Conference vmsnet::hunting$note:hunting

    I use apple scent. Yesturday I had a doe come out of the brush onto
    a logging road, walk by the place that i had dropped some then
    stand braodside to me at 20 yrds. I don't know If the scent attracted
    the doe but it did'nt scent me so I'd say it worked. 
    
    Rick Egan

    Were you hunting around apple trees?  
    
    Jeff

    No, lots of oaks.
    
    Rick

    Before I use any scents, I collect a couple of bags full of leaves
    from the area I hunt.
    
    I use an earth scent very heavily applied to my hat and pants, and
    also to strips of cloth that I drag from my the bottom of my pants
    to cover my trail (doe-in-heat if later in the season)
    
    I also use Tinks doe-in-heat scent, but I do something different.
    If I'm hunting from a stand, I'll stick strips of gauze doused with
    doe-in-heat in the crotch of low branches or bushes in various points
    on my perimeter.  I've had deer approach from down wind, so I guess
    it works.
    
    Every deer I have ever shot at was within 30 yards, without any
    hint of my presence, so I'm a firm believer in scents.
    
    Mark.

    Another idea is to use pine needles (or any evergreen I guess),
    crush them and rub them on your clothes.  This works well if you
    are hunting where there are evergreens in abundance.
    
    Good luck, 		Keith R>

    Well, this isn't my story, but will pass it along anyway.
    
    Opening day of NH deer season (gun) I went to Antrim NH with a hunting
    buddy.  He put doe-in-heat scent on 3 cotton balls and distributed
    them in front of his tree stand.  About 3:00 in the afternoon he
    saw a huge "deer" moving deep in the woods.  It turned out to be
    a big black bear.  It sniffed and pawed at each of the sent bombs.
    He spent about 20 minutes not more than 25 yards from his stand.
    
    Mark,
    

    When I used scents I found it real hard to see deer. Abotu 5 years
    ago I stopped using scents and have been seeing deer ever since.
    I myself don't like them just for the success that I have had with
    out them. I have never shot a deer using them. I tried fox, skunk,
    doe in heat and other assorted scents. I personally don't think
    they work very well. I have taken five deer without scents and zero
    with. Have you ever gotten a good whiff of the stuff? Very strong.
    I would think that a deer with it's excellent sniffer might detect
    this but the way they act during the rut may not matter either way.
    Just my personal opinion.
    							Bret

    Cover scents
    
    The first year I bow hunted in Vermont, I used apple scent on my
    boots, even though my afternoon stand was in a pine forest. I did
    have a doe follow the foot trail and spend a long time directly
    under me, even smelling my tree steps. Unfortunately I wanted the
    doe she was with. My brother in law got her. I think they help
    
    Body/clothes stink
    
    I think you can do more to help yourself if you are careful with
    your hunting clothes. I run an empty load of laundry with baking
    soda, then wash my clothes with baking soda, then hang them out to 
    dry. Of course, avoid smoke, bacon etc. Alot of guys also carry 
    their clothes for a hunting trip in a trash bag with either some 
    cover scent or pine boughs.

    Guy

      To reiterate what Bret said.  I always wondered that if a deers
    sniffer is as good as it is reported to be, why he would be attracted
    to something that stinks to high heaven.  My wife won't even let
    me store my best hunting hat in the closet, it goes into a ziplock
    bag and down into the cellar!  
    
    Jeff

    Yea Brian, my wife laughs whenever she thinks of me squirting doe
    pee on my clothes.  How do they teach them to pee into a bottle?
    
    Jeff

    re.11 I'd tend to agree with you more during gun hunting than bow
    hunting. Gun season tends to create more of a situation which is
    unnatural in the woods. More hunters for deer to see smell and hear
    and bump into into and run away from! Kinda like the lottery sometimes,
    right plac right time.
    
    Yet while bowhunting it often takes quite a long time for deer to
    get to a spot where a shot is feasible. More help fooling them the
    better! Are you 3-4 with gun or bow? I'd like more support for my
    theory. 

    I do not use these scents but I am not against them. I think there
    are at least two things that we talked about that have no value.
    
    One is that if this stuff stinks so bad that why would a deer
    with its  powerful noise be attracted to it.
    
