Scent Trail Techniques: Fooling Mature Bucks

Entered by Gary Howey

Former tournament angler, hunting and fishing guide. Inducted into the National Freshwater Fishing "Hall of Fame" in 2017. Active member of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW), Past Executive Director (AGLOW). Howey has been an outdoor communicator since 1980 with his award winning syndicated "Of the Outdoors" columns appearing in magazine, newspapers, and tabloids throughout he upper Midwest and nationally.

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THE GAMEKEEPERS OF MOSSY OAK

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November 22, 2017

When leaving a scent trail in a straight line you’ve only got a fifty-fifty chance the buck will follow the trail in your direction. Half of the time they follow it in the wrong direction, even with a real doe’s trail. They’re searching for the “goodies” at the end of the trail so even if they do follow it in the wrong direction, when they get to where you started the trail and don’t find what they’re looking for, sometimes they’ll follow it back in your direction. It might not happen immediately; a buck may come back several hours later and follow the trail back the opposite way. In fact, some bucks will go back and forth several times on a scent trail, so if a buck crosses your trail and heads the wrong way, don’t give up hope

Figure 8 Scent Trail

A cure-all for this problem is a figure-8 scent trail. Create your scent trail in a large figure 8 and place yourself downwind of the intersection of the 8. This way regardless of where the buck cuts the trail or which way he follows it, eventually he’ll wind up in front of you. You have to use your judgment; this may or may not be the best way for you to leave a trail. Maybe you’ll make too much of a commotion or contaminate the area too much with human scent to make this tactic work properly, but this method has fooled mature bucks time and time again.

For more whitetail tips read “GameKeeper Quick Tips: Leftover Scent & Lures”. If you have lures and scent left over from whitetail hunting season that haven’t been opened, they can often be stored until next year. Keep them in a cool, dark place and sometimes they can last several years. Oxygen, UV light and heat are all elements that deteriorate real urine-based scents.

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