tsoc

I am interested for those "believers" in the use of lure to hear about the drag rag strategies that you have been found to be successful.What scents you use or which combination of scents as the season goes through it's stages.What you do to make sure a trailing buck follows the scent trail in the right direction.
Thank you

BobCo19-65

To tell you the truth, I have only had small bucks follow a drag rag.

I don't usually don't dothis anymore. Most of the stands that I use, I approach from behind so I don't really want to use a drag. And remember, no matter how hard you try, you will be leaving some human scent along with the drag. A deer can detect something like seven different scents at once. So chances are that if the deer has his noise to the ground and is following a drag, at some point he will realize there is also human scent.

TimmyT0205

Just recently I bought some Tink's buck lure. Before I walked out to my hunting stand, I poured some of it on a rope, attached the rope to my pant leg, and walked out, leaving the rope where I wanted to shoot at. Right before dark, a small buck found the scent line, and it was like a magnet! He walked right to my string. After that, I'm a believer.

shed33

I rarely used a rag, but Iwould pour buckfever synthetics over my rubber boots on my way into a stand once November rolls around. One time I walked into a stand using this method and I was hunting a big bucks known bedding area...I had found his sheds in itfor two seasons...anyway...I rattled that evening and at dusk a big mature heavy bodiedbuck showed up. He never did give me a clear shot as hecarefully checked the wind.... he milled around me and scent checked me several times from downwind, then it got dark.... I waited well after dark and walked out as carefullyas I could in the 3 inches of fresh snow...I thought I was out there when he suddenly blew up behind me and snorted his arse off at me... I felt like he was saying to me... HAAAA I busted you....

Next day I come back... and see huge whitetail buck tracks ...... TRACKING ME back to my quad that was parked almost a mile away..he flat out walked in my tracks the entire way..right in my footsteps.... I am convinced to this day that ole buck knew there was some human odor involved and then was patterning me under the cover of darkness... Call me nuts....but this bucks was very ghostly and almost 100% nocturnal in his movements... without snow I would have never known what he had done...

Now I will just mist a trail in when I reach the area I want to or hope to get a bucks attention..I use a spray bottle.. hitting vegetation a about a bucks nose level.. 3 feet off the ground.. and I will hit the ground too with the spray...

ahunter55

I have been auser of Scents & making scent trails longer than I can remember. This is my 49th year of Bowhunting Biggame.
I do not use coverup scents only sex scents. I use Tinks 69 & Buckstops Doe in heat. I use an old sock that I wash (without soap) & hang outside.When I get ready to use I put in a zip lock bag with some scent on it.I slip1/2 thesock over the toe of my boot with 1/2 of the sock hanging over. When I get to where I want to start my scent trail I douse it with lure & as I walk let the loose end flop & go under my boot leaving the scent-I add a few drops every few feet to the sock.. I put the trails so that IF a Deer crosses & is out of range or not where he needs to be for me to get a shot (Hope he will follow it). I then hang the sock where I want to shoot. I have had every kind of Buck you can imagine come to that exact spot-some I have passed on & others not. 8 point 196# field dressed, 10 point 205# field dressed (P&Y), big 7 point 172# field dressed & several others. I have all the confidence in the world in what I do with the scent trails. I have never had a Buck or Doe spook from these scents. I have had them ignore them at times. I have video of a doe follow the scent trail right to my tree, lick my step & then walk to my brothers stand following the trail where he shot her. I had a little 6 point rub his horns on my stand less than 8 feet below me after following the scent trail.I have many stories & some interesting video of some of these instances. I have taken several Bucks with their nose on my sock.When I climb down I put the sock in it's bag & leave in my trunk-reusing it everytime I go out-It sure is a scent bomb b/4 I take my Buck BUT it works for me. I have tried other Doe Pee's & Sex scents over the years from other companies but the 2 mentioned have always been good. Pete Ricards is very good also. Good luck in what you decide. Some photos of a few past Deer my brother & I took from our socks.

tschammel

A hunter55 adds an important not. As you walk to your tree keep adding scent to it. Try and make it stronger little by little on the way to your tree or the deer will follow it the wrong way once he finds the trail. Thier nose is so good that they can tell by scent strength which way the deer is moving.

HuntmDown

Scent trails are great. You can pull bucks in from any direction, even upwind of your stand. Some guys lay scents with acorn scent, vanilla, etc. but I have a hard time picturing a mature buck following an acorn trail. I think it'sa fantastic, pre-rut strategy to be used with doe scents when bucks are searching. Your concern about having the buck follow the trail the wrong direction is a real problem though. Here's my advice.

1. I believe the best way to go is to start out at your stand and then walk an in a path that's kinda like an hour glassshape with your stand at the necked down portion, if you can picture that. So, however they pick up the trail, they'll end up heading toward your stand. Try to cross places a buck would look fortrails of hot does, like feeding areas etc. Head out a good hundred yards or so from your stand and then circle back.

2. Because you are walking through your hunting area, I think it's better to set up scent trails for afternoon hunts rather than stumbling around in the dark, spooking deer etc. in the pre-light morning.

3. Because you're using scents and even more so because you're walking through the area you're hunting, you need to really minimize your human odor so use good attention to detail in your scent control program. One tactic that helps is to use a six foot or so stick and hang your scent pad or rag from a string tied to the end. Hold the stick off to the side of you so the scent trail you're laying isn't on top of your own. That's the way I was taught to do it. It's a bit of a pain but I think it does add a little margin of safety. Get the rag or pad to bounce off vegitation as well as on the ground. That gets the scent into the air a little better.

4. Some guys use a straight doe in heat urine, some a combo of doe in heat and tarsal gland, etc. My recommendation is to use a doe in heat urine with interdigial gland because that's what an actual hot doe's trail would smell like. I carry and use Jackie's Scent Trail Maker but there are other good brands as well. I am a firm believer that the more accurate the scents are that you use the more likely mature deer are to believe what they smell. A button buck may come into new car smell or whatever, but a mature buck is a lot more suspicious.

5. Hang the drag rag upwind of the scent trail where you have a good clear shooting lane. That will help stop the buck at the right spot.

Good luck!

Buck Huntin Girl

Good posts... I read that it is best to start at your stand as well because the scent is strongest at your stand and the buck is much more likely to follow it in YOUR direction if you do so. I read to start at your stand, drag to where you desire, then turn around and backtrack right back to your stand. Also have read/been told to always leave the drag on the ground in the best possible position a deer could be for a shot. I'm still learning too, so this post helps me out as well.