Why food lures work & how to use them:
Many people believe that a scent lure (any type) is capable of drawing a deer from across a field or from out of the deep woods beyond the hunter's sight.
This is not true 90+% of the time.
Scent lures can influence but cannot control a deer's continuous movement.
A lure is best used to position an animal for the shooter. Just as a bait barrel is used to position a bear for the proper shot angle, a good scent will cause a deer to approach it with purpose.
We have all watched videos where the shot was less than perfect, only because the deer didn't present itself in a position that allowed for the perfect shot.
We have also seen losses caused by taking those imperfect shots.
In all cases where a deer approaches the stand head-on and does not turn, the advantage would go to the hunter who used a proper attractant for that time of year.
If it is the rut, you use a scent that plays to the deer's breeding habits.
If it is not the rut (majority of the season) you use the only other importance to the target animal, which is food.
Sex and food and sleep....thats an animals life and you would do better to play to those three things.
On occasion a lure (sex and food) may draw a deer off its course by as much as 30 yards but that's rare.
Generally a lure is always approached when it is within 5 yards or less of the deer's course.
Placing a lure to turn a deer back to you as it passes is the key.
The lure should be placed in front of you when the wind is in your face.
If a deer is headed toward you, you have no shot.
As the deer passes the lure, it will smell that lure, stop and turn to investigate.
Now you have the shot.
If the deer is coming from behind, you may not have needed that lure but if it doesn't stop.....you have less than the perfect shot.
The lure should cause the deer to stop and investigate and eliminate that movement long enough to get the shot off.
A lure is meant to distract as much as it is meant to lure.
Lures rarely bring in game but rather bring game where you want them to be ideally.
A lure can be the worst thing if you use it wrong.
The perfect example is the rut lures, some of which are so strong that only the largest of the species would dare come in to challenge.
Most hunters have watched bucks avoid tarsal gland lures or simply not seen bucks when those strong dominance strains are used.
This is why estrogen lures work best for Bucks.
However, many times estrogen lures will eliminate the presence of other doe deer due to the fact that they do not want to be chased if they are not hot themselves.
If a doe smells estrogen, she will know that bucks will be coming and if she is not ready, she will avoid that area.
So....by using estrogen lures we could likely knock out 50% of our potential sightings.
Why over 50%?...first of all there are generally fewer bucks than does in any given area and even if it is an area with a 1/1 ratio of sexes, some of those bucks are going to see those real doe (leaving your area) and will follow them.
With estrogen scents, you are playing Texas Hold 'em with everything in.
That's a gamble and if you want to gamble that's fine but the odds are definitely against you.
So what doesn't spook deer?....food! If they are not interested, it doesn't make them leave and if they are interested, it's in the air.
Food is a constant and appeals to all deer.
Lures make sense but Scents dont make Lures
In marketing these Whitetail Lures & Scents, we found that the vast majority of retailers and end users didn't understand the concept of use or what makes our Lures and Scents ...truely lures or scents.
Not a fault of either the retailer or the user but rather a fault of those manufactures that came before us.
Trappers understand the differences and when to use one and not the other....or when to use both.
That is to say....the best ones (like V.E.Lynch) do.
For those who may not know the differences between the two classifications, we decided to simply package so that nobody could use them incorrectly....unless they didn't read the directions.
(We are trying to help those who wish to help themselves.)
Lures have long range and attract by the fact that they target an animals senses.
Scents are close range items and attract based on curiosity and/or familiarity.
Lures are airborne naturally while scents are not.
Scents are designed to keep an animal close and active.
Lures are meant to draw only and are not meant to hold....thats what a scent is for.
To give an example (not a perfect example but a good visual) of lures and scents and how they work, lets examine a bear set.....
A guide may choose to establish a new bait site by first employing a honey burn, to attract the bear to the area where the bait is.
In this instance, the honey is the lure and the bait is the scent.
The bear will come to the area because of the honey but will stay because of the bait.
The scent can be a bait if employed properly.
A scent is generally very strong and has a very short range of scent dispersement.
This is needed in order to cause the animal to find the source.
In the example of the bait pile and the honey burn, the bear cannot find the lure but instead finds the bait in the path of the air that carries the lure.
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Our lures (when speaking of archery use) need a scent....which is the boost.
The Butternut Lure is always needed....to draw deer in but the deer that come will not stick around long after identifying the source...if they can find it.
The boost (when used on a drag) is much stronger and sweeter....mimicing and targeting that deer who comes into contact with it.
The drag method keeps the deer much longer, as it attempts to find what is left or where the end source is at.
Depending on the deer...this can last a minute or many many minutes.
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The scents are also heavy and do not get airborne as easily, which makes them a curiosity scent as well, for those deer that are suddenly hit with the low hovering scent.
Ideally...a scent should hold to the ground like a morning fog and should not be used in heaters....regaurdless of the temperature.
Lures can only benefit from heat...no matter what the temperature.
Lures are airborne and have greater range as the molecular body is broken down and made lighter and therefore denser.
The more a lure is broken down (by heat) the further it will carry in negative conditions such as rain, snow, cold and dead air.
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The butternut/boost combo packs are only needed by bowhunters who need the shot and draw opportunity.
Gun hunters only need the Lure (butternut) to bring them into view.
