Homemade Deer scent field trials

[Ron]

First of all, I do not subscribe to the notion that a hunter must not use scents or that a hunter musts try not to change anything lest he spook all the deer in the area. After 3 ½ decades of deer hunting, I have learned that deer are a very curious creature, especially in regards to scents. Being raised on a farm, it didn’t take long to understand that exposing raw dirt meant there would be fresh deer tracks in it within 24 hours because deer are curious about the smell.

I think some hunters give deer too much credit for having the ability to reason or deduce that a scent means that they are being hunted. I just don’t think deer are wired like that. Introducing new smells should not send deer running into the next county because they determine the new smell means a hunter is after them. I dont think they use that sort of reasoning. Not being afraid to try new things, I have been messing around with a curiosity scent.

In the past, I have tried a attractants/scents for deer hunting that were not a rut (sex) based scents but rather a food/curiosity scent even though there is nothing for the deer to consume (unless they eat the material you put the scent on). I have had good luck those lures.

I was intrigued after having some success with those lures so I have been playing around, trying to make my own food/curiosity oil scent (Oil based because it does not evaporate) In order to evaluate the drawing power of this food/curiosity scent, I bought two trail cameras and set about monitoring the results. I am new to trail cameras and this is my first time using trail cameras in the woods I hunt. I placed the cameras on 6-25-2011

For the first trials, I placed the scent in known travel corridors to ensure deer would be likely to encounter the scent. This way, I could hopefully determine if the scent attracted them or scared them away or had no effect at all. Also, I hoped to see if the scent made the deer skittish or nervous and whether they would visit the scent post only at night or during the day or both.

Site #1 is in a swamp, near a small creek. I cut a tree the year prior for a shooting lane so I placed the scent on the cut end of the small tree to get the scent off the ground and because after viewing many many trail camera photos on the web, pictures of deer with their heads buried in the ground look as though those deer are eating something (Food, minerals, etc) so I wanted to avoid the appearance of deer at a mineral or food site placed on the ground.

Below is a small sample of the hundreds of pictures I got. I have many many more including deer sniffing the ground around the tree which makes me think they are smelling the scent of the other deer that visited the area. Between June 23 and Aug 13, I got just over 300 pictures.





































These two pictures sparked my curiosity.

[Ron]

Some of the other pictures I got. I think the deer are curious about the scents left behind by the other deer visiting the site.

[Ron]

Site #2 is on an intersection of a few well used trails I have hunted for 35 years and along the same river but about 400 yards down stream and in more of an open hardwood. The available trees in proximity to the trails meant I had no post to put the scent on so I broke off a piece of weathered wood and set it on the ground in front of the camera. I figured the deer would not be interested in eating a piece of punky wood and it would absorb the oil based scent better than pouring it on the ground. From June 25 to Aug. 13, I got over 600 pictures. The increased traffic to this spot coupled with rains made the area look like a mineral site. All the vegetation was getting trampled and it was beginning to get muddy. I moved the camera and removed the remaing piece of wood with the scent on Aug. 13 . Most of the piece of wood has been consumed and each time I checked the cameras, the piece of wood was in a different spot within a few feet of where I had first placed it.

At this point I see no reason to modify the mixture of ingredients on the oil scent. Also, 3 weeks had elaped since the last time I checked the cameras which speaks to the staying power in the scent . Here are some of the pictures from site #2.

[Ron]

I dont claim to understand what the long term effects will be or if the deer will tire of the scent or what will happen when the hunting season starts and there is increased human pressure and scent in the woods.

At some point I expect that they will no longer be curious about the scent and they will understand that there is nothing to eat related to the scent. But after 2 months, it still seems to draw them in. I expect ripening farm crops, acorns and other mast will pull them away from this scent as they work to fill their bellies before winter but I have to wait and see.

This deer hunting game is a lot of fun. (so is experimenting)

[Ron]

Aug 16, 2011 10:52:28 GMT -6 @mtfuge1984 said:

Ron-

Thanks for sharing the pictures. It looks like your concoction works.

