As we wind down our whitetail season here in Texas, I've had some time to reflect on the good, the bad and the silly mistakes that I've made this season. And, for now, I'll spare you about the bad and the silly mistakes, because who wants to hear those, right? But I will share one thing that's been working wonders for me lately, and that's layering whitetail scents during throughout the season. For something that's extremely simple, I don't think enough hunters are using this technique out in the field and trust me, you should.
For as long as I can recall, I've always carried a bottle of scent in my pack. From some type of estrus, to buck urine to one that made my gear smell like an apple orchard, I've always been a believer when it comes down to it. It's the one little thing that we can do as hunters to peak the interest of a passing buck. When it comes right down to it, all you need is to change his mind just that one time to come explore your area, so why not take the 3 extra minutes before you jump in the blind or climb into your stand to put out a scent wick with some lure?
This year, I took a different approach when setting out my whitetail scents. An approach that I almost always take when I'm in the kitchen cooking; and that's called, layering. In the kitchen layering spices on top of one another throughout different points of the cook brings a ton of depth and flavor. So, why not do the same when cooking up a recipe to shoot the buck of your dreams, right?
Now look, I'm not saying that this is the "secret sauce" to finally landing that monster buck that you've been after, but I will say that it could just be the difference to lure him into your spot for that shot that you've been waiting for, especially if he's been elusive up to this point. So here's my advice, in the early season keep your mock scrapes scented up at all times. Bucks will be checking them, and as the rut nears that frequency will increase while they're cruising for hot does. In that same area, spray some calming scent out on a couple of wicks. This combo of scents makes this area seem popular for both does and bucks vs. just a singular mock scrape.
As the rut nears, it's time to pull out the big guns; the stuff that I seem to almost always spill on some portion of my clothes each year, doe estrus. When used at the right time, this stuff is deadly and I mean really deadly. Depending on the spot, I'll usually dip a scent drag is some Peak Estrus by Outdoor Hunting Lab and then hang that very same drag up when I get to my spot. On top of this, I'll spray another wick with multi-buck urine to build the story that not only is there a hot doe in the area, but also other dominant bucks. This very combination was the one that worked for me this season by luring out the buck that I had been after since the start in October.
Again, this isn't rocket science, it's just tweaking the recipe. So, experiment with your lures and scents and find a winning combination that turns up the heat on your spot.