    What I want to address is what we find repulsive is not repulsive
    to animals. As a matter of fact I don't think they define
    it the same way we do. I think they reconize it and that is all.
    
    For instance come home from a long day and take your
    sneakers off and put them next to the cat or dog that is taking
    a nap. It will not move because of the repulsive smell.
    As an experiment I have laid my socks right next to these
    with out any expression or acckoldegment of it even happening.
    I asked my self why?
    
    When was the last time you observed an animal throw up or even gag
    because it smelled something repulsive.
    
    just watch your dog, They seem to like "STINK"
    
    And the second thing is that an animal with a any kind of noise
    can smell two oders at the sametime.
    
    If you are wearing a cover type scent like fox or skunk
    it is still concievable that the deer will smell both
    you and the cover up oder. They can decifer both smells
    simultaneously.
    
    You walk into your house and your wife has a turkey cooking
    and your uncle is over visiting for the holidays.
    
    You can smell both the food and the cigarettes that were smoked
    the minute you step in the room. One smell is pleasant and the other
    you find repulsive or at least uncomfortable.
    
    Or purhaps it is your aunts sweet smelling perfume that you
    find repulsive.
    
    My point is that I beleive it is posible to smell both you and the
    mask oder you are wearing.
    
    I use to do a lot of trapping as a kid and some as a adult. Trappers
    have been using scents for many years longer than deer hunters and
    the first deer scents came from the trappers .
    
    They do work but you will have to remove or at least lessen your
    own smell. Put your self in a place where an animal can't get down
    wind of you. 
                   
    One method might be to leave the Doe Pee in heat up from your stand
    and circle around an take a position down wind from the drag or
    scrape. Deer do not always travel into the wind but as soon as they
    want to find out more about a noise or movement will often circle
    around down wind.
    
    Try and position yourself so that you will not be detected while
    the animal is investigating the smell.
    
    Bear

    Hey Jeff,
    
    Do you think using scents is ethical?
    
    Heck, next you'll be using electronic ears or rifle scopes or
    something.
    
    I used to use fox pee.  To tell you the truth I hated the smell
    of it and I wasn't convinced it made a difference.  I still carry
    a bottle on hunting trips, but I don't use it too often.  
    
    I think that somebody back there had the right idea, try not to
    pollute your clothes with alien smells.  The thing is, when you
    hang your clothes to dry near the woodstove.........
    
    Brett.
    

    I like to use scents because I have seen them work.  I used to use
    fox pee and have had deer nearly walk over me, I have since change
    to a fresh earth cover scent only because of the repugnant smell
    and the fresh earth seems to be working just as well.
    
    Last year, two of my uncles took bucks off a scrape I was working
    with Tinks doe in heat. A freind also watched a buck come in and
    roll around in Tinks doe in heat that he had put on cotton balls
    in a plastic film canister.
    
    I also like to use deer formula and have seen deer lick it off the
    tree limbs that it was placed on.
    
    This is a great topic.
    
    Mike                 

    Brett,
      When hunting deer I try to be as ethical as possible.  For two
    weeks before the season I wear nothing but buffalo robes and eat
    only raw meat.  This helps to get me in the correct frame of mind,
    Once Im out hunting I find the biggest set of tracks I can and start
    running.  Usualy after two or three days I'll catch up to whatever
    made the track.  I then jump on his back and bite his neck.  This
    method assures me of a qulity hunt.
                      
    Jeff

     	I use Tinks #69 (doe in heat) and am convinced it works.
     The method I use is to take a tampon and apply the buck lure
     to it. O.B.'s fit into a 35mm film container perfectly.
     When capped, you have a waterproof container that prevents
     the buck lure from drying out. The string works great for
     hanging it on a branch. When I'm through hunting, I collect
     the tampons and save them for the next day. If you leave
     the string outside when in the container, it's not messy
     and you don't have to wear smelly clothes.
     	When walking into my stand, I wear sent pads on my boots.
     After reaching the stand, I place several tampons in the area
     I want the deer to come to. (buck scrap, game trail or etc.) I
     then stand 30 or 40 yards away where I can see the tampons. (Not
     up wind)
  	On many occasions I have left tampons out over night.
     Several times I have had deer come to them, close enough to 
     touch. There is no question in my mind that deer are attracted
     to the sent. 

