasonably. They come in a convenient zip-lock plastic bag, to store them in between usages. They work so well, that once a hunter tries Pro-Wicks ® , they don't like hunting without them. Key-Wicks® are another great scent dispenser. They are made of the same special synthetic felt as Pro-Wicks® . The Key-Wicks® are shaped like a key, so you can dip them right into a bottle of liquid scent, then hang them up on a branch or twig. 20 5 - Methods of Hunting Scent Application Sometimes a hunter may drip or spray scent directly onto the bark of a tree or onto their boot. Awick or boot scent pad will do a better job because they can absorb the scent and keep wicking it to the surface over a period of time. When it 9s on the surface, the wick and boot scent pad can dispense it at a much more consistent and faster rate. The Quik-Wik TM is a really slick new wicking device. It is a rain-shedding plastic container that drops a special synthetic felt down beneath it, to really wick out the scent. When you turn it upside down, the wick drops right back into the container. Then you simply put the air-tight cap back on. 21 5 - Methods of Hunting Scent Application The Ultimate Scrape Dripper® 5 - Methods of Hunting Scent Application 22 Boot Scent Pads Pro-Wick®Scent Dispenser Key-Wick® Pro-Drag® Single Stand Trail Pattern Use boot scent pads to lay out a trail in this special pattern. Regardless of which way the deer goes when he hits the scent trail, he will be on route to your stand. Dual Stand Connecting Scent Trail If two hunters are in stands some distance apart, they can lay a scent trail between them. When a deer hits the trail and follows it, he will head to one of the two stands. I f you are a buck hunter, and especially if you are a big buck hunter, the scrape is probably the best place you can hunt. For in-depth, cutting-edge information on hunting scrapes, be sure to ask for our cScrape Hunting Book d . Bucks do make a lot of scrapes, but they don't visit most of them on a daily basis. The trick is to find a scrape that he is working harder and spending more time at than most of the other scrapes in his area. The other problem is that does normally visit the scrapes at night. Since does visit scrapes at night most of the time, and a buck wants to intercept the doe, he visits the scrapes at night as well. The buck can tell by the smell, when other deer have visited his scrapes. Hunting the scrape is a real potential hot spot, but you may wonder if you will see your buck during daytime hunting hours. During the rut, bucks do some traveling during the day, although most of it seems to still be at night. Fortunately there has been a major break-through for scrape hunters. The Ultimate Scrape- Dripper ® dispenses scent every day onto the scrape during daytime hunting hours and then shuts down at night - then it repeats the cycle every day. First of all, setting a scrape dripper up over a scrape tells the buck that there is some real action going on at the scrape and he will give it a much higher priority on his list of scrapes to visit. But, if you have a dripper that is dripping daytime only and shuts down at night, that buck knows that he has to stop by during the day, if he wants to have a chance of intercepting the doe or intruder buck. The Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® is the dripper that drips daytime only and shuts down at night. Another extremely important advantage of the Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® is that 1 FLOZ of scent usually lasts about a week under normal weather conditions. Because of this, you don't have to tend the dripper everyday and contaminate the area with human scent. Set it up 4 or 5 days before you hunt and let it do its job. It operates when the temperature rises. An air pocket in the dripper is temperature sensitive and pushes out a little scent while the temperature is rising. Since the temperature rises during the daytime hours, that is when it drips. At night the temperature stabilizes or drops and the dripper will stop dripping until temperatures start to rise again. It does not matter if the temperature rises from 30Ú to 40Ú or from 23 Hunting the Scrape 6 80Ú to 90Ú, it is the rise in temperature that causes the Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® to drip. If the temperature does not rise during the day, it was probably raining or poor weather. If your valuable scent had dripped, it would have been washed away and wasted. So it is a real advantage that it only drips when the temperature is rising. To set the dripper up, set it up as high as you can conveniently reach above the scrape. Just tie it to a branch in the tree over the scrape. There is almost always a small tree or branches over a scrape. If you had set up a mock scrape, it should have a tree with a branch over it. Locating the Scrape One of the best ways to get a feel for where a buck makes his scrapes, is to go out and do a lot of scouting. They seem to prefer to set up their scrapes in border areas. Often, you will find scrapes in a fairly thick area near a more open area. We consider a border area to be where there is a change in the type or density of trees & brush or from field to trees. Keep your eyes open to the type of tree it 9s under and the height of the overhanging