I hope the corporate hunting industry doesn't catch wind of this...
Goodness. It seems these days you really have to buy a lot of gear in order to fill a deer tag. Wasn't it nice when all you needed was some warm flannel and a shotgun iron-sighted in to hit a pie plate at 50 yards? These days, if you don't have high-tech camo, an ATV, deer calls, an expensive tree stand and some fancy scope, you just don't stand a chance.
Well maybe you do, but you have to have an array of cover scents and attractants, right?
Some of that stuff is nice, but I have to stop you right there with those cover scents. In fact, I stopped using them altogether last season, and the results were somewhat shocking. After thinking about it, it's hard to imagine a $10.00 bottle of fancy water can fool 1,000,000 years of evolution, but I guess strangers things can happen.
This will now be year two of using absolutely no cover scents whatsoever while deer hunting. Absolutely nothing has changed at all other than I have more money in my wallet towards the end of the season. Now, I have to laugh at myself at all of the expensive cover scents I've sprayed on myself over the years believing I needed it, when in actuality, playing the wind is what makes the difference.
Using cover scents may have made me a more lazy hunter, as I never used to pay attention to the wind much. I was sure that $9.99 bottle of fancy water was going to fool the deer's nose into gun range. Well, it rarely ever worked, if at all. However, I was confident it would. With nothing at all but the wind to play, I have to pay a little more attention in the woods, but I feel it makes me a little more aware of my surroundings. In turn, I focus more on the strategy that goes into getting a shot.
Do you love using cover scents and think they make a big difference in your hunt? Awesome. The corporate hunting industry has paid a lot of money to make you think so. Me? I'm going to save my money and just stick to paying attention to the wind.
NEXT: "NEVER GUT A DEER NEAR YOUR TREESTAND": MYTH OR TRUTH?
