Scents for deer hunting

Does anyone find commercial odor eliminators and deer scents to be useful? Do they really cover-up or eliminate human odors?

And what about using a skunk-based trapping lure, like Gusto? Or maybe a castor-based lure, like Backbreaker. Castor is supposed to be an attractant for various kinds of animals.

Jim

your not going to move a deer very far. also if the wind is blowing the castor smell toward the deer where is your scent going?

What about covering up your own human scent?

Jim

you ever been next to somebody that sprayed on more deodorant instead of bathing? I suspect its like that.

I use EverCalm at my stand base as a cover scent and Dead Down Wind as human scent eliminator.

I have very smelly feet after only a day or so of wearing my shoes stink I mean really really stink the kind of stink you can smell from several feet away but a squirt of dead down wind and they smell like new shoes

Now I don’t know if that’s proof that human Oder eliminaters work or not but I use them all the time if just to not offend myself from the smell of my own shoes

I do know that I have had several deer approach from downwind that did not appear to detect me, in fact last year the deer I shot was at 4 paces and came from downwind, the reason he got so close before I shot him is that in that direction was a marshy area of tall grass and I just could not see him till he came out of that tall grass into the open space I was standing in

If nothing else it gives you conifidence while we think helps in those sometimes long waits on stand where you might begin to doubt if you should stay or move to a different area or not

stay downwind or stay home

I Use Deer Dander on my Boots and legs when walkjng in. It is both a cover scent and Deer investigate it.

I have had deer come in to the stump I had castor on While bear hunting

The one that is the hardest and Most dont realize is Our Breath. I was helping an Old friend hang stands a few 15 years ago and after 20 years of deer hunting with Him I finally said. " why do you spit from a deer stand indtead of into a bottle?" His response was " Skol Long cut- Wintergreen ...why do you think I kill mor deer than you all these years"

So I didnt take up the "Chaw" but almost always have 5 or 6 Wintergreen life savers for a normal morning or evening sit. Many times I believe it made the difference.

Yep

Evercalm is about the only product I use for scent control, and Copenhagen in my mouth. One of the guys I hunt with swears that the Copenhagen is why I get smelled less than them. But I ALWAYS hunt the wind

I keep an eye on my cigarette smoke so I know which way the wind is going

my dad was the same way.

doug 66 my buddy does the same thing but he does hunt the right wind and kills a lot of deer not necessarily the big deer some are after but the guys I know that hunt are meat hunters just like me. don't much care about horns.

Hahahaaaa you sound like my brother in law.

we have 17 ladder stands so there's always a place to hunt the right wind and no commotion gettin in and out.

My experience with formulated deer scents is at times it holds a curiosity factor for younger juvenile deer, but most always raises a red flag of caution with mature adult does. I’ve never seen mature bucks pay much attention to it during the rut and pre rut. They’re usually hot on the trail of real thing and don’t pay much attention to the synthetic stuff. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had curious little 2 1/2 yr olds come in to synthetic scents only to have a wary old doe come in and smell it and stand there and stop and stare and blow. I gave up on wasting money on that stuff back in my teens. Hunt where the mature does are hanging out and you got the best scent ever. Like others mentioned, hunt the right wind as well.