     				Ellis (The Rim Man)

    i have used the 35mm canisters now for a while and they work well.
    but what i think is the biggest factor is the human scent factor.
    A deer can make out your scent no matter what you wear for coverups.
    
    I had 5 deer come into me just the other night, they came directly
    into the wind which was blowing from me to the deer, I was
    in a tree and they never detected me.  I had forgotten my canisters
    with the tinks 69 in my other coat pocket, and had to use fox urine 
    on my boots and pant legs. When I got up the tree I squirted a little 
    on the ground below me. The deer came in and played around for 2-3
    minutes not 5 yards from my stand. The fox urine didn't seem to
    bother them at all.  Normally i would have placed the canisters
    around my stand in shooting lanes.
    
    I firmly believe that the treestand is the best advantage you have.
    scents are just frosting on the cake.
    
    Fra
    

    Jeff,
    
    I'll try that next year.  Carrying a gun around is a pain.
    
    I'm sure you have plenty of scent by now and you won't need anything
    in a bottle after wearing those buffalo skins.
    
    On the subject of using scents, this reminded me of something my
    dog did once (this is serious).  We were out grouse hunting in Maine
    when we came upon someone's attempt at bear bait.  In this pile
    was a smashed dead turtle among other incredibly rancid things.
    My dog decided to turn into Rambo and rolled in the whole pile.
    I suppose that was instinct to cover up his scent with something
    else.  Needless to say it worked, but I found it interesting that
    a natural hunter resorted to scents.  
    
    Brett. 

     Has anyone out there had any experience using deer calls in
conjunction with buck lure. Does it work??? Let's hear it from
those of you who have tried to call in deer.

    re:270.34  thanks brett, I did use scents and thought this was the
    more appropriate place for a reply.
    
    I was in some real thick stuff along a small stream, i had squirted
    some fox urine on my boots and pant legs before walking in.  When
    I got there I placed the 35mm canisters filled with cotton balls
    and tinks #69 around me (approx 20 yds away) in my shooting lanes,
    and placed a few filled with fox in my blind (laurel bushes).
    
    The wind was definately in my favor, and the buck came in directly
    for me (rattling) but hit a current of one of the tinks bombs and
    verred off, I took the shot (quartering away) as he headed for the
    tinks (about a 20 yd shot).  Never knew I was there, barely had
    time to drop the antlers.... needless to say i'm hooked on them,
    and plan on watching a few more videos to pick up some more pointers.
                  
    Havn't tried calling yet, but after this episode i'm pretty much
    game for anything. good luck to all....    Fra               

    re: -.1
    
    I deleted my note in 270.
    
    I was really psyched for you.  We've been following your determined
    bow hunting notes for a couple years now ( even before the hunting
    file) and it is sure great to see the determination pay off.
    Especially since the sport can be so frustrating.  I guess that
    makes the rewards so much better.  
    
    Glad to see the scents worked.  Think I'll try it next year a little
    bit more dilligently.
    
    I'm waiting to see if Jeff has any claim to success due to scents.
    I saw a deer posted but no verbage about his tactics; just something
    about the size of onions in Massachusetts :-)
    
    Brett.

    O.K. here goes.  I used Tinks also.  The stuff smelled AWFUL!
    Don't really know if it worked.  I saw deer 4 out of 5 days.
    Unfortunately, what I saw was either flags or deer that were barely
    visible through the underbrush.  The weather where we were hunting
    was cold most of the time.  The leaves were like cornflakes to 
    walk on.  Made still hunting next to impossible.  Had to take a
    stand till the day warmed up enough to soften up the leaves.  Could
    realistically start still hunting around 11:00.  Finally got my
    doe on Friday, the last day I could hunt.  Shot her around 2:45.
    I was still hunting along side a hemlock swamp when I heard them
    coming.  They stopped and I stayed still.  I couldn't see them but
    I figured that the first one to move would loose.  Finally they
    had enough and broke.  There were four of them about 65-70 yds away.
    The one I shot was lagging behind the other three.  She was also
    the biggest.  I was hoping she would be a buck.  Anyway I was happy.
    Don't know how much the Stinks, I mean Tinks, helped.  Only the
    deer knows and she ain't doin much talkin from the freezer.
              
