HS scent wafers work???
Whitetail Deer
Do these plastic scent wafers work at all. Any feedback would be good. Sure cheaper than liquids.
'Bou,
1. I had 2 cow elk scent wafers... one on my hat and one on my pant leg. I was standing in plain sight, caught off-guard after answering nature's call at about 7:30 am a few years ago in Colorado,by two raggy bull elk, and the scent wafers kept them within 35 or 40 yards for several minutes before they finally lost interest and calmly wandered off. They could see me for what I was, standing and hiding behind my longbow, but the scent held their interest, especially the slightly older 5 point.
2. Back in the 1980's in Pennsylvania, I ran a test on HS Scents Fresh Earth wafers behing our house in the whitetail woods. I hung 3 of the wafers on a long low-hanging branch on a downed tree right next to me. I was leaning up against a tree and the wafers were next to my head waist and legs, on my downwind side. Right before dark, I heard a buck walkin behind me along the trail that was just to my right/upwind side. I didn't move and he walked right by me down the hill, turned left and crossed a dry creek bed to my left. He turnes and walked back toward me and my scent path, just 15 yards away on the other side of the creek bed. As soon as he got into my scent path, he bolted like he'd been poked with a sharp stick. He ran 70 yards and stopped, looking back to see what it was that spooked him.
There you have it. The elk were in the rut but the rut was not quite yet very rutty. I now use no-scent sprays for everything except bow season elk hunts. My opinion is the cover scents don't really work magic but the sex attractant scents do have an effect on rutty males. But, what do I know? :)
There ya have it.
Tim
"but the buck was not quite very rutty"
Sorry for the sloppy post. I have glaucoma and cannot see this little white box for beans. :)
I think the earth ones are way too potent. It may be coincidence, but a season I wore them I had more deer scent me and at further distances then I ever experienced. Don't waste your money, another gimmick IMO.
I agree that the earth scent ones have only spooked deer for me. I have had success with the rut wafers but again when conditions are right most rut lures will work when the right deer comes along. Shawn
Nothing will beat a deer's nose that your nose will be able to stand, like skunk scent for example. Best way I seen them work was to place them in a big Ziploc with your hunting clothes, but if you think you can get upwind of a deer because your clothes smell like a pine tree, be prepared to see a lot of white flags running away from you! Play the wind and only wash your hunting clothes in UV brightener free clothes wash!
The best scent is no scent and know your wind.
meatus, I agree but more times than not, the wind is changing/swirling on me.
People act like its so easy to just "hunt the wind", and for some, maybe it is. For me, the wind is rarely that predictable.
I agree with Knife2sharp, the Earth Scent is very strong right out of the container. When I open one, I will hang one a cabinet where put my boots and then after a few days I pin it to my hat. Never had any issues spooking deer, that I solely attribute to the wafers. But I also wear Scent-Loc and hunt the wind. T
Field and Stream has been doing some great tests using tracking dogs and various scents/no-scents/scent suits. Really interesting results. Not sure how this relates to deer, but with tracking dogs the no-scent spray is basically worthless for covering the tracks of humans vs. not spraying anything on below the waist, Scent-Loc type clothes had no effect (which we already knew from the successful lawsuit evidence), and cover scents pretty much the same.
They haven't tested Nose Jammer or concentrated vanillin yet, but in my 44 years of bowhunting that is the only thing that does seem to have some effect on game with scent recognition of humans.
I'm betting chlorophyll works about as well as sugar pills. :) It does nothing to control the billions of bacteria on the outside of our skin that produce gas 24/7.
But hey, if somebody believes in something, confidence and positive thinking never hurts.
I used the wafers for several years. I used the rut scent during November. I did not use them to cover my scent, but to distract deer for a shot. I hung them just downwind from where I hoped to position a deer for a shot. I never had a negative reaction. One doe actually took the wafer and chewed on it for three or four minutes.
Not sure where the thought that these were being inquired about as cover scent came through. was looking at it as an attractant. I fully believe deer will always smell us downwind. they won't always care, but they will always know.
doe the wafer work as attractants in the rut (buckrut and doe estrous varieties)
They absolutely work Bou.
I threw away those bottles of stale piss 20 years ago and went to the HS wafers. Best scent on the market IMO.
They work, and they last a VERY long time. Handy, no spills, clip it to a tree and yer golden.
Yes, they work if you want to smell like a fresh dirt clod. No, they don't cover your scent. I've had deer within spitting distance with no cover scent on at all.
Again, Bou is not talking about cover scent. He's talking about attractants.
Ttt.
Worth it if you buy a case at a time! Make sure you check for the expiration date.
Love the earth scents and use them all the time. This year I bought the estrus ones and am going to try them with my decoy.
"People act like its so easy to just 'hunt the wind', and for some, maybe it is. For me, the wind is rarely that predictable."
Amen to that! This fall in the WY mountains the wind changed direction every 20 seconds!
Bou, I have had success with them in Maine. It has been on mostly 1.5 y.o. bucks and does. I had a fork horn 200+ yards down wind one time, I opened that canister an shortly there after he put his head in the air and walked into 12 yards.
They hold there scent a long time. I have had some for 7+ years that still stink