Yep, deer scents work. I do seminars and talks on deer scents and cover scents. How to use them, where to use them and why to use them. So, YES, they work, IF the hunter understands HOW to use them, WANTS to use them and knows what the responses from the deer will be. I started making Deer scents back in 1990. And the reason I started to make them was, Get ready for this reason, TO PROVE they didn't work!!!! That's right. LOL I didn't believe in deer scents back then, yet I was making baits and lures for trapping and ADC work LOL Jeff, From JR and sons said to me, (He was just getting started) after a little discussion on the phone one evening, Ron why don't you go prove what you think. Go out and do EVERYTHING you can to make a deer scent, then go and do EVERYTHING you can to make it work. (that last sentence has real meaning if the person thinks about it) He said if you do everything you can to make one, and then make it work and then, if it doesn't work, then you know you did everything you could and you can shout it from the mountain tops deer scents are a hoax and rip off, but if it works then you will have some of the best products on the market. What I learned from that was deer scent do work and how deer scents work and why they work along with when they work. The best method of scent application is dragging and is used the least by the least amount of hunters. The least successful method of application, yet used by most hunters is hanging. I won't do the whys here since I am not doing a seminar LOL The second best method of application and is being used by more hunters every year is mock scraps. I just gave the Mock scrape demo at this past FTA convention in VA. Mock scrapes can be dug in which I prefer or drippers hung which will in time produce the mock scrape as the deer paw the ground. Just like many of our sets that fresh dug dirt and scent results in attractiveness to the fur-bearing animals we target, the same is true with the deer if the scrape is in the right location and WHERE the deer wants to be. Sounds a lot like trapping doesn't it. Cover scents work indeed, but not the way most think they do. Just like many of the old-timer trappers use to use a cover scent also way back in the 70's, but they didn't think of it that way either, They would spray fox urine on the hip boots or leather boots when walking up to the set. Again sounds like deer scent and trapping scent usage have a lot in common. Matter fact my talks are titled using deer scents with a trappers mindset. here is a podcast on mock scrapes some may want to listen to https://www.talkshoe.com/episode/4727243 or https://www.talkshoe.com/show/rednecks-pride-outdoor

Lol, I sometimes smoke a cigar when sitting at a moose-calling station. Not to judge the wind so much as to discourage the bugs. I justify it by reminding myself that a lighted tobacco stick is just a burning plant. Do you all think smoke alarms deer, if only faint?

I don't rely on the smoke to check the wind because I hunt moose in a forest of rolling hills where the wind gusts a lot in different directions. Kind of like the habitat of south and east Ohio, only the trees and underbrush belonging to different species. And, in my experience, a bull moose may come in from any direction, usually not the one you're watching.

A friend of mine saves the urine from his kill, usually a bull in various stages of rut, and then puts it on his coat and hat to mask his scent.

Speaking of which, what do you do up in a deer blind when you have to urinate? Let go over the side and don't worry about the urine scent? Or pee into a plastic jug taken along for that purpose?

Jim

I am not much of a deer hunter. Love to hunt, love the meat, but with limited time I have always picked trapping. Bill Nelson's mink lure, a name that began with an A
used to get a lot of reaction from white tail deer. I bought the first of it from Nelson then Mr. Laugman (sp). I never saw the same reaction with any other lures. When used in a pocket set with a fairly low bank, I often noted visitation above the pocket. Deer sign could often be seen in the snow and in dirt where they would paw the ground.
Have not used mink lure like that in many years. Just thought I would share that experience.

Like most guys I've tried both type scents, Sometimes I THINK there's a response, but I hunt the wind so the scent near me doesn't help, The few times I've seen it work a little is to put some on a branch where I expect to see a deer from my stand as I walk in, mostly it's just to stop them for a couple extra seconds, sometimes it works. I did have a young buck track me step for step once, I had doe urine soaked pads on the soles of my boots....It's all too much trouble most of the time...for me. I'd say 99% of all the deer I've taken have been with no urine or cover scents, and I've taken a lot.,

I have a friend that can't pass a bottle , or quart , of doe urine in a shop without buying it. He spreads it around like he's irrigating a crop, He doesnt shoot any more deer then I do, lol

Let go over the side.
The only time I go into scent covers & control is when I'm targeting a big guy. The rest of the time, have at it and play the wind when able. Not everyone is hunting a 170 every day.

I hunt deer where I check my cows every other day or so. They know me and are used to me driving by on an atv. I often check my cows and shoot deer less than two hours apart. Sometimes I wear camo but generally bluejeans or carhart bibs and a warm jacket and if cold black stocking hat. I use no urine, scent, attractant other than cow pies I walk through for that reason. My stands are on location and honestly, I don't hunt the wind that often - if I have time to hunt, I hunt. We shoot nice deer every year. Every year. Spending time in the woods will teach you more about deer and patterns and give you more advantage then anything sold.