branches and to the type of location where they tend to be. Once you have located scrapes, they will quite likely be in the same area year after year. Come back and look for them every year. Watch for the real heavy scrapes. Sometimes the real heavy scrapes may be back a ways in a dense area. If you decide to set up a mock scrape, try to pick a location similar to where you would find natural scrapes. Then pick out a spot with the same type of tree where the natural scrapes were made. The overhanging branches are usually somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 feet above the ground. After you pick your spot, scrape the ground to expose the dirt and scrape it up, so that it resembles a real scrape. Then hang up your Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® . If you use Active-Scrape ® scent in the dripper and set it up in a good spot, chances are real good that a buck will come and take it over. The Actual Hunt When a buck checks out a scrape he may come right in on the trail with his nose down or he might approach from downwind and give it a real good scent check. Sometimes they don't come into the scrape, if they don't smell new activity. 24 6 - Hunting the Scrape When you pick your stand location, consider the existing trails and the direction of the prevailing wind. Agood bet for the wind is that it will be from the Northwest. Set your stand up a fair distance from the scrape, you don't want to scare him off. You will have to be the judge of what a fair distance will be (how good of a shot you are, etc.). It is also a good idea to set the stand up for the downwind approach. Always approach your stand as quietly as possible and leave as little human scent as possible - it will pay off. If you follow the above methods and use Active-Scrape ® scent in an Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® , you are putting yourself in a position where you have a good chance at a real nice buck. 25 6 - Hunting the Scrape Marlene Odahlen-Hinz used WRC Scent and Scent Elimination Products to harvest this Minnesota buck with archery equipment at 20 yards. Official P&Y score 147 1/8. 6 - Hunting the Scrape 26 For Maximum effect at a scrape, use an Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ®with the proper scent. Trail's End®#307® - is attractive to bucks from early fall, right on through the rut. Active Scrape® - is geared more towards the dominant bucks and is most effective in pre-rut and the rut. Ultimate Scrape-Dripper ® I t seems like when hunters talk about rut time attractors, they like to talk about doe in estrus type scents. During the rut, bucks are searching for hot does. The fact is, that during the rut, bucks are working their nose overtime searching for the smell of a hot doe. Doe urine with estrus secretions is generally collected from does that are in pens during the collection process. They come into estrus naturally a number of times if they aren 9t bred. They can also be brought into estrus for periods of time through the use of hormones and lighting conditions. That is a very basic explanation of how our quality natural doe urine with estrus secretions is collected. The collection process is not commonly known information and therefore there are some different methods of collection used by the various hunting scent manufacturers. Since collection methods do vary, the quality of the urine collected also varies from one scent company to another. What is in doe in estrus type scent that makes it work? Well, it 9s the pheromones, and other smells that make it up. The fact is that nobody has really been able to understand the exact combination of parts that create the strong sexual attraction 3 but it does attract bucks. That is why top quality doe in estrus type scents can really seriously attract bucks at the right times. Animal urines are extremely complex organic chemical compounds. The natural urines are so complex, that it would probably be impossible to do a total chemical analysis. There are just too many very minor parts that make it up. The nose of an expert can tell one kind of animal urine from another, yet it would require extremely expensive analysis to start looking closely at urines and getting into the simple task of differentiating one kind of animal urine from another through chemical analysis. How To Use It We recommend that doe in estrus type scents, such as our product #1 Select Estrus ® , be used in two basic manners. It can be used to lay a scent trail for the buck to follow and it can be set up so that the wind carries it from a scent wick to the nose of a buck. When a buck smells a hot doe, he will quite likely come in and check it out. If you decide to use it on boot scent pads and lay a trail, put several drops on each pad. Put a couple more drops on the pads every 100 yards, to freshen them up. If 27 Rut Time Attractors 7 conditions are fairly dry, have the felt part of the pads under the bottoms of your boots. If conditions are moist or wet, rotate the felt part of the boot scent pads up to the side of your boot or to the top of your boot, so that the scent is not washed out of the pads as you walk. Lay your trail out in whatever you choose as the best route or pattern. We have diagrammed a good pattern to use. If two people are hunting, it