Deer scents,,, what works,,, what doesn't??

I am a long time deer hunter, short time hunter with the scents-in-a-bottle thing.
I am not inquiring about opinions here, only verifiable fact.
Does the deer scent in a bottle i.e. doe urine; doe estrous; tarsel glans; special laundry detergent; deer dryer sheets; etc., etc. does this stuff really work?
Who can positively say it works?
Who can positively say it spooks deer?

I have never gotten into the scents thing. I do however, shower before going into the field, with fresh clothes, I never wear my hunting boots near my dog, I never wear my boots to gas up the truck (petroleum gas station smell), I don't eat gassy foods the day before, don't drink coffee to make me go pee.
With that being said, I can say that the deer I have missed are just that, I missed them, but did not 'spook' them.
There is a difference between a deer miss, and a deer spook.........
so, how much more advantage may I expect with the deer-pee-in-a-bottle?

Facts only, please, no opine.

for me scent free is a scam
no such thing
so called doe in estrus is **** probably bovine urine
I have used tarsal glads from deer I have harvested that I have
had bucks tracking me by the scent trail I made with them
so whatever you are doing it sounds like you are doing it rite
just don't need to ad a bunch of gimmics into your hunting
keep the wind in your favor its been working for along time

I think the scent away stuff is a scam also

I have never used the estrus urine but I did some reading about it last season and the results I read were dismal

I don't think any of them are gonna have bucks running in to it. I use it when I bowhunt, mainly just to get them to stop while their coming in close proximity to my stand. I used to go to a lot of trouble to put cotton balls soaked in it in 35mm film containers and place them around my stand on the ground so I could close them and take them with me. Since then, I have started spending fewer days on stand, but a whole lot longer when I do, like one day a week, but from before the sun comes up until the sun goes down. Now I take a zip lock bag of cotton balls, soak them and just toss them around from the tree and leave them. I've been seeing more deer during late October/early November since I started doing theis than I used to when I only spent early mornings or evenings on stand. A lot of deer move in the middle of the day during that time of year.

I think the brand I used most was that Tinks#69 which is about the cheapest and most common of them and have observed bucks come in and actually nose the stuff sometimes. Other times I've had (usually young, small bucks) not even seem to notice it when they were quite close to it. Give it a try, I really don't think it can possibly hurt anything, and may get a curious one to hang around.

I had an hunt of a lifetime in Colorado for elk. I felt the need to up the ante, so I bought and used
Doe in estrus urine. Long story short-I had a too small bull follow me around all day. Then he had the audacity to stand in front of my truck!
luvtn

If you study your maps/terrain, get your wind right, and only hunt a particular stand/location when the wind is right, none of it matters. My personal belief is that the 'products' are marketed to those who just don't know any better. The last good deer I shot I did so in the same clothes I'd worn all day, cooking at deer camp, with a fire, while having a good cigar. If they're upwind....it don't matter. Period.

I also wash my hunting clothes in scent free detergent and take a shower with scent free stuff, sometimes just good old Ivory soap. Nearly all detergents and soaps have perfumes in them. I have a pretty keen nose and if I can smell the stuff on clothing I figure they can too. The way I see it, you're gonna wash your clothes and body anyway, might as well use something that has no smell. I think it helps, and had several deer in close to my stand just this past Saturday. This early in the season and with farmers and other humans that get out in that area, I don't think a little human scent spooks them like it might when they are hunted hard.

A friend of mine works at a state ran chemical lab. He had the lab run an analysis on a major brand scent away clothing spray. 98% water and baking soda. I just spray my hunting cloths with water and baking soda to de-stink and make a tea by boiling cedar needles to mist my clothes with as I head to the stand.

I personally believe that most of it is "snake oil". However, I do believe in keeping clean. That means a shower with some sort of non-perfumed soap when going hunting. If one is out and about for a few days without shower facilities, wash up the best you can in what ever water is available and use plain old Arm & Hammer baking soda as a powder/talc type application and go about hunting, yes, it does cause chafing, but less stinking. JW

I've done that tea using leaves of stuff that's common around and believe it helps to some degree. Sure can't hurt. Putting cedar needles in your pockets or rubbing a cutting of it on you could be helpful too, assuming cedars are common where you hunt.

I have scraped a pine tree to get it bleeding,,,,,,for the cover smell,,,,,,smells like turpentine.

Ok, then try my opinion on this little matter, please:
We all have read that deer can smell a half mile away, correct????
With being said, who has been a half mile into nowhere land (no deer sign), put up some deer-pee-in-a-bottle, and got a picture of a buck sniffing it, on the game camera?
Who got the photos???