I should add - I never worry about my urine - I have filmed several nice bucks, coyotes, coons, fox, a bobcat all utilizing my mock scrapes I have made and urinated on myself. Its urine - not some special pheromone trap......

Some guys over here really swear by ozonics an O2 machine thing.

You have one over on most of us.You smell like a liberal,,so the deer wont figure you for having a gun.

Best cover scent out there is smoke Old timers use to hang hunting coats by the fire. probably 20 years ago I made smoke cover scent but nobody would buy it

I heard this years and years ago and believe it to be true:

"You can occasionally trick a Deer's eyes. You can sometimes trick a Deer's ears. But you can never, ever trick a Deer's nose."

Trump sells some really nice camo clothing.

I use scent away and spray down if im gonna be hunting in my climber which usually means close quarters stuff. I think it helps but i dont KNOW if it does anything. Its cheap enough that it doesnt hurt anything. I dont bother if im using a blind or box stand. I have tried doe in heat urine and other things like that and never had any luck with em. I do try to pay attention to the wind but where i hunt down here it could change 180 degrees a few times or wont blow at all so i find that to be mostly useless advice. When i hunted in kansas there was usually a steady breeze that wouldnt shift too far so hunting the wind was useful there. Also kansas deer are easier to get close to than alabama deer. In kansas you can climb just high enough you dont kick em in the head when they walk by and never had any problems. Down here i have to climb to the tippy top of a pine tree and shoot the first chance you get a clean shot. Even does walk out looking up in trees and wont come at least in bow range of a blind. Not during daylight anyway. I figure that is just due to pressure, our gun season is long and generous so if you look like a deer someone will shoot at you pretty quick. Heck even after about a week after rifle season the deer get nocturnal anyway.

No matter how you choose to approach deer hunting, sitting on the couch is the only sure way to NOT kill a deer. I would rather hunt a bad wind in dirty clothes after working all day than not go at all. Ive killed plenty dirty, stinky, up wind, not wearing camo. But i also will shoot a doe, in fact i prefer them. But i am not a "sport" hunter. I intend to feed my family. If i wanted to shoot a trophy i would go back to kansas or somewhere, they grow bigger and are easier to kill up there.

Native Americans did a couple of things that have some merit to them. They sat in sweat lodges and smoked their bodies before a hunt. I smoke my clothes and my body with a beehive smoker. There's a science behind the smoke. Meat is smoked to kill bacteria and smoke has a similar effect on the bacteria we produce that produces the noxious odor that repels deer.

There are a lot of guys on a hunting forum I belong to that swear by the smoke and they kill some big deer. I've been doing it for close to twenty years and I do it before every hunt. It works.

All that stuff catches more hunters than kills deer. Save your money. Play the wind and don't overhunt your spot. Most deer that are fooled are young deer. Once and a while you can fool a nice one if it's the perfect scenario, but rarely does that happen. If it worked so good, you'd see walk hangers in the backs of trucks all the time and on everyone's walls.

307 lure on a drag then I hang it .It usually always works for me .Primos scent freak with silver is good for cover scent.Lots of stuff to separate you from your money. I use what I know works for me. Here is a buck I shot today.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I see there is a typical Tman difference of opinion.lol

I think it's telling that all the outfitters I've talked to so far want their clients to use the scent control products. So far, none have mentioned the active scents like doe in estrus or buck challenge lures. Nor have they talked about smoke or fox urine. These are guys who make their living getting big bucks for their clients.

Jim

Sounds like you've been scientific about your testing, Jonesie. I'm giving your experience, test results, and opinion considerable weight.

For ignorance of better terms, I'm going to label the two types of deer scents I'm aware of: scent suppressors, which eliminate human and other scents, and lures or active scents that are supposed to attract deer. Do you think the second type is of any use in the deer blind? Can deer be drawn toward a certain spot, and if so, from what distance?

