would using doe estrous during bow season hurt
- Thread starter white32
- Start date
UTGrad
Well-Known Member
I will let others chime in but I wouldn't use it. Just try to reduce your scent, find a good spot, sit still and be quiet.
I use trails end 307. I havent tried doe in estrus early but I have had some good luck with it during Nov and Dec.
TNDeerGuy
Well-Known Member
I have never seen a doe come into estrous during bow season and all you will be doing would be to alerting other deer that something isn't right. Scents are a complete waste of money in my opinion�all of these hunting shows are 30 minute product infomercials that are geared to helping seperate hunter's money away from our wallets. Use terrain features such as funnels and choke points in popular traveled areas to greatly increase your chances while reducing your scent as much as possible by using the wind.
You dont think it would help you chances to put the smell of a doe in estrus in funnel areas and choke points? What smell is a buck looking for during November?TNDeerGuy said:
Have any of you guys ever used scents? I really think your missing out but to each his own!
Elmer
Well-Known Member
Only do it if you want to increase yoir odds at a big buck the two weeks leading up to lockdown. If you dont want to then do not use.
Vermin93
Well-Known Member
In his books Greg Miller talks about using doe urine instead of doe in estrous. He has had good success with doe urine. He basically says that doe urine in Sep/Oct is natural, while doe in estrous in Sep/Oct is not.
Vermin93
Well-Known Member
white32 said:
You'll have to decide for yourself, but here's what one guy has to say on the subject.
Get More Deer to Follow You to Your Tree Stand by Marty Prokop
This is from Greg Miller's book "Aggressive Whitetail Hunting", published in 1994.
"Deer urine: the smell of success
Until four years ago, I shunned any type of cover scent when hunting for trophy whitetails, simply because I hadn't found any cover scent that didn't alarm deer. I had tried coyote, bobcat, fox and even skunk scents. And I'd seen instances in which each of these scents had put whitetails instantly on alert.
In my opinion, nothing could be more reassuring or instill confidence in deer like the smell of other deer. So for years I had insisted that if someone wanted to devise an effective cover scent for whitetails, the should bottle pure deer urine.
During the late 1980s, Larry Harris of Bruce, Wisconsin, decided to do just that. He gave me a bottle of the urine scent to try a few years ago and the results were nothing short of phenomenal.
Bucks, does and fawns all seem enamored by the urine-based scent. What I really like, however, is that the scent does double duty as both a cover and an attractant. Also, I'm very impressed that, to this day, I've not see one deer go on the alert after smelling the scent. In fact, the scent seems to have a calming, confidence-instilling effect on whitetails.
It's very important to remember that using cover scents and odor-killing sprays never is an excuse to hunt a stand when the wind is blowing from a compromising direction. Also, the use of such products, no matter how good you may think they are, is not an excuse to forego keeping both your body and clothing in an odor-free state."
TNDeerGuy
Well-Known Member
timberjack86 said:
You kinda answered your own question with your first�if you have a natural funnel or a choke point, why do you need to add anything because they are already going to be traveling through there�anything you add will only alert them to something that is not supposed to be there. Another way to look at it is, your main tool is to hunt the wind. Now your facing into the wind, and you have the scent placed out in front of you, only the deer that pass between you and the scent "station" will be smelling it�if they pass behind you, or you put the scent behind you, then you may not see them or they are going to wind you as they pick up the scent. Last thought, urine starts changing as soon as it is exposed to air so unless they harvest the estrous scent while still inside the deer it is not going to be the same. Plus, how do you know that the estrous scent you are buying is from a whitetail and not from a red deer, sitka, etc...., or one of the many other farm deer�and that "estrous" scent will be from the previous season and will not have run over the tarsal glands anyway. Early in my hunting adventures I used just about every scent you could think of, only to realize that I was doing alot more harm than good! Not saying that you may get a positive reaction out of that one deer in a hundred, but what about the other 99 that have "busted" your area because you placed something that wasn't supposed to be there.
Ultimately, it is your decision but personally I wouldn't do it, and don't do it�especially when it comes from a talking head wannabe salesman/hunter from a "hunting" show.
cozy23
Well-Known Member
white32 said:
I think it would be more like a cover/calming scent early in the season. I get a little doe pee and put it on my boots. Last year I had a deer come sniff my ladder for about 5 min right after I climbed up one morning. It was so dark I could'nt see what it was.
I think they work for cover scents. IMO.
First, don't pay any attention to hunting shows. I know there is not much on tv these days to choose from, but I'll watch Elmer Fudd before I watch a 'pro' hunt. Next, save your money and don't pay for doe pee. You want to attract a big buck, during rut, lay a doe down and wait for him to come in.
UTGrad
Well-Known Member
jb3 said:Also, if you want to buy pee, I can sell you mine. It's a little cheaper and works just as well.
LOLOLOLO
TNDeerGuy
Well-Known Member
Very true�around the rut, a dead doe is the best bait there is for a roaming buck looking for lovejb3 said:
jb3 said:Also, if you want to buy pee, I can sell you mine. It's a little cheaper and works just as well.
Funny as heck, but also true!
whistlinwingman
Well-Known Member
I've played with scents a few times. To my knowledge they do not work where I hunt. They may have peeked some curiousity in a 1.5 y.o. buck but that is it.
This isn't to say they won't were you hunt but I have zero confidence in them and will not use them. Not even in the rut. I feel I would scare more mature deer off than bring them in.
This isn't to say they won't were you hunt but I have zero confidence in them and will not use them. Not even in the rut. I feel I would scare more mature deer off than bring them in.
Winchester
Well-Known Member
You will very likely get about the same reaction in bow season as you do any other month of the year!
I don't use scents.. Never had any luck with them.Think about it,you can buy the same scents you buy during deer season in July..Just think how long they have been in those bottles..Can't be good.
bswarchery
Well-Known Member
I wizzed off my climber last year and watched a buck walk in straight to it a couple hours later,,, needless to say he was in the freezer that night! Maybe I ought to bottle my "cover scent" and market it!!... lol
tasaman
Well-Known Member
Not me. Doe urine sure but not estrous.
oldmanelrod
Well-Known Member
TNDeerGuy said:
100% right on target TNDeerGuy!
timberjack86 said:
Myself I don't use any cover scent at all. Post some pics of mature deer you have taken using scent. I'm not saying a mature buck cant be killed using scents. I just think my odds are better having the least amount of scent at all of any kind.
Mike Belt
Well-Known Member
If your goal is to kill a mature buck then you're probably cutting your own throat using estrous scent. For that matter even during the rut you're not likely to use it and get away with it. It can be done then but the odds are against you. A young buck can be fooled prtty easy depending on how much pressure he's had and how much association he's had with scents and hunters in the past.