    Jeff

    Ok you guys are going to like this one, here goes: I have used almost
    every scent known to the deer hunter growing up, smelled like an
    apple tree to a dead skunk and shot plenty of deer while wearing
    them. but was too young and inexperienced to realize I smelled so
    strong that I probably spooked half the big bucks in the state.
    over the years I've learned alot of tactics and put the best ones
    together to become very sucessful in hunting big bucks. 
        What I do is I carry 4-5 empty buck lure bottles with me in
    the woods, there very light and I never know their there till I
    need them. and when any given hunter in our group kills a deer
    buck or doe (preferably a doe in heat) we take the urine sack 
    out immediately without breaking it, to do this you have to lift
    the deers ass end off the ground to cut the sack loose or it'll
    all drain out on you. Then hang it on a limb stub till you finish
    dreesing your deer, after that I very carefully drain the sack which
    holds about 10-14 ozs of urine into each bottle until their filled.
     Now I figure the average hunter goes through about two bottles
    of deer lure a year, let's say Tink's 69 at $8.00 a bottle and it
    is exactly what you just accumulated out of the wild on your own,
    and best of all yours is fresh not a year old. I freeze the excess
    bottles for the following bow season for the early rut. Now I'll
    guarantee you that you'll never get a better deer lure than what
    I have just described, what attracts a Buck better than a doe in
    heat. I use it for rattling,still hunting,and stands and have killed
    and seen some big deer, I can't remember where I got the idea, must
    have been another one of those bone chilling mornings when my body
    froze up and I started thinking like a deer.
    
                                                 good luck
                                                   Rick

    
    
    	I've also used scents (fox urine) mostly and I didn't have
    any luck for a Looong time, then I talked with a "Trapper" friend
    of mine and we discussed scents. I told him that I used a generous
    squirt on each boot and some on my hat. THAT was the problem!!
    TO MUCH scent!!! Since then I use ONE drop on the bottom of each
    boot and ONE drop on my hat and I've had deer walk right up to
    me on a stand....  Valuable lesson learned..
    
    
    
    					~Mike~

    A couple of friends of mine after taking a deer usually cut the
    deer scent glands on the back legs, the dark patch of fur next to
    the knee. This gland will stink up a storm. I take it that it is
    their scent glands that will lead them to one another. My buddies
    say this really works, especially more than the store bought stuff.
    The only calls I have ever really seen work are elk calls, on elk
    naturally. I do know of a couple of hunters that rattle but have
    never come across anyone that uses one of those calls. I still do
    not prefer to use scents. Good luck to all and happy hunting.
    								Bret

    Well, I broke down and went for a bottle of Tink's 69 based
    on lafosse's testamonial along with others.  I got it from
    Cabela's the other day  when I ordered a prop.
    
    When I took the bottle out and opened it, both dogs came running
    in the room wagging their tails.  They had to get right in there and
    smell that bottle.  Gee, I hope it works like that on Mulies.
    
    /brett 

    I missed the biggest buck of my bow-hunting career using
    Tinks #69 -  I hadn't been in my stand for 5 minutes when
    he came plowing in, I wasn't mentally ready, shot low,
    aaauuuuggghhhh !
    
    Following year shot a spikehorn on opening day as he made 
    a bee-line for the same lure. It works.

    
    I had a hard time finding some Tinks #69. None of the stores close
    by me had any, however I went to K-Mart in Milford and they had
    tons of it. It goes for $10.98 a bottle. So if you can't find it
    try there. I had heard that Tinks went out of business and that
    someone else bought into the company and got the stuff going again...
    
                                             Walt

    
    Walt,
    
    
         I have a old trick with acorn juice... Yeah acorn juice..
    
      I am not hunting Mass archery but can try to help ya out
    when the rut hits in full force... I have a set of antlers that
    i have rattled in a few bucks with...They are from the first
    decent buck i took...  A 7 pointer..
    
    
             Drop me a note..
    
     Jeff,,,,,   Maine in a month or so..... Vermont in a cOuple of
    weeks.........

    So what's the story with acorn juice ???