would work out real well to simply lay a trail between the two stands - that way, if a buck hits the trail, whichever way he follows it will lead to a hunter. One of the best methods of using a doe in heat urine scent, is to set it up on Key- Wicks ® , so that the wind carries the smell along. On good days, when there is a nice breeze, deer may come in to an attractor scent from a distance of 1/4 mile away or more. We have seen it and have had a number of hunters tell us of similar observations. The way to set it up is: Put some scent onto Key-Wicks ® or another type of wick. Then, hang them up about 5 feet above the ground, so the breeze can catch the scent real well and bring it right to a buck's nose downwind. Set them out in a pattern, like the diagram pictured. The idea is to have them set up in such a manner, that the buck will pick up the attractor scent before he comes in position to smell your human scent. When he does start coming into the attractor scent, he probably never will line up in a position, so that he is directly downwind from you. We feel that setting up your rut time attractor with wicks like our diagram, is about the best method you can use. Rut time attractors (doe in estrus type scents) can also be used at scrape locations. They will help to liven up a scrape and get the bucks keyed in on it. But, if you are going to hunt a scrape location, the best scent to use is Active-Scrape ® , because in addition to being a high-powered doe in estrus type scent, it has the smell of a strange rutting buck intruding into the territory. Active-Scrape ® is the scent specifically made for using at scrape locations. There are a number of doe in estrus type scents available. There is a difference in the quality of the urine and there is a difference in how they are made. Some are completely doe urine with estrus secretions, with nothing else added. Our product #1 Select Estrus® is almost all doe urine with estrus secretions, but we do add additional ingredients that we have found to increase the effectiveness of the scent. 28 7 - Rut Time Attractors 29 7 - Rut Time Attractors Wick Set-Up Diagram Single Stand Trail Pattern Use boot scent pads to lay out a trail in this special pattern. Regardless of which way the deer goes when he hits the scent trail, he will be on route to your stand. Dual Stand Connecting Scent Trail We add a trace of a musk that heightens the intensity and a little bit of another ingredient that makes it even better. #1 Select Estrus ® was developed through field-testing on wild deer out in the wild and is the finest doe in estrus type scent available, regardless of price. Excite ® is for the hunter who wants an extra thick doe in estrus type scent. Excite ® is super thick and flows about like the consistency of honey. But to a whitetail buck it smells sweeter than honey. Excite ® is thick enough so you can coat a branch or twig with it, yet it will also absorb into a dry twig or wick. Some gel scents actually form a film over them and restrict the rate at which the scent molecules disperse into the air, thereby reducing the potency. Excite 9s ® secret formula offers both its special thick consistency and it really wicks out the scent. The scent molecules keep wicking out at a nice even rate. If two hunters are in stands some distance apart, they can lay a scent trail between them. When a deer hits the trail and follows it, he will head to one of the two stands. Special Golden Estrus ® is a special Doe in Estrus Scent that for years was only offered to a few key people within the hunting industry as a special favor. Although good quality Doe in Estrus Scents are highly effective, Special Golden Estrus ® has unique qualities that give it an edge. Special Golden Estrus ® is the most premium fresh whitetail doe in estrus scent you can use! It is collected for use during this year 9s hunting season and even has the year printed on the package. The bottles are even serial numbered. It was originally only available to a limited number of industry insiders 3 who were able to get it from Wildlife Research Center ® . Special Golden Estrus ® is still highly effective when the year it was labeled for has passed, but the effectiveness drops to that of a normal top quality doe in estrus type scent. Good quality doe in estrus scents such as #1 Select Estrus ® have been used successfully by hunters for many years. Special Golden Estrus ® is for the hunter who wants the stuff that just dripped out of the doe and has an extra edge. Special Golden Estrus ® costs more, but it 9s worth it! 30 7 - Rut Time Attractors D eer seem to be somewhat curious by nature, as are quite a few different types of animals. Probably their strongest sense that will stimulate their curiosity urge, is their sense of smell. Usually a curiosity smell that they have never encountered before, has the best chance of bringing them in. Please don't misinterpret what we are saying. There are many smells that are not attractive to a deer for any reason, but there are some that do get a real rise out of them. The only way to find out what smells are attractive to deer is to test them on wild deer out in the wild. But when a hunter uses a curiosity scent, it is usually most attractive the first time a deer investigates it. There is a big difference