vicks vaporub

[brubincam]

i heard once that deer are attracted to vicks vaporub anyone ever hear of this???

 

[shmrck1]

rubincam,
Sounds like :bull: to me, but I'm willing to listen!
snake-eyes :hmm:

 

[bigbore442001]

I have heard all kinds of stories about common household materials that are supposed to attract deer. I have heard of vanilla extract. I even heard one man who claimed Prince Albert pipe tobacco brought deer in.

In my opinion, what had happened was that by chance, someone used one of those methods and a curious deer happened to come by. Sort of a fluke that reinforces the belief.

I have found that the best thing to do is be as scent free as possible. Much of that is being downwind of the deer. I have stands that I will not hunt unless the wind is blowing in a certain direction.

 

[Wehrmacht]

There really is something to the Vanilla angle.Vanilla seems to attract about everything that makes a living in the woods,tho I doubt that it affects deer nearly as much as,say,coons,bear,coyote,etc. Over the years I've worked on quite a few wildlife management projects....some with federal agencies and always on a contract basis....and vanilla is frequently used as a lure in trapping. Coon,for example,are easily caught with vanilla waffers as trap bait. I do know that it will perk a deer's interest,but I doubt to the same degree as a scavenger.

I use Mexican vanilla in my scent drags,and I use a spray bottle to lightly spray my clothing,and I think it helps hide my human odor. Anise extract is another one that,through experience, I'll go out on a limb and say works. But I concur with you that IF you can remain odor free in the woods you will have better luck seeing wildlife and getting that lucky shot :thumbsup:.

Sometimes really soon I'm going to dampen my Ghillie suit with Mexican vanilla and see what happens :rotf:.

 

[bigbore442001]

Hmm. That is food for thought. I wonder if it works in areas that are heavily hunted? I figure the best method is to remain as invisible as possible in places with a lot of hunters.

 

[CrackStock]

I have found that a scent set up at a distance from you can help make the deer pause in that area, but that a scent on you creats interest in your direction that I would just as soon avoid.

My grandfather used to toss apple peals where he
wanted deer to look to set up his shot. He took a lot of deer (his last at age 87) so I figure that he knew what he was doing.

CS

 

[Slake]

many years ago I went to some scenes where there was burnt dead people, we used vicks in our nostrils to keep us from smelling the bodies...vicks always reminds me of burnt dead bodies...thus I don't like it very much...I would not use it
To mask your scent use what grows naturally, keep your clothes away from the smokers. I hunt in the northeast where wintergreen and various pines grow well. I like to use wintergreen in my pockets or a couple of cedar twigs

 

[Slamfire]

I knowed a feller oncet, who claimed that urinatin' outa his tree stand was a sure fire deer attractant. I never tried it either! :rotf:

 

[bob1961]

i heard once that deer are attracted to vicks vaporub anyone ever hear of this???

i think we would see it on sporting good store shelves if it were true :rotf: ...........bob

 

[Slowpoke]

Basically unpressured deer are curious by nature. I have a buddy that has a plantation on the Santee in S.C. These deer see very little pressure and this year the smell of a sausage biscuit in my pocket drew a family of deer to my tree. I was only hunting 10 foot off the ground because of the Spanish moss and these deer walked right up to my tree, tilted their heads, and looked at me. I also have a buddy that hunts in S.Dakota that uses WD-40 as a cover scent. After he leaves his truck he sprays from hat to Boots in the stuff. Anyway, what I'm saying is most people hunt in high pressure areas so you need to do everything you can to blend in with the surroundings. If I were hunting in a hospital I'd probably use Vicks, but in a Barber Shop.... definitely go with the aqua velva. :grin:

 

[paulvallandigham]

There are covering, or " masking " scents, and then there are attractants. The two should not be confused. You can cover your own scents by simply neutralizing the smell of city odors by washing your clothes with some baking soda. Then each time you leave your car, or truck, take a handful of baking soda( Yes, take a box of Arm and Hammer with you in the car!) and bruxh from your crotch down. That is the deer's scent zone, not above it. You can wear rubber boots and tuck your pant legs in them so you don't drop dead skin on the ground from your legs with each step. That will pretty much cover your scent. There are dead skins cells that come off your hand, and your neck and head, but they spread more widely on the wind currents as you are moving. You can wear gloves, and a hooded sweatshirt with the cowl up works well to trap much of the dandruff that would normally flow off the back of your head and nape of neck as you walk. Short of covering your entire face, its next to impossible to keep from loosing some dead skin cells to the ground as you walk.

As for attractants, which is what this post began talking about, it depends on where you are hunting, the temperatures, and what game you are trying to attract. I will use doe-in-heat scent on the insteps of my boots when I am walking into the woods to my stand. I have had deer follow my scent attractants right up to me, so I know it works. I like the idea of the drag for hunting bear, although that 3 mile walk in the woods would be more than my back will currently allow me to do. Be sure to check the regulations in your state concerning the use of baits.