I'd like to hear more of your wisdom as to when and where to use what scent, and how to distribute or apply it. I know a moose hunter who sprays himself with moose pee, but I've never been tempted to do the same.

I think I'll try these scent removers on moose. Often when calling them, the bulls will come partway in and circle until they're down wind. Usually they stick to the thick stuff where it's difficult to make out whether their antlers meet the minimum requirement.

Jim

You would think bad guys could use the scent removers to keep police dogs from trailing them, but I'd wager that wont work very well.
Scents albeit cover or "descenting" are big business. If it gives you confidence, spend some of your $ on them and use them.
My old man used to log all day then climb a tree after work, still in his bright blue sweatshirt that stunk like sweat and chainsaw oil/gas mix. Shot a lot of deer with his old recurve. He never owned a quiver...he had two wooden clothes pins taped to face of his bow to hold a couple arrows. Yep, only two arrows, and rarely did he ever get to shoot the second one either. I know it wasnt safe but he kept hunting so simple. He said key was dont move, get up high, and be on right side of the wind. He felt movement and sound got picked up way more frequently than odors by deer.
Skunk and fox pee were sold to a lot of deer hunters over the years as cover scents.
Camo, plastic antlers to bang together, calls, grunts, range finders, little bottles of dust to check the wind, cameras, and the list goes on and on and on and on....geez we buy a lot of crap to hunt with these days.
Going into cabelas or other outdoor shops and the selections are mind boggling for scents and scent removers.
If nothing else it's good to see so much interest in the outdoors and lots of small businesses going that sell the stuff. So, I guess support them if nothing else.
Jim

I have had good results with a product called hair raiser from fox hollow. It is available on MTP's website. I saw 307 mentioned above and have had them come in to it many times as well. I dont use doe-n-heat urine anymore because of another thing mentioned above, spooky old does.

Ditto^^^
. same here. if you have your own land. i keep about the same amount and ready for wind, change of the deer patterns and rut.
Ladder stands are so cheap and easily movable to boot!

Nice rack, looks like a young deer though. Hard to fool a 4 1/2 and older with scents. Congrats. That's a nice buck.

I don't buy cover scents or scent elimination products. But I do try to keep my body and my hunting clothes clean and relatively free of human odor. I think just keeping my hunting clothes washed regularly to reduce the number of skin cells and hair follicles on it is the best odor reduction effort.

I do believe in the effectiveness of Lip Licker Deer Lure from Hoosier Trapper Supply. It can sometimes bring a nearby deer close enough to get a shot at them. I've had friends who use it say it works very well also. Not a miracle product - but it does attract deer who aren't otherwise more occupied or interested in something else.

James your setting me up to get lynched LOL

Types of deer scents? What I think doesn't make it right. Sex, curiosity, territory, aggressive or intimidating, social, calming. We can break them down even more but won't LOL I believe all are attractants and will pull deer into a spot. The exception would be calming, and even a calming agent can and will be attractive in different ways depending on why and how it is used. example Doe non-estrus urine or even young buck non-rut urine can and will calm a slightly nervous deer down when misted. (hard nervous or spooked deer they be gone at the first hint of anything negative). (Note I have seen the same deer come in and spook inside out, to see 2 hours later, it come back in the same spot as if there was nothing wrong. ) Yet that those same products can pull a deer a few feet to the source if applied in concentration to say a felt or pad or freshly dug dirt. Way back in the early 90's I use to make a dog breaking scent that used urine, deer hair, deer duff, and other things for mainly breaking dogs running deer. ( take a positive scent place it on a negative like a rat snap trap and the dog learned to not think of it positive) This product also calmed deer down as long as I didn't use aggressive or dominate buck odors. and would scare the heck out of young buck and doe if I used those odors. Yet those odors created a better dog breaking scent LOL Again back in those days no one believed in the deer calming agents like they do today.