in how attractive different smells are to deer. We have tested over a hundred different natural smells on wild deer. About one fourth of them were somewhat attractive to deer and a few were extremely attractive - I mean that not many deer could walk by downwind, without coming in and checking out the scent. Then, we try mixtures and blends of them, to try to get even better performance out in the field. Regardless of what people say, the only way to know if a certain type of scent works or not, is to test it on wild deer. That is why hunters are fortunate that there are some reputable scent manufacturers who spend a lot of time testing. When to Use Them Curiosity scents are usually the most effective early in the season on all deer, effective on does during the rut, and effective later in the season. They are usually smells derived from plants, animal musks, etc. How to Use Them The best way to use them that we have found is to set the curiosity scent up on Key- Wicks ® about 5 feet off the ground. We have included the diagram that shows the best method to set it up. Since this is a curiosity scent, it is best to pick it up when you are through hunting, so that the deer will not have the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity when you are not hunting. Just pick up the Key-Wicks ® and store them in the convenient zip-lock plastic bag that they came in. Trail's End ® #307 ® contains some of the most effective curiosity ingredients that we have ever found. Curiosity scents can also be effectively used on boot scent pads, but we feel that letting the wind carry the smell is the most effective method. 31 Curiosity Scents 8 Buck-Nip ® is an intense curiosity scent. Buck-Nip ® is to a deer 3 like catnip is to a cat. It is a great early season buck attractant, but will work all season long. Buck-Nip ® is made from secret plant derivatives and does not contain any urine. Moon Fire ® is a favored secret formula that key people at Wildlife Research Center ® have used for years. It is an extremely effective and totally unique attractor, with a permeating pleasant musky smell. It is formulated without urine or deer by-products and the big bucks really go for it! 32 8 - Curiosity Scents Pro-Wick ® Scent Dispenser A s we all know, the search for food is critical to the survival of a deer. Their nose plays a major role in finding food. Sometimes there may be an ample supply of food, but deer are like people, they prefer some foods over others and some foods are a real treat. If a deer does have a good food supply available, but he catches the aroma of something that smells better, he is likely to check it out. As with other types of scents, some are far more effective than others and guessing what sounds better just doesn't make it out in the field - they have to be tested on wild deer in the wild. Our personal opinion is that some of the food scents available are mediocre attractors. They will bring in some of the deer some of the time. We have found a couple food lures that give good solid results. One great food scent we offer is Acorn Hunting Scent". If you hunt with food scents, we would recommend using them early, late and (for does) during the rut. Again, we feel setting the scent up on Key-Wicks ® is the most effective method. 33 Master whitetail hunter Rob Evans used a scent trail of Trail 9s End®#307® to lure in this P& Y buck. Scent Killer® products also aided Rob in this success. HungerScents 9 Archer Dan Borcherding of Wisconsin took this buck with the help of Wildlife Research Center® products. 34 9 - HungerScents Trail's End ® #307 ®worked to lure in this big 7x7 for Todd Amenrud. cBefore getting in my stand that morning I put out some #307 ®on four Pro-Wicks ®and placed them out cross-wind from me on each side. I was watching another P&Y eight pointer chase a doe about 150 yards upwind of me. Atwig snapped behind me and I turned slowly to notice this mature buck closing fast on the scent. When I released the arrow on this buck, his nose was within inches of my scent saturated Pro-Wick ®. d T erritorial scents are basically the scent of a new deer that has entered a territory other than their own. Deer are constantly keeping track of the other deer in their territory. They can smell the difference between the urine of deer they are familiar with and that of a strange deer. In other words, each deer has its own smell. To give you an example: If you are walking a dog and he smells where a dog he is familiar with urinated, he usually will not pay much attention to the spot. But when he smells a place where a strange dog urinated, he will lock onto the spot and really check it out. The same holds true with deer. The gallons of urine from the regular deer in the area does little for them, but bring in a little from a deer that they are not familiar with and you will definitely get their interest up. Any scent that contains deer urine has at least some territorial appeal, because the urine is from a strange deer, who the local deer are not familiar with. Wildlife Research Center ® offers several scents that have a territorial appeal. Select Doe Urine" Select Doe Urine" is a non-threatening territorial curiosity scent. It is very high quality urine, collected from does that are not in estrus. The appeal is that a