Mid-summer brought several weeks of watching a mature doe nurture her young fawns. Each morning they traveled the same path below a hardwood ridge that transitioned into an area that consisted of balsam and pine before making their way up the ridge to browse. I had prepared six film canisters at home that contained five samples of vanilla extract with exactly one teaspoon of extract each. Canisters were placed to the side of the trail at roughly 15 foot intervals and held in place with moss and leaves. The sixth canister held a single drop of coyote urine and was also placed in sequence as the extract in a position where the deer would encounter the urine last on their daily travel. The reaction was as you might expect. Unsure about the vanilla extract they proceeded cautiously along the trail after a short pause to evaluate this new scent. They did not appear attracted nor did they appear overtly alarmed. With the doe in the lead they stopped several feet from the canister with a single drop of coyote urine and she raised her head slightly before the three of them made a hasty retreat into the swamp with the wind at their backs. Although this research cannot be completely controlled in this natural environment it did appear that there was a definite acceptance of the vanilla extract even though it was a foreign scent. I would also surmise that the coyote urine sample was quickly perceived in relation to danger at least by the mature doe by her actions of leading her fawns away from the area. It’s a harsh study that cannot be controlled on wild deer in a natural setting but it gives some insight into the trigger mechanism that allows a deer to distinguish and evaluate scent even in very miniscule amounts.

Although a masking scent of pine or spruce may not appear out of place in a natural forest setting always try to match your cover scents to those of your surroundings. Hardwoods scents of natural earth are very acceptable as the forest floor in these areas is in constant change throughout the year and often the chosen places for well-defined scraping activity. Deer scrapes and even turkey scratchings uncover fresh earth and are very strong in scent which can carry and sustain a sensory impact. Your earth scented masking scents can work both as a cover scent and an attractant in this case as bucks may investigate further.

When utilizing attractant scents pay attention again to your surroundings. Just because deer love apples doesn’t mean they will find you irresistible because you have inundated yourself with apple or similar food scents. For all intents and purposes the deer will probably pinpoint your location quickly due to the scent being so easily defined. As in the case with some hunters using actual bait such as apples, you could consider a complimentary scent but keep in mind that you would already have an abundant source of natural attractant scent on the ground. The situation is the same when using deer attractants such as a rutting or doe in heat scent. Although a buck is ready and can mate as soon as it sheds it’s velvet that doesn’t always make a doe in heat scent the perfect choice.

When using any scents whether they are masking or attractant be sure to clean your hunting clothes before venturing to a new hunting area. Simply spraying your hunting apparel with a new cover scent to match the current scenario does not rid the articles of clothing or mask it completely. You may smell like a pine forest to another human but to a deer you could still be sending out the scent of apples or acorns. All too often scents, whether they are attractant, cover, or masking scents, play a large role in the failure to fill you deer hunting tag.

Finding Your Deer
To be perfectly frank this is an area where a large majority of hunters will fail and many times this is due to lack of knowledge or sheer laziness. I’ve been on many tracking expeditions with fellow hunters who had turned their intention toward actually finding a deer rather than the sign leading up to the animal. This is most common, but obviously not only directed towards bowhunting for the very reason that deer seldom drop in sight even with proper arrow placement. I’ve met several hunters who had shot deer with a rifle and never pursued the animal simply because it didn’t appear wounded as it fled the scene after the shot. Stomping around in the woods looking for your deer usually will only serve to diminish, if not ruin, the actual evidence needed to complete the recovery process. I won’t go into this subject in any detail because I’ve already written an article on Tracking Wounded Deer but you can create a habit and general rule of thumb that will help you in the future.

Even if you watch your deer fall and expire, take the time to follow the trail it made and view the fresh bloodtrail. As redundant as it may sound this will provide insight of how blood splatters across leaves and grasses, tree trunks and branches, when a deer is wounded and moving. You watched the action take place and realize this deer was running full speed before slowing down and expiring. This will reflect in the blood you find on the ground and in turn serve it’s purpose in later hunts. The information is right there and should be viewed. Gather this fresh material either mentally or in a journal. Color of blood, evidence of deer hair, trajectory of blood, consistency of blood loss, and even lack of blood evidence can be distinguished during this moment.

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