Scent Recommendations?

[Beagle1]

In my younger days I often used synthetic and natural rut scents and had success with both. Some deer literally came in like they were on a string. I ran a scent line once that went 90 degrees down to my stand and had a buck follow it right to me. But I don’t use scents anymore and kill as many big bucks now. I also use to spray down before every hunt with scent elimination sprays but don’t bother with them anymore and haven’t seen any difference in my success rate.

I agree with the poster who said to hunt travel lanes near doe groups during the rut. That’s where the action will be with or without scents.

One thing I do think is worth setting up are licking vines. Easier than messing with scents and they are visited all season.

Also on human scent. You can get away with some human scent hitting a buck that is hot on a doe but you never know how much will make him bolt. Human scent hitting a buck’s nose is never a good percentage play as bucks will react differently to human scent concentrations. Then factor in wind swirls you can’t detect moving your scent around and it becomes more of a crapshoot.

 

[AlwaysChasinTailNHorns]

What you say make a lot of since, especially this part.
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“the past 6 years has it resulted in a great buck being harvested because they made the conscious decision that the smell of the hot doe during the rut is more important than whatever human scent they’re smelling and come in to check it out”
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Thank you, for taking the time to help me understand why human scent, is not a problem, when a buck is looking for a hot doe.

Tom

Your human scent matters I never said that it doesn’t but some not all bucks but SOME will make a bad decision and choose to ignore foreign scents to come in to hot doe scents during the rut…its not a bizarre statement to say guys have killed bucks coming from down wind. Those deer coming from downwind know you’re there but the ones who don’t decide to blow out and decide to stay on their path of travel into your kill range happens, it’s a bad decision on their part I was just simply saying that I’d rather have a hot doe scent blowing downwind along with my human scent than just my human scent because you can possibly get a buck to make a bad choice to come in anyways and check it out when they are in breeding mode and make mistakes…

 

[Honyock]

Are you bow hunting or rifle hunting? If you're rifle hunting, try putting it a ways from your stand in the direction from where you think they'll be coming from. Maybe they will pick the scent up before they smell you. I guess I'm old school, but I try not to hunt in the direction downwind of me. I've seen deer wind me 300+ yards away.

 

[rcb2000]

Paul Pollicks stuff is good

 

[The_Dinkmaster]

Don't waste your money. I hunt the Appalachians and if you logically think about it, if you are using scent on stand and are trying to attract a buck based on that scent, well guess what else is going that way? Your scent. Just find core doe groups and hunt them. The bucks will come.

I understand your logic here, but I disagree. If you put the scent at your stand, yes what you’re saying is true. But if you hunt above a known deer travel lane or deer trail in the morning (with thermals rising) and put the scent diffuser ON the trail, a deer walking in that trail or crossing that trail perpendicularly may catch that scent downwind and NOT smell me because of the thermals.

I’m like @AlwaysChasinTailNHorns…I’d rather have a buck that’s going to smell me ALSO smell a hot doe bc he may make a stupid mistake. It might not work most of the time but it’s just moving the odds ever so slightly in your favor

 

[The_Dinkmaster]

Are you bow hunting or rifle hunting? If you're rifle hunting, try putting it a ways from your stand in the direction from where you think they'll be coming from. Maybe they will pick the scent up before they smell you. I guess I'm old school, but I try not to hunt in the direction downwind of me. I've seen deer wind me 300+ yards away.

Yeah I always try to hunt in a spot where wind will be in my face. But a lot of times in the mountains with thermals and light and variable winds you will have some swirling winds and Im thinking adding a good, fresh estrus scent could tip the odds in my favor.

I don’t believe in the crappy Walmart synthetic scents though, which is what prompted this thread. I’m looking for good, legit, real scents. I’ve seen bucks do some stupid stuff and completely ignore humans and danger chasing a hot doe. It’s not crazy to think a good fresh scent might bring one in that otherwise wouldn’t come