strange doe has entered the territory. It is not threatening, because a new doe is not a threat to the buck you are trying to attract, but they will want to investigate the new doe. It is valuable as both an attractor and as a masking scent. It is effective when set up on wicks as an attractor, used on boot scent pads to lay a trail, or when used as a masking scent to lay a trail and set up next to you to hide your human scent. It is a good scent to hunt with. Trail's End ® #307 ® also has a territorial appeal in addition to its other qualities as an attractor, but it will be discussed in detail in another chapter. Active-Scrape ® also is a territorial attractor, but it has been discussed in detail in the chapter on scrape hunting. The other scents that contain deer urine are also territorial attractors as already mentioned. Challenge Scent The smell of a strange buck in the rut is a challenge scent. When a strange buck in rut enters your buck's territory and he finds the smell, he will become very concerned about the situation. Achallenge scent is effective, because it tells the local buck a strange buck has entered his territory. 35 Territorial & Challenge Scents 10 The best way to set it up is on scent wicks. You can also lay a trail with it. Use it as you would set up an attractor. 36 10 - Territorial & Challenge Scents John Haspel used Mega-Tarsal Plus ®and Special Golden Estrus ®to bring in this Massive Manitoba Buck. John says, cI laid out a scent trail of Special Golden Estrus ®. Along the trail I placed out Mega-Tarsal Plus ®four times on some Pro-Wicks ®. After watching this buck for two nights you could see that he was the calpha buck d of this area. The cscent illusion d that I wanted to create was that one of this buck's does had come into heat, but there was an intruder buck already with her. When this buck cut the trail he started to follow it, when he got to the Mega-Tarsal Plus ®he let out a grunt that sounded like a huge hog. He also made an aggressive sounding snort-wheeze and intently followed the trail right into bow range. d 37 10 - Territorial & Challenge Scents Wick Set-Up Diagram Single Stand Trail Pattern Use boot scent pads to lay out a trail in this special pattern. Regardless of which way the deer goes when he hits the scent trail, he will be on route to your stand. Dual Stand Connecting Scent Trail If two hunters are in stands some distance apart, they can lay a scent trail between them. When a deer hits the trail and follows it, he will head to one of the two stands. 38 10 - Territorial & Challenge Scents Hot Musk ®is a unique mixture of secret musk scents blended together to create a highly effective buck lure that is also irresistible to does. Developed the Wildlife Research Center ®way and extensively field tested with remarkable results, Hot Musk ®has a heavy consistency so it holds up well and will not freeze. Highly effective October through December. Special Golden Estrus® and other Wildlife Research Center® products helped Joel Hafermann bag this Iowa monster. W e have decided to include this chapter on Trail's End ® #307 ® because it is a scent that breaks a lot of the standard rules and fits into a category of its own. T rail's End ® #307 ® was the first scent that Wildlife Research Center ® introduced onto the deer attractor market. To this day, it is still one of the most popular products among the thousands of loyal hunters who use Wildlife Research Center ® products year after year. When we began developing Trail's End ® #307 ® our goal was to develop the most effective, best possible attractor. We tried many of the commonly used oils and musks and we were not satisfied with their performance. We tested over 100 different natural ingredients, until we found several that are not well known, but really bring in the deer. Then we tried hundreds of different formulas made with these various ingredients. Our final result was - Trail's End ® #307 ® . Trail's End ® #307 ® is a high-powered Rut Lure with the right blend of oils and other ingredients added to make it deadly on Bucks and just about irresistible to Does - Before, During, and After the rut. It strongly appeals to sex and curiosity. Other companies have tried to imitate Trail's End ® #307 ® , but have not been successful. Common tap water has been found to have up to 3,000 different natural chemicals in it, so you can imagine how complex a natural formula scent such as Trail's End ® #307 ® would be to analyze. For all practical purposes, it simply can't be done and the imitations have not been successful at catching the important subtle parts of the smells. From time to time a hunter will come up to us at a show and tell us that an expert claimed that any scent has to fall into one category and cannot overlap into another type of appeal. I guess you can say that, if you haven't done a lot of experimentation and field-testing. The fact is that hunting scents can be made with multiple appeals, and in a case such as Trail's End ® #307 ® it is a better attractor because of it. How To Use It Trail's End ® #307 ® can be used either on boot scent pads, set up on Pro-Wicks ® or used in an Ultimate Scrape Dripper ® . If you are in a situation where you could set it up any of these ways, we feel that the set-up with scent wicks is one of the most effective ways to use Trail's End ® #307 ® . (See diagram for both boot scent pad set-up and scent wick set-up) There are a lot of different natural ingredients in 39 Trail 9s End ® #307 ® 11 Trail's End ® #307 ® so be sure to shake the bottle vigorously before you use it. It is best to pick up the scent when you quit hunting at the end of each day, then put it out again the next time you hunt. If you had applied it with boot scent pads, obviously you can't pick it up off the ground. Trail's End ® #307 ® is also a scent that can be used with an Ultimate Scrape Dripper ® . If you are using it in an Ultimate Scrape Dripper ® , 1 ounce of scent will last about a week, and the dripper will freshen your set-up for you during daytime hours. 