Today’s modern deer hunting has become as much or more science than raw hunter skill. Thanks to an ever-exploding expansion of the hunting product marketplace, hunters have a lot more tricks in the hunting backpack than ever.
The simplest accessories may be the best — calls and scents.
If you don’t yet use a variety of deer calls, the time to start is during the rut. The next time you roll by the deer hunting gear aisles at your favorite outdoor supply store, check out the plethora of deer calls hanging on the sales hooks. It is mind-boggling how many there are of every type, design, and function. The sounds coming out of these calls are so realistic now, and their simplicity and their effectiveness in the woods is amazing.
“The first time I used a Primos Can doe bleat call it even fooled me as to the response I got,” said Tommy Hoff of Enid. “During the rut I count on the bucks always being on the lookout for roaming does. Being able to bring those curious does within bow range is sooner or later going to mean a buck might soon follow suit.”
Everybody knows about a deer’s keen sense of smell, and appealing to or beating it is important. I once laced a drag rag with Code Blue doe estrus scent, walked across the field in front of my stand, turned 90 degrees and walked to it. An hour before dark a buck poked his head out of the woods, strolled across the field until he hit my scent line, and reacted like it was a barbed wire fence. He turned on a dime and walked a hundred yards right under my stand. Too bad he was only a six point.
During the rut, when a buck is seeking just such a scent, the aroma of a doe in estrus is often too appealing to resist. I cannot count the times a felt wick dipped in Wildlife Research Golden Estrus has stopped a buck “dead” in his tracks.
If you are yet to apply science to your rut hunts, consider adding a doe bleat call and a buck grunt, and then add some well-posted deer scent around your stand.
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