Attracting or cover scents

[Pat B]

Reading the recent thread about baiting got me thinking...are attracting or cover scents considered baiting? I've used both. I've never had much luck with attracting scents like Doe in Heat, etc. The few times I tried them, at the appropriate time of year seemed to scare off deer or at least they become very alert and to me these scents are counter productive. I have used cover scents on my boots, specifically fox urine or fresh deer urine or even walking in a fresh cow pie on my way to the stand. With the fox pee I've had both foxes and deer follow my trail right to the stand but as far as estrus scents or dominant buck scent they seem to scare off most deer. I know that in some areas they can be very productive but do you consider them baiting?
 We all know that your best cover is using the air movement in your favor.

[Trenton G.]

I wouldn't consider using scents to be baiting anymore than I would consider using a call or rattling antlers baiting. I've never had a lot of success with scents, although I know people who have. I've used a drag rope before in the walk in and have had deer follow it before, but never anything that worked out.

[The Whittler]

Baiting = bait = food?

[Bowguy67]

Scents aren’t bait. I’ve killed a bunch of deer w em. I don’t touch them before I see a walk phase starting and I only use em a few times a year but they def work than

[Roger9070]

I wouldn't consider scents as baiting either.  I have had mixed results with scents from the deer totally ignoring them to the far fewer where they came right in.  With rut related scents my personal experiences have been mostly negative but on two occasions I pulled in two bucks, one small and one mature, otherwise it has been where they just ignored them or took off. That could have been from using them too soon or improperly but I have had enough negative reactions that I stopped using them altogether.  I think that hunting pressure has a lot to do with it as well.

Thanks,

Roger

[GCook]

I use Tinks Skunk oil for cover scent.  Heaven help you if the wind dies or changed direction when you've got a scent bottle hanging on a limb by you. I also use evercalm but although I have seen deer go up and sniff it when rubbed on a tree I mostly use it on my boots and my walk in trail seems less of an issue for them then.
I don't consider scents baiting.  But then again if it is legal I don't have an issue with baiting either. 
As far

[Pat B]

Like I said, for years I used fox pee or fresh cow pies on the soles of my hunting boots to cover my walk into my stand with good results. I even used scent eliminator spray on my cloths but I have no evidence it worked because a deer down wind will know you are there.
 I guess I was more curious about attracting scents like vanilla, apple, anise oil, corn and others. If throwing corn or apples out in front of your stand is baiting why wouldn't their scent used for the same reason not be. This is more of an antidote question than an inquisitive one. Just wondering why.
 I have no problem with others using whatever is legal while hunting or what they shoot. That's their business but I am curious about how others feel about this cover and attracting scents subject.
 Over the years I've rarely had the opportunity to hunt over a corn or soybean field but hunted thick woods of the Southeast US, the edges between the woods and coastal salt marshes, the edges between hardwoods and cane breaks or the edges between hardwoods and planted pines.. I hunted trails to and from bedding areas, to and from food plots but rarely on the food plot itself. I have relied on these well worn trails or the less obvious buck trails that paralleled them and in my experience the use of scents, cover or attracting scents has been more of a detriment than a help.

[GCook]

I've used vanilla before but with limited success.   I have had good success with scent control as long as I'm consistent using it.  Not saying it eliminates scent but the deer smell us all the time.  They know if we are close by or far enough away they aren't in danger.  The saturation of your scent in the air is what alerts them of that. 
Using a good scent control product and system cuts way back on scent and lessens the saturation level.  I often have deer down wind and they do not spook.
However pigs are a whole different story.

[Wudstix]

I’ve used cover scents, hunter soap in morning especially for my hair, wash my hunting clothes in baking soda and also sprinkled it in hair to minimize my odor.  Seems to work.
 

[Sam McMichael]

No, I don't consider cover scents or attractants to be baiting. I have used them with mixed results. I still like to use them just to see the reaction of the deer. While I have had deer respond favorably, I can't actually say that any of these directly resulted in me taking a deer. I don't care for baiting, even though it is now legal.

[Terry Green]

Rattled in Thanksgiving dinner....more than once.

Called in with grunt calls too many time to remember..... what a BLAST!!!!

Scents... Smokey's... ask Gene and Barry... those wicks are scary at times...

Scentloc clothing...a JOKE!

[Terry Green]

sorry....went off....

Best thing for scent reduction? Chlorafil... look it up.

[Terry Green]

[Wudstix]

So you just drink it ?
 

[Sam McMichael]

GCook makes a very valid point about skunk scent. On a calm day it can be rough. I once put out a whole bottle all close around my stand. As the sun came up the wind died totally away except for the updrafts as things warmed up. That may be my worst day hunting ever. So don't get too carried away with cover scent.

[Wudstix]

I stopped using skunk, if you think about it they spray when they’re alerted !!!
 

[Pat B]

That's my thoughts about skunk scent too, Wudstix.
The fox pee I used was given to my by a GA DNR agent. It seemed almost like a calming scent for animals. Like I said earlier I've had deer and fox follow me to my stand with their nose to the ground.

[Roger9070]

I agree the skunk scent is only there when something alerted or scared the skunk, I think it puts them on alert, but they will have one heck of time smelling you with that around.

Fox scent seems to work but both, foxes and deer seem to come right up to the tree and I've even seen the deer smell the tree steps where my buddy climbed the tree.  That could be a good thing if it's a nice buck or doe, but if it's a non-target deer they sometimes, mill around trying to figure out if the fox is still in the tree!

Rut or sex scents have been hit or miss for me, mostly miss but, I hunt on public land and,I think the deer have too many negative encounters for it to work well.  I have had a little better luck on private land, but it still freaks out the does a lot of times so I, don't use it much.

As for ScentLok, I think it can work, but not like they claim where you can forget the wind and hunt.  It's just that you have to spend a lot of time and energy to keep it clean.

I try to be as scent free as possible by washing with scent free soap and washing all my clothes with scent free soap from a month before the season starts till the end.  I also play the wind and don't hunt a stand unless I have a favorable wind for that area.

I also have a Scent Crusher bag that I use if I really sweat or want to treat my hunting clothes between washes, but I take the clothes out afterward and hang them so the ozone dissapates.  They do notice the ozone smell, and some mature deer will react negatively to it at times.

My goal is to reduce my scent profile as much as possible and be a ghost!  That way, if the deer do smell me, hopefully, they will think it's old or residual scent and give me enough time for a shot.

Thanks,

Roger

[Terry Green]

For the record, skunks always smell that way. Not just when alerted.  You guys make me wonder if y'all really ever spent that much time in the woods!!!

Female coon scent is probably best for your boots. Want to know more about cover scents???? Talk to trappers.

[Trenton G.]

I guess I've got to disagree there Terry. I've been around a lot of skunks, way more than I care to really lol. Some of them smell that way although obviously not as strong as when they spray, but some of them don't have any smell at all. I've walked outside and times and smelled them from 30 yards away, and at other times I've been skinning deer in the yard at night and looked down to have one right at my feet cleaning up the scraps without ever smelling it.
I've never used it as a cover scent, but I can see where it would work as long as not used heavily. I've used ScentLok clothing and  convinced that it works to a point. Obviously a deer downwind is still probably going to pick up on something but the clothing does seem to help a bit. Playing the wind is still the best bet for sure though.

I've walked through cow pies before but I think the deer kind of know that the cattle are generally not supposed to be in the woods.

When I was younger my dad convinced me that sour apple gum would attract them so I'd sit in the stand with him chewing on my gum and blowing in all directions lol.