John's Journal...

Avoid the Common Mistakes Bowhunters Make When Hunting Deer

Day 4: Bowhunters Need to Know Where to Put Deer Lure and How to Use Deer Scents

Editor’s Note: Bowhunting for deer already has begun in some states and starts in numerous states during October. Good bowhunters can be better hunters if they don’t commit sins that decrease their odds for bagging any deer, especially trophy deer. This week, we’ll look at five of the most-common mistakes even good bowhunters – sportsmen who have taken several deer and who have hunted for 4 or 5 years – make.

Click for Larger ViewBowhunters are very excited about all the new lures and scents on the market today. However, many good hunters don’t understand the difference in a cover-up scent and a deer lure. A cover-up scent or a masking scent is used to help disguise human odor and is not meant to attract deer. Therefore, these scents are best pinned-to, poured-on or wiped-over the sportsman’s outer clothing. A deer lure is a substance that’s made and designed to attract deer. In other words, when the deer smells the lure, the deer is supposed to come-in looking for whatever gives off that odor. For example, a lure like doe-in-estrus is produced for the hunter to put around his stand to hopefully cause a buck to come into the area searching for the estrus doe that’s urinated in that spot. If the buck comes in looking for the doe, and the hunter has put buck lure on his body, then the deer will be looking for the hunter. The deer’s nose shows the deer’s eyes where to search for the critter that gives-off the odor. If a hunter in a tree stand smells like an estrous doe, that buck will come-in and look-up that tree for the doe that surely must have climbed it. He’ll spot the hunter, spook and run.

Click for Larger ViewTo use a buck lure effectively, place the buck lure on the ground or at eye level to the deer. Then when the buck comes in, he’s looking at the lure and not at the hunter. Another mistake a bowhunter makes with buck lure is he or she places it on his feet, the soles of his shoes or the cuffs of his pants and then walks into the woods. If a deer crosses that path and smells the lure, and the hunter is facing into the wind and has walked into the wind to go to his stand, then when the buck follows that lure scent, he will walk-up behind the hunter, look-up into the tree where the strongest scent is coming from and spot the archer. If you’re planning to utilize any type of scent on the soles of your feet or the cuffs of your pants, be sure it’s a cover-up scent. Only put-out buck lure where you want the buck to show-up, and only place it in a spot where you want him to look.

Tomorrow: Bowhunters May Not Understand When to Rattle for Deer


Check back each day this week for more about "Avoid the Common Mistakes Bowhunters Make When Hunting Deer"

Day 1: Don’t Be Too Anxious and Overzealous When Bowhunting Deer
Day 2: Don’t Wait for Perfect Hunting Days or Perfect Hunting Weather When Bowhunting Deer
Day 3: A Bowhunter Always Needs to Be Aware of His Human Odor When Hunting Deer
Day 4:Bowhunters Need to Know Where to Put Deer Lure and How to Use Deer Scents
Day 5:Bowhunters May Not Understand When to Rattle for Deer

 

Entry 579, Day 4