The distance that a good deer scent will pull varies with wind and obstacles, the mood of deer, alertness, and aggressiveness of the deer and or how horny is the deer at that moment LOL

with a steady 5 to 10 mph wind in an open field, the scent will go farther as a concentrated cone, where that same wind inside a woods with the big trees the concentration of the cone will disperse and become weakened. I plan on 30 to 50 yards as a norm but sometimes can reach out farther. We must remember the deer may smell it way out but will it have the amount of pull to entice the deer to investigate and the deer's mindset will control that.

For me, I have found that training the deer that there is a spot where the scent is and creating the desire for the deer to go there, has better results than just throwing the scent out on the wind and let the wind take it to who knows where.

Trying not to go into lecture mode LOL If I am still alive later I will reply with my thoughts on human odor and cover scents LOL that should finish the gallows and put the rope on my neck LOL

Once in kansas i had a little 3 point come in directly under my climber. He kept milling around and i really wanted him to just move on. I had a pinch of mint skoal so I decided to see if i could spit right on top of his head. Well i kept missing him. When the spit would hit the ground he would jump a bit and look around and then investigate what hit the ground and he started licking up that mint skoal, even to chewing on the fallen leaves it landed on. He kept at that for a good 20 min. It was fun as nothing else was around at the time. SO there might be something to mint smell they are attracted to for sure. I highly doubt a mature buck would have tolerated wads of mint spit falling around his head though. That little buck walked right down the path i walked in on and left directly down wind of me and never smelled me or at least reacted to a scent negatively. I was high as i could be in that tree though. When in doubt I do believe getting as high up as possible will prevent getting busted even in a bad wind. I like to be 20ft or higher if possible. My rope i use to pull up my bow is about 25-30 ft long so i used that as a judge to know when to stop climbing.

I hunt the wind but I do rub sage brush leaves on to my hunting cloths. I also store my hunting cloths in a plastic bag that has sage branches in it for smell.

I beleive it works for me and have seen where in swirling winds in rough country it has made a difference. I don't hunt whitetail but a few times in my life even though I could hunt them all the time if I wanted. The sage might not work for them (whitetail) but elk and mule it does work for me to a degree.

I bow hunt everything so human scent is a big deal and I always use the wind to my advantage.

Ok who sees another arrow sticking in the shoulder ??? O r is the arrow just lying on top of it ??????? OOOOHHHHHHHHHH spooky

Ole timer once said if your hunting deer where cattle are find a good soupy cow pile and splash around in it. Best cover sent you can get......

Spoken like a true scent and lure salesman !!!!!!

Best calming agent is a 270 130 gr thru the shoulder. Most if not all are real still in about 30-45 seconds.......

i hunt right across the little river from the local sewer plant.

I listen when Jonesie shares. I wouldn't be surprised if he's done more testing than everyone on this topic put together. Testing not just theorizing based of a few perceived experienced. I see alot of theories based of a few experiences on this site but true testing seems more random with more than deer scents.

Huntingbeast.com. Dan Infalt uses no scents or covers. Has shot many Pope & Young class deer on high pressured public land. Many of the subscribers are the same and shoot nice deer year after year. Read the threads, watch his videos (the ones he's sells are cheap and priceless) Proof is in the results.

I use the scent killing laundry detergent to get rid of odors in the washing machine. Hang clothes to dry outside and between hunts. Tinks doe in heat during rut has been popular at our camp. Probably sitting still in the tree is more important than anything......

Would a pile of vomit with a slight tinge of mint Skoal mixed in work? I chew Red Man, but Skoal does me in. I do know that squirrels will girdle the limbs everywhere I spit Red Man.

LOL I think the noise of you puking your guts up from the top of a tree just might ruin the hunt by itself. Need to man up and swaller that baccer spit like a man. Keeps you from getting worms and all. Im a copenhagen long cut straight man after trying quite a bit of it all. My spit bottle is just for spitting out the dip when im done. Juice gets swallered. LOL sissies!!!

Lot of guys used to hang their hunting coat out in the cow barn.

Me and 5 other guys hunt in Illinois together and I'm the only one the dips( Copenhagen) and seems I get winded less than anyone. They are convinced it's the Copenhagen. Lol

A couple primo cigars, a good book, and I'm good to sit in a blind all day.

