5 SCENT TACTICS THAT WORK

Although deer hunters have used scents to outsmart many bucks over the years, most of the interest in using scents to attract animals originated with the trapping of mink, foxes, beavers and raccoons. In fact, a lot of guys made good money by trapping. Trapping was not only something they looked forward to each fall and winter, it was their main cash source.

Scents help attract deer to specific locations, position deer for a perfect shot, and hold the attention of deer so you can draw your bow without being seen. Scents also help mask human odor.

We surveyed our top contributors, and here are five tactics they have found most effective on whitetails.

1. USE MOCK SCRAPES

Mock scrapes soared in popularity after Charles Alsheimer first wrote about doctoring scrapes with “White Lightning” (estrous cow urine) in a 1979 issue of Deer & Deer Hunting.

It took a few years to catch on, but the tactic was eventually tried by millions of hunters. Unfortunately, many of those guys simply gave up after trying it.

Most who gave up on mock scrapes did so because they were making them in the wrong places at the wrong