I'm afraid opinion is all you will get. I've tried many scents, attractents and cover, and can only say they work, and they don't. I've shot deer sniffing my trail, licking the air and using my scrapes, I've shot deer sniffing where I've peed. I've also went into the woods with no added scent and shot deer. My take on this is to not smell different than what is already in the area, they will bust you in a second. It doesn't hurt to use scents, just don't break the wallet doing it. I wash my hunting clothes in scentless soap, use scentless body soap, but I never bother about my boots. I did start using a spray called buck bomb, mostly to slow them down, but have yet to actually see one noticing.

I am of the opinion that most deer live close enough to human contact that it doesn't really matter. I believe scent matters on elk, and that you are for better served by kneeling in feces or urine near a scrape than any purchased product. They will see and hear you coming and know you're not an elk. Scent just gives them one less thing to spook from.

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Originally Posted by MT Gianni

I am of the opinion that most deer live close enough to human contact that it doesn't really matter. I believe scent matters on elk, and that you are for better served by kneeling in feces or urine near a scrape than any purchased product. They will see and hear you coming and know you're not an elk. Scent just gives them one less thing to spook from.

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I agree. What I do firmly believe in is that UV Killer soap and UV Killer spray coating for your clothes. It really works! I have confirmed its effects with both deer and elk. It is especially effective if you use fleece outerwear. I have tested the UV Killer spray coating with a "blacklight" in a dark room and the effect is amazing especially on fleece when compared to non-treated. Not being a tree stand user, I can't tell you much about that.

birds see UV better than deer, but I think they can see a 'glow' around things that reflect UV light just because of how their eyes are constructed.

I don't deal with white-tail deer but know with mule deer 'weird' sounds trip their switch to run, and seeing them before they see you is more important than trying to fool their nose.

Stay down wind. Minimize your stink going to stand. Keeping clean helps your confidence. I use scents on the ground to fool the big ones to give me a few extra seconds to draw down on them, (during rut) Rubber boots seem to help. I like to mess with them with decoys more than scents. Anything to move their attention away from my position. Used an aluminum pie plate on a string once to get a nice 8 pointer to give me a better shot. They are curious creatures.

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Originally Posted by Powder Burn

Stay down wind. Minimize your stink going to stand. Keeping clean helps your confidence. I use scents on the ground to fool the big ones to give me a few extra seconds to draw down on them, (during rut) Rubber boots seem to help. I like to mess with them with decoys more than scents. Anything to move their attention away from my position. Used an aluminum pie plate on a string once to get a nice 8 pointer to give me a better shot. They are curious creatures.

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"stay down wind" you say ??
How do you know which direction the deer is coming from?? Most of the time deer come from my back or off shooting side,
I do believe that most all game is naturally 'curious', but will spook easily.

Why do deer stand on the road shoulder just watching cars go by?? Why do they spook if you drive down a dirt road through the woods though??

The most irresistible "deer scent" in the world is Hardee's Grape Jelly. Smear some about waist high on leaves or branches every 10-20 feet as you walk a trail then sit and watch it.

I never went HARD CORE scent free, but I believe it would be beneficial IF you kept a strict regime and were interested in shooting P&Y whitetails regularly IF you were in an area that has P&Y bucks, constant 4.5 yo and better, if you had the time. But, just the weekend warrior, annual deer camp participant, or even the hunter that lives in an area that gets to hunt an evening after work, scents can be beneficial. To be completely scent free would be difficult if possible to a experienced deer's nose. Basically, you just try to knock your scent down a bit. Arm & Hammer and Mule Train I believe are scent free detergents, no brighteners, fels-naptha. Basically you have attractant and cover scents, using both IMO is beneficial. There is also deep woods hunting and deer running in between houses and cottages with cats, dogs, and people all over the hunting woods, it is a pondering thought.

in all honesty, the only thing i use is scent free, uv killer detergent. the uv killer is the only reason i buy and use it.

i have tried buck bombs, doe estrus(many different kinds), forehead scent, apple, ground,.....you could name it, i probably have tried it. but the uv killer works ( http://www.bowhuntingoutlet.com/u-v-...BoCt7sQAvD_BwE ). i have had many deer that were upwind of me that kept on doing what they were doing. now i wasn't waving my arms, but i do little movements(from arms, head, etc).

the unscented, i don't care much about it. uv killer, i'm all in.

I saw and killed more deer when I smoked,,,no joking..This is a fact...Often had to butt out the cigarette to shoot. The doe pee in a bottle, I don't use and have never had any luck, prolly was northern pee not southern pee.. I do think the UV stuff has some merit.

