"Scents, Science,
          and Deer Hunting Success"

by Joe Byers

Chemistry is constantly producing new scent lure innovations.
Here are several that can fill your freezer.

by
Joe Byers

      Mike Beatty’s Xenia Ohio whitetail rocked the deer-hunting world. Scoring more than 300 B&C points, the 11 ½ pounds of bone on the buck’s head make it the biggest buck ever taken by a hunter and number three of all time. Just as exciting for the rest of us, this deer was an unknown, unseen by anyone. The monstrosity came to a combination of scents and calling, tactics that improve each year through scientific research and development. If there’s an even bigger buck in your neck of the woods, here are the newest ways to outfox it.

      The Beatty Buck was shot while sniffing a cotton scent bomb laced with Tinks 69 buck lure. The scent isn’t new, yet the application can be. “We get letters from Canada to Texas, to Florida,” said Terry Rohm, Marketing Director for Wellington Outdoors. “With the addition of Scent-Lok suits, hunters want scents to be more compact and to last longer. We came out with Tink’s 69 as a solid, like a deodorant stick… but not for personal hygiene,” he said, grimacing at the insinuation. “The stick form makes it easy to lay down a scent trail by rubbing scent on the bottoms of your boots. Also, I have climbed into a stand in the dark and, when daylight arrives; I wished I’d had a bit of scent in a particular place to stop a deer. I can break off a chunk of solid and toss it over there.”Mock Scrape ScoutingMost hunters don’t equate scouting with scents, yet several accomplished hunters let the deer “tell” them where to hunt. They establish mock scrapes in promising hunting spots, then revisit them noting activity.

      Eddie Salter, perhaps the nation’s best “deer-scouter” employs a similar technique. “I use it as a feeler,” says Salter, a pro staffer with Hunter Specialties. “I make a number of mock scrapes with Magic Scrape, then come back a day or so later and check for action. When I find the whole place has been torn up, I know it’s time to hang a stand. Like the Tink’s powder, the Magic Scrape set-up keeps the scent above the ground increasing scent attraction and longevity. “It will be there for three or four days. You don’t have to freshen it up,” says Salter. He believes these techniques work best in the pre-rut and post-rut, since a big buck’s travels are very unpredictable during active breeding. Hold ‘Em and Hunt ‘Em“I used to buy 15 bottles of buck lure a year, yet a lot of time animals would hit the scent and ignore it,” says Mark Weiser, President of MDR Outdoors. “Our product is granulated so that it works for days instead of hours and it won’t freeze or dissolve quickly. I set up a stand and then treat the ground with MDR shaking it from the palm-size canister. I walk along a trail, shaking the lure on the ground four or five feet from my steps leading past my stand.”

      The lure will hold bucks in the area and they begin to bed nearby and check the scent for a hot doe and scrapes get torn to shreds by the scent stimulated animals. “Once an animal is in that state you have to hunt it,” says Weiser,” but you must be careful. Sneak into your stand and use light grunting and rattling. Don’t be surprised if that big boy come in all bristled up. If you already have a favorite liquid scent, give MDR’s 24-Seven Unscented Granules a try. “24-Seven Unscented works well with any liquid lure,” says Weiser, and it will make your liquid lure of choice last longer and work better. Granules are weatherproof whereas liquid lure disappears in an hour or so. Use a ½ ounce bottle of your favorite lure flavor; pour it inside our shaker bottle where it will be absorbed by the 24-Seven granules, locking in the scent in about 15 minutes.”

      Now here is where the good news begins. As you know we leave a human scent trail wherever we walk or stand. That’s why deer often stop and spook when they come across our trail. This is especially true when only an hour or two has elapsed before the deer encounters our path. The 24- Seven the granules will keep the deer lure captured and time release it over 7 days. That means that you don’t have to juice up a scrape and climb into your stand and hope the buck doesn’t pick up your human scent at the scrape. Now you can set up that scrape days earlier and hunt it without walking over to the scrape to re-up it. It is the best strategy you could hope for.

     Mark had another great idea when it comes to stopping a deer where you want him to stop. Weiser doesn’t like to use a grunt call to stop a deer because it puts the animal at full alert. Instead, he puts a small amount of 24-Seven at critical points in his shooting lane, stopping the deer without alarm. As you know, a curious smell is as effective in halting a deer as a whistle. Think of 24-Seven as a quiet whistle or grunt.
The new world record buck may be hiding hear your stand. Rutting activity is every buck’s Achilles’ heel and exploiting it is the best way to bring him into range. Some time-released scent granules may be just the ticket. Your pounding heart and trembling hands are another matter.
www.24sevenscents.com