When I hear antlers scraping in the brush, I'll put the book away and jump into hunting mode.

Jim

Hunt the wind. If the wind is with you then none of the other stuff matter.

I always sit on the ground for several reasons.
Once while sitting on the edge of a farm field with the wind blowing from me out into the field I had a doe and 2 fawns walking across the field. As soon as they hit direct downwind of me the Doe stopped. whipped her head right at me, snorted and took off with her fawns the way she came.
About 15 minutes later they were back, same thing happened except this time she looked in my direction and turned around and just walked back to where she came and the fawns reluctantly followed.
A while later they came back again, this time when they hit my scent, they just trotted straight ahead and ignored my scent.
Must of really wanted to get where they were headed. Maybe it wasn't the same 3 deer either, couldn't really say for sure. At any rate I saw 3 different reactions 3 different times to my scent.

I hunted with a guy who would build a decent sized fire in the woods while hunting.
You'd think all the noise of the fire, the movement of the flames and the smoke would have a negative effect on the deer. Not to mention his occasional movements to tend the fire.
Over several years period that I hunted with him he shot more deer than the rest of us.
It gave him something to do and kept him warm so he could stay in the woods longer than the rest of us, maybe that's why he shot more deer, or maybe it was the fire who knows.
He claimed that almost all the deer he shot were all standing looking right at him and the fire.
Maybe the smoke covered his scent, maybe the deer are curious about fire.
I don't know, it worked for him.

I think that deer that are in areas where there is frequent human activity get used to it.
The scent of humans doesn't bother them as much as one that rarely run across humans.

I run across deer all the time when I'm working in the woods. Usually I see them while I'm moving around on a tractor. Deer have no fear of a man on a tractor in my woods. I usually stop or slow down when I see them.
Then I just watch them for awhile. I have stopped and turned off the tractor and gotten off the tractor and waved my arms and yelled at them and they still would stand staring at me for a while before they'd take off. If I just stay on the tractor they will avoid the tractor but they won't run from it. Maybe the diesel exhaust covers my smell.

I know a farmer that keeps a gun in his tractor during the season. He says you'd be surprised how close you can get to deer while harvesting corn. They aren't afraid of the machinery.


I know of a woman that feeds the deer. They come running when she walks out of the house. She can touch them. These are wild deer in areas that they are frequently hunted.
My buddy put on her coat and hat and went out to feed the deer to see if they'd come out. He was approx. the same size and with the hat and the coat he shuffled along like she does. Yet no deer came out till he went inside the house. I'm convinced that deer can tell one human from another.
Maybe they also use scent to tell one from another.

I could kill deer buck naked rolled in diesel fuel and probably even a respectable buck if I hunted hard enough but that doesn't make it the best, easiest or my chosen way to do it. How I hunt pressured deer is also different than how I hunt deer that dont know they are being hunted.

No scents is the best sense.

Goes the same for trapping also right

I wish deer didnt response to scent, it would make trapping around them a lot easier.

Ya just can't beat good' ol woodsmanship, wether it be trapping or hunting.

I would completely agree . You can take a lot of animals under alot of different conditions with woodsmanship.

No, order eliminators do not work. They’ve fooled a lot of hunters though. Natural deer scents are very effective when used at mock scrapes.

Since baiting is banned in Michigan this year I just carry a pocket full of apples around with me. Only says I can't feed them to deer, doesn't say I can't carry them....

Set out some Tink's 69 along a trail where you want them to stop in sight of your stand.

About 5 feet off the ground.

Sharpen your field dressing knife, and get ready to CHOOT!!!!

w

Most of the time I think its best to pay close attention to the wind, put yourself in a funnel area where deer are most likely to travel, and it's best if the hear, smell, and see nothing except what is there everyday.

I sometimes use a small amount of scent to stop them for a close bow shot in one of my shooting lanes, but I think the ability of a scent to draw deer in is mostly overrated.

Agree. The exception would be a mock scrape that gets visited over and over before and during season.