 

[djnye]

i have noticed over the years that deer like to bed down in sweetgrass with its distinctive vanilla odor. in addition, i have seen deer fight over tobacco.

take care, daniel

 

[Blizzard of '93]

You better be armed for what if a large black bear figgers you for a walking vanilla wafer

 

[Blizzard of '93]

I know for fact that scrubbing apples against trees in the area of your stand does work when still hunting around a water source, trail, food source or a scrape. But keep in mind the wind path- that is where the scent will go.
Mow this one is hilarious and no offense meant at all. My neighbor hunts timber company land near an old farm in Elbert County Ga., deer are like rabbits there, and told me that he met an Indian there that hung his wifes discarded kotexes in a bush to bring in rutting bucks. I expressed dis-belief but he insisted on the truth of it. But I've joked w/him so much that I have some doubt as to the veracity of this practice.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Blizzrd: The attractant in Doe-in-heat scents is estrogen- the same hormones found in females of both deer and humans. His practice of hanging his wife's sanitary napkins in trees to attract bucks is a sound one, and works. I took my wife hunting, and her period started opening day. The second day, she was in a deadfall tree watching some botttom land along the river, where we had found the tracks of a huge buck that walked ahead of us the late afternoon of the day before, as I scouted for a new place for her to hunt. Within minutes of there being enough daylight to see, that huge buck came into her stand his nose in the wind, sniffing her.she missed a shot at 20 yds, shooting under him, then missed a second shot at the same distance, again shooting under him, and then missed her third shot as he ran up a small hill, shooting over his back. I saw him, and her last two shots. He was really interested in her, and just stood there trying to figure out why a doe in heat would be making that noise at him!

The practice might be messy, but saving those sanitary napkins in a couple of plastic bags in your frieezer to use during the deer season might just bring home the venison for you. If you freeze them, and keep them wrapped until you get where you want to hang them, there should not be any offensive odors for you to smell either at home, or in the truck or car on the way to your stand.

 

[buckknife]

A couple of the biggest bucks i have shot with a bow where taken from a scrapes i made that were started with my own whiz.When pee hits the soil and sets for a day it gives off a amonia smell just like any other pee.Deer are usally snooping around in the scrape within a week,doe and buck.The trick is to make the scrape about 3 foot around and make sure it is under a tree branch that the buck can rub his glands on.About 5 to 6 foot off the ground under the tip of the branch.
That will get them started in the scrape you made but being there at the right time is the hard part,most times they are visited during the night or very early morning.Once the scrap was started good for about 2 weeks i would then put a scent dripper with active scrap above the scrape.What this does is drip scent only when it starts to warm during the day and stops at night when it cools[url] down.In[/url] warm weather like 70 degrees it will drip none stop.By having it drip only during the day time this may and can bring a buck in day light hours.Works sometimes and sometimes it dont.Your stands needs to be located about 40 yards from the scrape.When the scent dripper is being used its almost like there afraid to get too close to the scrape.Chicken theres a bigger buck around that may be looken for a fight.I got a 10 pointer that scored 148 net points 5 foot from my 8 foot off the ground stand stomping his hoof and looken at the scrape for what seemed like forever,was probably 30 seconds.If id had a blackpowder rifle instead of a bow i would have turned him gray from the smoke most likely :haha: Maybe even burned some hair off.
I had one person tell me that my pee would scare deer off.I told him fine use your pee.He made a scrape and put a trail cam up and had a pic of a nice 150+ buck with his nose right in the scrape.I know people who run scrapes all year around and they take some humongus[url] bucks.In[/url] the off season they just take a whiz in them to keep them freshend up.
The first time i discovered that whiz works is when sitting on a deer run one day i had to go bad,so i went behind a nearby tree and covered it up with leaves.Well i went back 2 days later and after sitting a while i had to go again.Went behind the same tree and low and behold there was a scrap exactly where i had took a whiz with deer prints in it.
I dont really do much so called trophy hunting anymore but i did make a couple of scrapes 3 weeks ago.Havnt been back to freshen em up with my own whiz and dont have any scent drippers out,but i did see some small bounry line scrapes not far away from where i made mine.I will be in place tomorrow morning before the sun is up opening day of early muzzle loader season with my 54 gpr in hopes that maybe someone will pay my scrape a visit.If not then maybe later i can find one the local brute has made himself.If i dont score this weekend i will most likely shoot the first doe i see next week end :winking:

 

[Robert58]

Slowpoke

I don't know about aqua velva. But I read an article in Perterson's Hunting, 20 years ago that talked about Brute aftershave. They said that it would cover your scent and the smell didn't bother deer.

But the lardest part, is convincing your wife that you really are going Deer Hunting.

Robert

 

[RC]

I had some Ben Gay on one day,fer my bad leg,,,I just got an ole doe with a bad back to come in....go figure... :winking: RC

 

[Blizzard of '93]

If F.Lee Bailey shoots a muzzler this board would be a good place for him, remember the TV show he had back in the early sixtys named 'Lie Detector' :rotf: