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FirstFreedom · October 17, 2007, 07:18 PM

Use what the manufacturer recommends for slugs, but if you can't find that, use the largest possible (cylinder bore/skeet, or improved cylinder). Just don't use full or extra full.

I have used a doe bleat can with success - it brought in a buck right to me last year. I'll try various grunts & doe bleats. Use higher pitched and medium pitched bleats & grunts, rather than low-pitched (dominant buck) grunts. Dominant buck call may scare off does that you want to harvest (or smaller bucks even, if you want to harvest them). A "medium-sized" buck grunt (medium-pitched) can lure in a dominant buck who is P.O.ed that a smaller buck is in his territory (during the rut anyway).

On scents, being scent-free is much more important than using cover scents or lure scents. Cover scents can be smelled by the deer, and may scare them off (or may not). If you're sweaty and smelly, the cover scent is better than the deer smelling the sweat. But no scent of any kind is far better than that. I do lightly spray an "autum blend" or homemade cedar tree cover scent on my boots and clothes however, after I've been in the woods more than a 1/2 day (and thus sweaty/smelly). Lure scents can do more harm than good if you use them at the wrong time. If used at the right time, during the rut for doe estrus, then they can and do work sometimes. Deer can also be attracted to sweet smells, like vanilla or molasses, but don't count it.

So bottom line, being scent-free to the max extent possible is the most important thing, second only to being in the right spot and using the wind in your favor. Use scent free soaps for both your body and your hunting clothes. Baking soda for clothing. On stands, blinds and chairs, set them out in the woods for a week or three before hunting to let them soak up the natural scent. If you don't have a week, then dunk the chair/blind/stand in a creek where you will be hunting, then let it air dry overnight - that will help a lot. Don't wear the same boots & clothes that you drove to the hunting spot with - you may have odors from your house, gasoline from the gas station on your boots etc. Keep your scent-free clothes in a plastic bag or tub with leaves & sticks from your hunting land, and then change only when you're ready to hunt. Some guys will carry their hunting clothes, then change at the base of the stand, with their smelly clothes going into a separate bag, to be sealed up - that's pretty extreme, but you get the idea - you want no non-natural scent of any kind on or about your person or gear or weapons. If you answer nature's call, dig a small hole by kicking with your boots, then cover up with displaced dirt, leaves & such when finished.

If you have been in the woods for a few days, and are pretty ripe, and have no way to wash yourself & your clothes, then smelling like smoke is better than smelling like sweat, so build a campfire, and put a bunch of green twigs on top, close your eyes, and get engulfed by the smoke for a little while.

October 17, 2007, 07:18 PM	#9
FirstFreedom Junior member Join Date: May 31, 2004 Location: The Toll Road State, U.S.A. Posts: 12,451	Use what the manufacturer recommends for slugs, but if you can't find that, use the largest possible (cylinder bore/skeet, or improved cylinder). Just don't use full or extra full. I have used a doe bleat can with success - it brought in a buck right to me last year. I'll try various grunts & doe bleats. Use higher pitched and medium pitched bleats & grunts, rather than low-pitched (dominant buck) grunts. Dominant buck call may scare off does that you want to harvest (or smaller bucks even, if you want to harvest them). A "medium-sized" buck grunt (medium-pitched) can lure in a dominant buck who is P.O.ed that a smaller buck is in his territory (during the rut anyway). On scents, being scent-free is much more important than using cover scents or lure scents. Cover scents can be smelled by the deer, and may scare them off (or may not). If you're sweaty and smelly, the cover scent is better than the deer smelling the sweat. But no scent of any kind is far better than that. I do lightly spray an "autum blend" or homemade cedar tree cover scent on my boots and clothes however, after I've been in the woods more than a 1/2 day (and thus sweaty/smelly). Lure scents can do more harm than good if you use them at the wrong time. If used at the right time, during the rut for doe estrus, then they can and do work sometimes. Deer can also be attracted to sweet smells, like vanilla or molasses, but don't count it. So bottom line, being scent-free to the max extent possible is the most important thing, second only to being in the right spot and using the wind in your favor. Use scent free soaps for both your body and your hunting clothes. Baking soda for clothing. On stands, blinds and chairs, set them out in the woods for a week or three before hunting to let them soak up the natural scent. If you don't have a week, then dunk the chair/blind/stand in a creek where you will be hunting, then let it air dry overnight - that will help a lot. Don't wear the same boots & clothes that you drove to the hunting spot with - you may have odors from your house, gasoline from the gas station on your boots etc. Keep your scent-free clothes in a plastic bag or tub with leaves & sticks from your hunting land, and then change only when you're ready to hunt. Some guys will carry their hunting clothes, then change at the base of the stand, with their smelly clothes going into a separate bag, to be sealed up - that's pretty extreme, but you get the idea - you want no non-natural scent of any kind on or about your person or gear or weapons. If you answer nature's call, dig a small hole by kicking with your boots, then cover up with displaced dirt, leaves & such when finished. If you have been in the woods for a few days, and are pretty ripe, and have no way to wash yourself & your clothes, then smelling like smoke is better than smelling like sweat, so build a campfire, and put a bunch of green twigs on top, close your eyes, and get engulfed by the smoke for a little while.