    RE  .31
    	<...had a hard time finding some Tinks #69.>
    
    	I got some at K-Mart in Leominster.  I would guess most decent
    sized stores in that chain would carry it.
    
    Andy
    

Speaking of K-Mart, I saw some stuff in there last nite that looked 
interesting.  There was a product from a company called Gametracker 
that was listed as "No Scent" or something like that.  The label said 
it would remove all scent from an object, so that you could spray it 
on yourself or on your clothes.

The only thing I've seen that was anything similar was a guy who said 
he used hydrogen peroxide on the exposed areas of skin to kill the 
bacteria that cause odor.  He also said that he always hunted in a rainsuit 
with elastic wrist and ankle bands to keep in the odor that developed 
later.  Judging from the bucks he had mounted around him in the 
picture in the article, it seemed to be successful.

I haven't seen it an any of the hunting mags around here, so I'm 
inclined to think it's BS.  Has anyone else heard of it?  It just 
seems that if it worked like the label said it would that it'd be the 
neatest thing since beer in a can and there would be a wild stampede 
for it.

Any thoughts?

Scott

re. -1
     I used some this year during the archery deer season, and belive it or
    not it seemed to work. It's not fool proof but it does make a BIG
    difference.
    
                                      Mark

    I saw about the last two minutes of a show that was talking about
    scents. He was talking specifically about the claim that the company's
    make saying that the deer urine contains Phermones(sp?). He said
    the only way bottled deer urine could have phermones is if they
    freeze dried it ASAP after collecting it. It would then have to
    be kept in a vacuum bottle until used. Then if there were any phermones
    they would evaporate as soon as you opened the bottle.
    
    I don't know what the phermones are or if they are important...but
    I do think that using the urine as some sort of cover scent can't
    hurt.
                                    Walt

    
    
    Good Urine is expensive..... I heard it can go for up to 100.00
    for a pint of it.... I'll do without for that kinda money...
    
    
            Jeff_heading for Maine in 2 weeks..
    

    
    re .37,
    
    Phermones are a scent that is given that is a sexual attractor given
    off by all animals.  Theory is when you smell it, you can't resist.
    
    --Bob

    Re .38.
    
    
    Jeff, this year we save all bladders....At $100 a pint, we can get
    rich !!!!
    
    
    Jim
    

    
    	On the subject of Deer scents....  I had an interesting experience
    last night I would like to mention.  There has been some snow on the
    ground for a few days now so I decided to do some post-season scouting
    in an area where I usually bowhunt.  I also wanted to remove two scent
    cannisters that I had forgotton during a rifle hunt towards the tail
    end of the season.  During the afternoon of the rifle hunt I had
    placed two scent cannisters below me in a ravine I had been watching.
    They contained a cotton ball and some Tinks #69.  It became dark
    and I didn't have a flashlight so I opted to leave them and return
    to pick them up later.  They also had a clothespin affixed to them
    with Duct tape so they could be clipped to a tree.
    	I was pleasantly surprised to find the tree rubbed that I had
    clipped one of the cannisters to!!  And in the vicinity of the
    cannister there were two other trees rubbed;  none of them had rubs
    when I set out the cannisters in November.  Also made me feel good 
    in that there may be a buck left from rifle season up there...
    That is, if he didn't get shot in the last weekend.

    I blame my failure in not bagging a deer this year to the fact that I
    did not use breath camo.  I guess they could smell the garlic and
    pepperoni on my breath.
    
    Ray
    Who will be gargling with breath camo next year!
    

    Try gargling with Tink's #69.
    
    It works for me.
    
    /brett
    

    I thought that was Fra's technique from the photo album :-)
    
    Mark,
    

    works everytime!!!
    
    Fra

    
    Talk about gargling with Tinks, I remember one time when these two
    old timers were out deer hunting. Being a frugal person hunter number
    1 puts some Tinks in a quater-pint liqour bottle, just about a half
    inch worth and hangs it in a tree near his stand. When exiting with
    his partner just before nightfall hunter number one starts reaching
    for the bottle when hunter number two grabs it and states "You left
    a good swallow in this one. Before number one can say anything number
    two as put the bottle to his lips and dumped it down his throat.
    You can imagine what followed. Ole hunter number two claims that
    his neck swelled and sniffed out a doe the next day............
    
    sjn