Just curious, what cameras are you using? Do you "clean up" the pictures before posting them?

Mike

I would need to know what "clean up" means first.

[Ron]

Aug 16, 2011 10:53:05 GMT -6 @gibby said:

Ron - Whatever you made up is sure attracting the deer. You have one really dandy buck on film.
Are you divulging your secret scent or are you going to market it? ;D

Gibby, my whole life, I have given away everything I have made from knives and gear to ideas. In this case, I am on the fence and have not yet determined how I will handle this homemade scent.

[Ron]

Gibby, I plan too. It’s a food based/curiosity scent so I want to see how it performs in the fall when ripe farm crops and mast are available to deer. Thus far, the ability of this scent to stop deer during the summer months seems to be pretty sound.

[Ron]

It’s a mixture of exotic and rare pixie dusts, magic elixirs and one ingredient that is illegal in several countries without a special permit. The eye of newt is the real kicker though. Seriously though, I have a long list of family members wanting or willing to test this stuff out to see if it works for them like its been working for me.

[Ron]

They are crappy $49 2mp wildgame inovation cameras. All I do is reduce the pictures to fit this format after I cover the ugly Wildgame inovations logo they insist on puting in every picture with notes of my choosing. That'll teach em.

[Ron]

I’m continuing with the trials with my Curiosity scent. I have not pulled the cards for over 3 weeks but got them on Sept. 4th. Camera 1 (Crossroads site) had 157 pics. I repositioned the camera facing the direction most of the deer seem to have been coming from which puts them almost right under one of my ladder stands which can be seen on the right side of the images.















There are 4 diff bucks in this picture.

[Ron]

These are some of the 148 pics I got from the swamp site location. This site has a cut tree where I deposite the oil scent. Perhaps this doe fell asleep while getting a whiff or she is winking for the camera ( or a buck standing behind the camera.)













That doe might have been winking at this guy. I have lots of pictures of him over many days. I have no pictures of him at night. He seems to only come in during the day time.











I also got a picture of a passing bear. He doesnt seem too interested in the scent. This is the first and only bear I have gotten a picture of.

[Ron]

Sept 6, 2011 4:13:50 GMT -6 @whiteoaks said:

That IS a nice 8! You had pics of him back on August 8 too.

Ron, In your Crossroads site, are those beans growing up?

I dont know what that stuff is growing there. This is the same site as the imageas I posted earlier in this thread. All I did was move the camera to a tree on the other side of the road. If you look on the earlier pics you will see a leaning tree near the center right side of the pictures, that is where the camera is now.


Whatever that stuff is, it has little thorns or barbs that make them catch on your pants. Its mostly ferns there but recently that broad leaf stuff has taken over naturally.

[Ron]

On opening morning I used some of my scent. I placed it about 8 yards in front of my tree. That’s closer that I should have but I did it in the morning darkness and it seemed farther from the tree than it was once the sun came up. I will be more mindful in the future.

I took some video of a doe that came into the scent at 7 am on opening morning. The first video is her approach. She eventually gets down wind of the scent. When she does, she stops and changes course to locate the scent. She starts licking her nose and even chewing the air. She starts out alert and cautious but then calms down.

(You can improve the video quality on Youtube by selecting 720P HD at the bottom right of the viewing pane. Click on where it says 360p)




This 2nd videos starts when she has reached the scent I placed on the back of the tree and on some vegetation. You can see her licking here nose to make it wet to increase her ability to smell as well as licking at the scent. The scent did what I wanted, it drew her to a spot and made her stand there for a while. It would have been more than long enough to provide a shot but I was not interested in shooting this doe.

[Ron]

I havent kept up on this much since the season started but I left a scent pad on a tree after hunting with my homemade scent on it and got a few pictures of curious deer.



















And a picture from the other location of the same 10 point just passing by.

[Ron]

I will know soon. I put out my cameras later this year than last year but I hope to pull the cards in a couple weeks. I only pull once a month.