Do deer scents, calls, and lures really work?

Or are they just a way to part wannabe deer hunters like myself with their money?

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Have no clue if they work.. Never used them, nor needed too..
Learn their habits i.e. food source, water source, bedding areas and movement to and from these places and you won't have to part with money. well except the cost of the bullet/arrow/bolt and tag

The answers to your 2 questions
Sometimes
and
Definitely yes.

Yes they work, I use fox pee, mainly to mask my scent, but to tell you the truth, during the rut a buck loves nothing more than a fight, rattling is your best bet.............

It's all kind of a mixed bag. There were a few years when I was REALLY careful with the scent blocker stuff. Had two bucks straight down wind that never knew I was there.

I think rattling tends to work if there are a high number of bucks to does, and if it is a more dominant buck rather than a smaller one. Small bucks can get chased off if they think a big boy is in the area.

I've seen times when a buck will cross a scent trail, then turn and follow it.

Everything works sometimes and never works all the time. To me, scent control is the #1 thing. I don't even walk thru the woods I hunt. I set up on the outside and wait for the deer to pass. Every time you walk thru or touch against anything, it leaves scent. Maybe the small does won't care, but a big buck will (unless it's in the rut). You walk thru the bedding area once and they're gone. Usually no second chance.

You bet they work!

I've killed many a deer that had it's nose against a scent lure. I've also rattled many a buck up.

When you hear them snorting and stamping, that's the time to start rattling. Give a few tentative rattles at first, and then work your way up to a real battle, then stop, wait a few minutes and start over.

They work during the rut. I was using Golden Estrus and a doe bleat call last Saturday and had small buck come running with his nose too the ground like a bloodhound. Later a nice buck came out from behind me about 5 yards from the Golden Estrus giving me a good 20 yard shot.

I use a predator call (cottontail rabbit) for a few sounds. Fawn bleats will bring does, and their bucks closer, a louder blast will stop them for a shot.

I just started hunting with cover scent and estrous doe scent, along with a grunt, last season. I took a load of s*** from the old timers I hunt with, but I was the only one who brought home a buck. I can't honestly say I can attribute it to any of the above though . . .

Both can absolutely work.
As far as scents go, even if you can't seem to attract bucks to it, at the very least, they can sure come in handy for stopping them where you want them.

As far as calls go, I've both rattled in inferior bucks that seemed to be looking for a fight, and on the other hand, have practically turned seemingly dominant bucks inside out trying to get away from a snort wheeze.
Both calls and scents are definitely another rewarding layer of hunting.

If used at the proper time they will work. Using doe in estrus scent a month before the rut is probably not a good idea. Dominant buck lure has never worked for me other than to spook deer. Rattling can work but it has to be done at the right time of year or all you do is alert the deer to your presence. By far the best for me is a basic old grunt. I have called bucks to me from 100 yards and had them come in all stiff legged with ears back looking for trouble. I have watched bucks come on a string to a basic grunt and I have seen them look in my direction and ignore me completely. I have seen deer follow my scent trail with nose to the ground and then seen another deer bolt when they crossed my trail.

If you figure out what they are thinking you will be an instant billionaire.

They are incredibly effective at separating hunters from their money. Other than that no not really.

Now scents and lures sold at trapping shops fur bearers work pretty well. The doe in lust or refined pee crap no I don't think so.

Don't bother with scent or lures unless you are hunting during the rut. If you want to try some scents/lures without spending too much wait until after deer season and buy them for next year.
That being said, I've never seemed to need them. I just look for deer sign and the biggest stand of oak trees I can find and wait.

Yes they work, if you use them at the right time. Like Vern Humphrey said, wait for them to start rattling first. Simulating a buck fight in the middle of January won't do anything but make your hands tired. Rattling during the rut may well bring in some bucks.

Cover scents are a whole different animal (in my opinion) than scent eliminating stuff. I think the former (masking) works while the latter (elimination) is a marketing gimmick. Ask any farmer who's also a der hunter and they'll tell you they hang their hunting coats etc. in the barn. Animal scent to mask human scent. And unscented laundry soap so you don't smell like "spring fresh daisies" in the middle of December.

I've never been able to get a deer to come to grunt call, but I did use one to get a walking deer to stop long enough for a trigger squeeze one time. Last year I used Harmon triple heat sprayed on my boot, and a buck walked down the same trail I did, right until I shot him. He may have been going to take that trail, anyway, who knows? It might sound silly to some, but I often walk through a few piles of horse manure, and give one of my horses a good hug and petting on the way to my stand.

I've killed a lot of deer over the years and never used calls. Last year I decided to try a grunt call and killed my biggest buck ever. It was very clear he came to the grunt call. He came out of a thicket looking to fight. Could be a fluke, I don't know. Never had much luck with scents.

Everything works on the shows when they are hunting private game preserves. Save your money and do your homework and get out and look for trails, rubs and scrapes.

Years ago I had some prop in the country and the next door neighbor has a white acorn tree. I got on my hands and knees and collected acorns (30 paper bags worth) thinking this will draw them in. went out the week before and dumped them in a pile and spent opening weekend watching an armadillo push them out of the way for the mushrooms growing around them

Point being you can't change patterns just work with them

My son in law Damn near got mounted a few weeks ago after putting some Doe Estrous on his boots.. Heard a twig snap behind him and about 15' away was a 4x4.. He turned and shot.. He had scouted the area for a while and had seen this Buck on his game cam.. But he said he was making all sorts of noise and was walking when this thing came up behind him..

Pat4x4 said:

My son in law Damn near got mounted a few weeks ago after putting some Doe Estrous on his boots.. Heard a twig snap behind him and about 15' away was a 4x4.. He turned and shot.. He had scouted the area for a while and had seen this Buck on his game cam.. But he said he was making all sorts of noise and was walking when this thing came up behind him..

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LOL... that's why the label warns you not to apply the scent to your clothing...

Kinda wish he would have got mounted.. Would have made for a hell of a story!! llol

As with any product of this type, the stage of deer activity and the mindset of the individual deer will make a big difference in the result. I've seen about every sort of response imaginable from the same product over a span of time. One day, the bucks follow the scent right up to your boots and the next, are spooked out of the area by similar scents. A whole herd of bucks may run to the sound of clashing antlers or retreat at the first click of the rattle bag.
While hunting from a stand where I have a long field of view,I've rattled a buck in from 1/2 mile like he was on a string and grunted another from 400 yards to shooting distance. On the other hand, I've watched bucks duck their heads and scoot away from the same sounds.
Most likely, some are fight winners and some are fight losers.

I hunt from a 4x6 wooden stand on a five foot metal platform. The deer trails come all directions right past my stand and funnel down to a clearing directly to my feeder 50 yards away. The deer come so close to my stand that if I were not elevated I could reach out and slap them. I have been using scent killer for that reason. They never give any hint of catching my scent. I can't imagine they would come that close if I were not masking my scent.

I also hung some estrus doe urine sticks in the trees by my feeder this season for the first time. This is my third season at this new location, and I have seen three of the largest bucks ever seen on our 200 acres and was able to take one of them two weekends back. Two of the bucks came in hard during full rut and were snorting up a storm.

I have to think the secent killer and the estrus contributed to my success to some degree.

Grunt calls most definately work well if used properly. I suggest the Extinguisher model which comes with instructional DVD.

CODE BLUE is an estrus attractant that also works well for brief periods of the rut.

TR

hmmmm.....

303tom said:

Yes they work, I use fox pee, mainly to mask my scent, but to tell you the truth, during the rut a buck loves nothing more than a fight, rattling is your best bet.............

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Well, there is one other thing he loves better.