I had a guy who was a pretty accomplished bowhunter and had killed quite a few good bucks say he would dip wintergreen Skoal or Copenhagen (can't remember which) and spit on the ground under his tree stand. He swore it attracted them. I'm not gonna do it just because the stuff is so gross. I've also heard crushing up cheap peppermint candy into little piles brings them in. No experience.

wow good stories, my buddy would about chain smoke on watch during bow season- always got a buck, my nephew makes similar claim. My brother spent a bundle on scent blocker stuff, etc. then while hanging his bare butt over a fallen tree to do a #2, an 8 pointer runs by and he plugs it, pants around his ankles. I have used the scents ( various) and had bucks fallow me or my track. I tie a small rag dipped in scent to my boot lace and walk in. I got a buck once that way by walking a large circle and posting in a tree in the center. I think it makes a huge difference if in farm land with many houses and scents or deep woods hunting. With more hunters it is all jumbled and more of a **** shoot.
Sighting in last weekend, while shooting down the hay field at about 100yds, a bunch of deer came out to feed about 100yds further out. go figure

deer are curious animals they come to scents to see whats going on deer pee tobacco the ham sandwich you got in the backpack, I have use plain doe urine on my boots and watch deer track me to the tree sniffing the ground. A old timer told me if you use a cover scent like fox urine the deer just thinks you came into the woods with a fox with a bad bladder. I wash my cloths in the soap they say kills UV shine but besides that I sit still and watch in a box stand in a climber I go as high as I can. Good luck to everyone this year and be safe.

I use the soap with no scent the night before season. I pack my hunting clothes in a large duffle bag with some wafers that smell like dirt. As a result I go to the woods smelling like dirt and hopefully the soap the night before helps with my scent. I also use something like Tinks 69 in a 35mm film canister with a cotton ball soaked with the scent. I hot glue a clothes pin to the side of the canister and clip it to a limb about 4' or 5' off the ground about 50 yards from my tree stand. I have lured in nice bucks on a couple of occasions with the Tinks. However I have not lured in whitetails more than I have brought them in. I look at it this way, it is a cheap and easy thing to do as I go to my stand. I don't think it hurts anything and might actually help 10% of the time. I need all the help I can get so I do it for the first few days of deer season. I believe that preseason planning, picking a good spot with known deer activity from trail cameras ahead of time and proper stand placement along with being as quiet and still as possible is more important than using various scents.

Nothing works 100% except being downwind.

When the bucks are chasing though, Buck Bomb Estrus brings them in.

Also, interdigital gland scent works. I put some on my boots 100 yards from my stand and a young buck smelled it 40 yards out and followed the trail away from me. The scent is stronger where you put it on and gets weaker the further away you are. So, the buck followed it in the direction that the scent was stronger, like if it was another deer.

Fact is I used Tinks 69 for yrs and even used scent lines with it forming a fishhook laying it down so the deer came to me and the followed the hook . The end result as the deer came to the end he would be quartering (hunt with recurve) and that was the end . Worked great for field edges with multiple entries during
the rut as you covered more ground ,does responded to Trails End as a curiosity /pre rut scent . So yup it ain"t no lie worked for me ,fed family w/2 kids and had fun doing it/Ed

I put out some doe scent on a rag, with a game camera,,,,,,,2 days and got nothing !!

What did that Seminole Indian bathe in the night before his hunt?

Now you Know he smelled like a boar hog all worked up but was able to feed the tribe... Granted, our diet has a lot to do with our order... Just having some fun.

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Originally Posted by MyFlatline

What did that Seminole Indian bathe in the night before his hunt?

Now you Know he smelled like a boar hog all worked up but was able to feed the tribe... Granted, our diet has a lot to do with our order... Just having some fun.

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I have an opinion on how he did it having discovered it by accident several years back. Ive used it many times since and have no doubts about it working. Since I hunt out of a tent camp showering is not something I do. I stand in the smoke frome the fire. I open my coat and try to saturate my clothes with it. If it's cold out I hunt over a very small fire usually between my legs. Whichever way the wind is moving my scent the smoke is already there covering it. I no longer pay any attention to the wind since it tends to shift around a lot.
Some guys poo poo this but I couldn't tell you how many deer I've killed over a small fire that never knew I was there. Often at handgun ranges.
My opinion is that the Indians were very smoky which covered the man smell.
When I'm well smoked or have a fire Ive yet to have a deer or coyote bust me.

I used to wash my cloths in baking soda, put cloths in bag with pine needles or leafs, use cover scents including skunk and attractants like Tinks 69. I did this mostly for bow hunting. Then while gun hunting without any of the hocus I've had deer walk right up with in 3ft of me. I service oil heat, smoke and don't do anything special for my clothes and or body scent. My buddy chewed and said the same about spitting wintergreen, deer would come up and lick it. I park within 30-50yrds of my hunting spots as well. I hunt a mix of farmland & open woods it's about 600acres and has houses on the outskirts. The deer here are used to the noise/smells/cars ect. I once was eating out of the back of my SUV when a large 10pt buck came out 30yrds in front of truck I saw him through my windshield. Was bedded behind a house they have learned no one is hunting close to the houses and parked cars aren't a threat. I blew the shot and it an up the hill close to the land owners house. 2 days later one of the other members got him behind the land owners house. Back country deer prob. different but suburban deer don't seem to mind.
https://i.imgur.com/thfwOyE.jpg?2

No idea but the Northern Tribes would use a sweat lodge.