Scent non sense???
Whitetail Deer
As some of you may have surmised, after I got tired of messing with mock scrapes and rubs, I turned my attention to scents. For the second year, I have been experimenting with something. I was curious as to what scents spooked deer and what scents actually made them curious.
In that vein, I had a guy make me up some various scented soaps. We tried everything from honeysuckle to blackberry. Guess what peaked their curiosity the most? Lemongrass and sage.
Yesterday afternoon, in a light mist, I walked through the woods and around my stand twice. Then, in a natural ground blind. It was hot, humid and almost no breeze. Should have been ideal for a deer to smell me. At 6:45, I had three bucks from spike to eight, two does with fawns and one dry, 18-month old doe around me. By around, I mean 360-degrees and within 30-yards. The dry doe, I shot. The others never went over 10-yards before they went back to eating red oak acorns.
I have no doubt…ever single deer smelled me. At some point, every one of them, “pointed” me. They must like lemongrass..whatever that is.
Lemongrass Venison and Vermicelli Salad
I have always used sage for my cover scent. I go cut some boil it and spray it. Or I cut some put it in an unscented black trash bag with my clothes and let it bake in the sun.
I use normal unscented soap then cover up with sage.
coelker-see, that is some of what confuses me. There is no sage within 500-miles of here, maybe more and I don't know what lemongrass is.
Lemon Grass is listed as one of the most efficient natural insect repellents.
Bowriter,
Maybe that doesn't matter. Maybe the smell is just soothing to a deer? Something to consider. I don't think all scents are alarming to a deer, they probably smell different odors all the time. Just guessing:)
Scar Finger-you are dead on. I knew that going in. I know some scents attract deer out of curiosity, even though they have never smelled them and I knew some scents repelled them. Keep in mind, this is not about a cover scent. I am really enjoying this "little project". I had become a tad bored with scrape and rubs. Besides, this one keeps my wife saying, "What is that I smell?" One of the things that really surprised me was an almost total ignoring of natural foods they prefer, such as acorn and honey suckle. And then, a real curiosity with Irish Spring. Go figure.
So Febreeze makes a Sage and Lemongrass spray...perhaps that would work?
Bowriter, so what's your take on stuff like nosejammer and evercalm? I used evercalm last season and it's the first time I have never been winded on stand. I do play the wind religiously but I was even shocked by a bunch of encounters where the deer walked around my trees.
Trollwriter? Are u pulling a tbm?
Moose, if he is, u can assume he's trollin with a cane pole. He aint usin' one of them newfangled baitcastin' reels... Just thought i would mention
Xman, have no take, never used either, have no idea what they are. Moosenelson???tbm???
I got started doing this, as I said because I got bored with mock rubs and scrapes and a couple of us were discussing the oddities of deer hunting and stupid things we do. One of them being, using skunk scent for cover scent...back in the day. I made the remark, we have no idea what a deer finds curious and what spooks them and some smart alec said, "You are the researcher, why don't you find out." Then, I met this guy who made soap and that got me going. I have a somewhat test herd in the backyard and I try stuff on them first, then go to the woods with it. Here is an example. Peanut butter and vanilla have long been two major curiosity scents. Both will attract deer...and every kind of insect known to man. Obviously, a deer cannot know what either is. So, what else is out there that does the same? And what is out there that we may be using, that spooks them. Having reached the point in my life that killing something is no big deal, I don't get all bent out of shape if I spook deer. IN fact, sometimes, I do so on purpose. I shoot a tremendous amount of pictures and only hunt when I feel like it and the weather is right. It is right now, 2:01 AM, 52 degrees and in four hours, I will be on a hardwood ridge, watching dawn creep in, talking with God and trying out a new bar of soap. If I get a shot at a dry doe, I may or may not take it. That is how I hunt these days. I don't believe I have ever enjoyed it more. In a couple weeks, I'll be sitting over a horizontal rub, I am still fooling with. (Almost as much fun as grandkids).
I am 70 years old and want to learn more about bow hunting. Mostly a gun hunter, but am serious about learning to bow hunt. I have hunted a 90 acre tract for 20 years and have killed over a hundred deer in that time frame. Farmers around me hunt thousands of acres and kill only a few. I use Jackies deer " triple heat". I hunt in heavy brush and soak urine in sheepskin strips purchased from James Valley Scents. Far more does respond to it than bucks. Seems to work best in real cold weather or heavy fog. I buy 1 gal container for $100 and sell 2 quarts to hunter friends. I have tried most other urines, including James Valley, with little luck. I get on " Jackies hot list" and buy only the urine from fresh does in heat, therefore the urine is only a few days old when it is shipped. I can only say that Jackies is the greatest thing since a Hershey Bar. I hunt in middle Ga. and I can only get deer to respond to Jackies from Nov 3 thru Nov 28. Never had any luck before or after those dates. If anyone has had better luck with any other scents, I would like to hear about it.
I am 70 years old and want to learn more about bow hunting. Mostly a gun hunter, but am serious about learning to bow hunt. I have hunted a 90 acre tract for 20 years and have killed over a hundred deer in that time frame. Farmers around me hunt thousands of acres and kill only a few. I use Jackies deer " triple heat". I hunt in heavy brush and soak urine in sheepskin strips purchased from James Valley Scents. Far more does respond to it than bucks. Seems to work best in real cold weather or heavy fog. I buy 1 gal container for $100 and sell 2 quarts to hunter friends. I have tried most other urines, including James Valley, with little luck. I get on " Jackies hot list" and buy only the urine from fresh does in heat, therefore the urine is only a few days old when it is shipped. I can only say that Jackies is the greatest thing since a Hershey Bar. I hunt in middle Ga. and I can only get deer to respond to Jackies from Nov 3 thru Nov 28. Never had any luck before or after those dates. If anyone has had better luck with any other scents, I would like to hear about it.
I am 70 years old and want to learn more about bow hunting. Mostly a gun hunter, but am serious about learning to bow hunt. I have hunted a 90 acre tract for 20 years and have killed over a hundred deer in that time frame. Farmers around me hunt thousands of acres and kill only a few. I use Jackies deer " triple heat". I hunt in heavy brush and soak urine in sheepskin strips purchased from James Valley Scents. Far more does respond to it than bucks. Seems to work best in real cold weather or heavy fog. I buy 1 gal container for $100 and sell 2 quarts to hunter friends. I have tried most other urines, including James Valley, with little luck. I get on " Jackies hot list" and buy only the urine from fresh does in heat, therefore the urine is only a few days old when it is shipped. I can only say that Jackies is the greatest thing since a Hershey Bar. I hunt in middle Ga. and I can only get deer to respond to Jackies from Nov 3 thru Nov 28. Never had any luck before or after those dates. If anyone has had better luck with any other scents, I would like to hear about it.