40 11 - Trail's End®#307® The #307® brought this buck right in. Note the thickness at the base of the antlers. Single Stand Trail Pattern Use boot scent pads to lay out a trail in this special pattern. Regardless of which way the deer goes when he hits the scent trail, he will be on route to your stand. Dual Stand Connecting Scent Trail If two hunters are in stands some distance apart, they can lay a scent trail between them. When a deer hits the trail and follows it, he will head to one of the two stands. Wick Set-Up Diagram I n this chapter we are not going to get into the specifics of how to call in deer by rattling or usage of calls, but we have done quite a bit and when done properly, both methods can definitely be effective. We are going to discuss why the use of scent is important and how to use it to maximize your chances of success while calling. Some years ago, I was talking with a friend, who just happened to be the world champion predator caller. We were discussing the use of scent while calling and why it is a necessity. He went on to talk about how you can call a predator from 200 yards away, upwind and that predator will 9 times out of 10 circle, so that he approaches from downwind. Even if he has to travel nearly an extra mile to make his approach from downwind. It has been our experience and that of many expert hunters we talk with, that deer will usually make a strong effort to approach from downwind. I would have to guess the reason that animals want to approach callers from downwind, is so that they can make their best effort to figure out what is there and what is going on, before they take a chance on exposing themselves to danger. The most important job in an animal's life, is knowing how to stay alive. Since deer usually approach from downwind to a caller or person who is rattling, it is important that you make use of hunting scent products. It is also important that you set up in a location that offers the deer an approach from downwind - or he may not come in at all. They oftentimes like to approach in heavy cover. So, a location that permits them to approach in fairly heavy cover and from downwind is a good place to start. Rattling When a buck responds to rattling, he is looking for two bucks in a conflict and possibly a doe nearby. Adoe in estrus scent is an excellent choice. Abuck in rut scent is equally good. And, a combination of the two is an excellent way to go. Active-Scrape ® , #1 Select Estrus ® , Trail's End ® #307 ® , Excite ® , Special Golden Estrus ® , Mega-Tarsal Plus ® , orEstrus Trophy Leaf TM are the way to go. Set them up on a scent wick in the pattern and set some up right next to you, in place of a masking scent- it will do the masking and attracting. Human scent elimination products on your clothing are also a good thing to use. 41 Rattling & Calling 12 Calling When you're calling with a grunt, set it up and use the scent just like you would when rattling. If you are using a fawn cry, plain doe urine (non estrus), is the way to go. Use Select Doe Urine" . 42 12 - Rattling & Calling What makes a situation seem real to you? If you can hear it, see it, smell it - the more senses that are appeased the more a situation will seem real. When rattling or calling, often times a buck will swing downwind to obtain confirmation from his nose before entering your site. The use of scent will help sell your scenario to the buck. If he hears cdeer sounds d, and then smells cdeer smells d it will only help confirm to the buck that this situation is real. Because bucks do have the tendency of swinging downwind, the use of Scent Killer ®is also important. Estrus Trophy Leaf TM (whichever name you prefer) W e consider Masking Scents and Cover Scents to be the same thing. Whichever name you prefer, is the one to use. Acomparison would be that potatoes are also called spuds or a moderate wind can also be called a breeze. We refer to them by both names throughout this book. Cover scents serve the function of preventing the deer from detecting our human scent. There are quite a few different types of cover scent. It may be plant derivatives, animal urine, etc. Usually cover scent does not have high attraction qualities, but instead it is intended to cover your human scent by putting a strong smell into the air. The smell of a masking scent is usually fairly strong and is not offensive to the deer. In addition to masking your human scent, some cover scents actually have fear reducing qualities - they seem to rela

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