roa@davinci.acc.virginia.edu (Robert O. Anderson Jr) (03/22/91)
From: "Robert O. Anderson Jr" <roa@davinci.acc.virginia.edu>
I'd like to share an experience I had this past hunting
season (deer). I hate to leave out any details, so bare with me.
Always conscience of odors of any kind that may spook
a deer, our gear(boots,clothes,hats,backpacks,calls,etc) is
always cleaned in odor free detergent and stored in plastic bags.
Well, there's certainly alot more detail than I care to go into
at this time.
As we neared (200 yds.) our stand the last day of bow
season, we decided to urinate so as to be comfortable for the
afternoon. Three hours later, walking out, we see a buck standing
right next to where we urinated, of course, he blew, whirled and
left the country.
We had one week before gun season and it took me that long
to convince Ricky, my hunting partner, to try urine as an
attractant for bucks. Sure enough, Sunday evening, his three boys
filled up a quart jar. The next morning, opening day, Ricky poured
it out on a the side of a ridge in the mountains. One and a half
hours later, a buck (4 pt.) came down the ridge, stopped, smelled,
turned, and walked straight towards the pee. One shot through the neck.
The next morning, armed with my .270 and a quart of pee, I
headed to my tree stand in the mountains which overlooked a scrape.
When I got to the scrape, I whipped it out and hosed it down. Then
poured the pee all over it, also. Mind you, I don't take my hunting
lightly. Not being able to hunt as much as I would like (i.e. work),
I will not knowingly mess up a hunt day. My heart sunk a little as
poured out the pee, but I thought, "What the heck." 45 minutes later,
a buck walks between me and the scrape(about 8 yds. from me).
His left antler was broken off above the brow tine and 4 points on the
right side, so I overcame the initial urge to shoot and decided to watch.
Now I'm up wind(damn thermals) and up hill from the buck
and the scrape. The deer was just fooling around, when he stopped,
threw his head up and looked at the scrape. The buck trotted to the
scrape and stuck his nose right in it. He smelled and smelled,
then pawed the ground, smelled, pawed, raised his head and raked
the limb, rubbed the limb with his head, then smelled the scrape,
then he urinated in it. He smelled to one side of the scrape,
then turned to the other, the way I came in, and smelled and smelled
the ground where I walked.
I remember the feeling like I was watching all of this on video
tape. "Damn! That's why I built this tree stand.........." He dressed at
151 lbs. and a 28" neck. (That's right....twenty-eight inch)
Buck and doe scents??? Cover scents??? Scent Sheild?? I've spent
my last nickel on them..... but that's another story.
Bobby
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