Deer Hunting Solutions
Dr. John Woods 01.03.20
This is not about deer hunting problem solving. Or maybe in some ways, it is. More precisely, this is about deer hunting “solutions” or spray-on applications to address two specific aspects of deer hunting: scent reduction and scent attractants.
First off, scent control is of paramount importance for deer hunters to be able to defeat the superior smelling capabilities of a white-tailed deer. The senses of a deer are super keen including eyesight to movement, hearing of even the slightest off key noise, and especially scent detection. They can detect even the slightest unusual smell wafting through the woods. This primarily includes human scent, but also other human-associated smells like gasoline, breakfast scents such as bacon, and so many other odors not naturally found in nature.
Scent-dampening sprays are an easy way to help eliminate some of these deer spooking scents. There are many brands and types on the market, so shop carefully and read reviews about their effectiveness. One product line I have been using for a number of seasons is Buck Warrior out of Mississippi. Ron Eller has formulated a number of bottle spray solutions to help kill human scent for hunting.
Buck Warrior cover scent sprays includes Dust to Dust earth scent, Cover It with Pine, and Cover It with Cedar. Simply shake the bottle and liberally spray on clothes, boots and equipment to eliminate human scents. Their Covert spray is odorless, but kills off human scent to keep deer from smelling the hunter in the woods.
Besides cover scent products to reduce human scents, the other classification of deer hunting solutions are attractant scents. These solutions are intended to pique a deer’s olfactory system to entice them to come within shooting range with either archery gear or hunting firearms. Buck Warrior (www.buckwarrior.net) has two attractant scents that are so real, you’d think you were eating the actual item. These include Forbidden apple scent and Harvester corn scent. These can be applied to scent drags or sprayed on vegetation as you walk to your stand.
Deer hunting solutions are just one more tool in a deer hunter’s trick bag to help fool a deer. Deer are naturally curious about scents in their habitat. While they will come to check out sources of attractant scents, they are repelled by human related scents. Use these products as directed to help ante up your deer hunting game plan.
