The first weekend of the season found me nestled against a tall tree, overlooking a red-hot trail that led from crop fields to a remote bedding area. The wind was right, the weather clear, and everything seemed perfect for a buck or fat doe. Just to be sure, I sprinkled a small amount of doe-in-heat scent in a shooting lane to make sure the deer stopped for a high-percentage shot.
The first rays of sunlight were just piercing the slightly-turning leaves when a trio of deer stepped into sight, traveling the trail right toward my stand. A very mature doe led the group and I focused on her vitals and tensed my arm to draw the bow when suddenly she snorted and whirled like a shot from a cannon. The doe-in-heat scent that had worked wonders during the rut was foreign in early season and spooked that deer and others that followed. The message? Timing matters.
Early Season Scents
As I learned, estrous scents will often spook deer prior to the breeding season because they are unnatural in the deer woods, yet that doesn’t mean scents can’t work for you. Take a page from the trapper’s handbook or watch a housecat when it goes outside. Foxes, coyotes, cats, and deer can’t resist smelling the scent of another male of its species. Mossy Oak just introduced a series of aerosol deer attractants under the HAZE brand that works well in this situation. Available in three scents, the “buck” scent emulates the aroma of another buck in the area, which means that passing bucks will surely stop and sniff the scent. This makes it perfect for stopping a deer in your shooting lane for the highest-percentage shot. Locate a fresh rub line, hang a stand (quickly), and get ready for action. A buck is traveling that route, and a whiff of a competitor in its area will bring it on.
Rut Scents
Depending on the mating season in your area, begin using estrous scents about two weeks prior to peak rut. Does may still become alert and possibly spook at the smell, yet bucks aren’t traveling with does at this time, and you want to grab the attention of that roaming dominant buck.
One prime way of luring a buck to your stand is to spray the bottom of your hunting boots before heading in. This will lay down a scent trail, which may cause a to follow you right into range. Secondly, make a mock scrape in a shooting lane and spray the ground, an option that’s sure to give you an excellent shot. Finally, spray the mist in the air every 20 minutes or so to allow the scent molecules to float on the wind. A buck detecting the estrous scent will often lip-curl and seek out the source. Rattling and grunt-calling also ups your odds for success at this exciting time of the hunt.
Late Season
Doe urine is the third HAZE aerosol scent. It can be effective at any time of the year and will help calm does that are edgy after weeks of firearm season. Any does that were not bred during the rut will cycle again a month later, and many yearling fawns breed late in their first season. For these reasons, bucks will be interested in does, just not with the intensity demonstrated during the main rut. Doe urine also makes a great cover scent and you can use the same boot-marking trick you used with estrous lure.
Look for HAZE at Walmart and other popular hunting outlets. You can use it selectively so that the whole can isn’t consumed at once; the spray nozzle allows for precise application. Scents work best when used at the proper time, and HAZE has the calendar covered. Good luck — and buckle up in that stand!
For more information, check addictionattractants.com
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