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Refugee

Marksman
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Hello Everyone,

As an out of stater (see my Welcome Message), I have a few small windows of opportunity to get some bow hunting in this season. My plan is to bring my two boys on two separate trips, one on October 3-7, and another in November. I have a 140 property near Wanette, and I have gotten lots of game camera footage of deer. I have a pretty good idea of where they travel to/from food/bedding. The last time I was there I placed a couple of mineral blocks, and dumped corn in a nice clearing that I think will make a good spot to sit in a ground blind. I'm a western mule deer hunter, so Whitetails are new to me.

My question is, should I put some more corn out the day before I plan to hunt? Is there anything to these deer attractants they sell?

Thank you!

David
 

makeithappen

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I try to get mine out 2 days before, if possible. Early season before acorns start dropping will be your best chance with corn (given when you'll be able to hunt, otherwise late December and January its much better). Once acorns start falling, look for a mature white oak, or a stand of them, and hunt it. Good luck!
 

retrieverman

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The October 3-7 hunt should be good, because the new moon is on the 6th. As has been said, by all means freshen your corn piles before hunting, and if the deer are coming to the pile, absolutely DO NOT let it run out in the few days before you intend to hunt.

As far as “attractants“, that crap only really works on hunting shows with penned deer. I consult with some guys on a lease here in TX, and they have been buying every “attractant” and supplement WMart and Academy sells and are shocked when the deer never touch any of it. I hear “but it worked on XYZ show on the hunting channel!“ :anyone:

Another piece of advice I will offer is absolutely do not make a bunch of changes to the area in the days leading up to the hunt. Deer are creatures of habit.
 

swampratt

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When a friend of mine needed to take a wizz he was 500+ yards from his rifle hunting spot.
He wizzed on the trail he was walking on.
He saw a deer move across the trail after he got positioned and it stopped and smelled his wizz.

I took advantage of that information and the next day I wizzed 20 yards from where I was hunting.

Deer are curious for sure and I seen 2 together go smell my wizz spot.
I took the larger one.
It was about a 2 hour wait.

I set Tinks doe in urine out years ago in a small field.
A nice 8 point walked 30-40 yards parallel to it then disappeared into the tree line.
3 minutes later it came back out and sniffed the 3 spots I applied the Tinks.

I shot it.

I do not use my money to buy attractants anymore.

I want to try a small transistor radio set on low this year and see if a curious deer or other critter comes up on it.
 

Parks 788

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We use corn feeders starting last week and for now are set to go off once a day for about 5 seconds. We'll bump those up to twice a day in a couple weeks. We also use Big & J BB2 and the deer love it. I do use attractants when hunting. Not sure how well it helps to attract deer to my stand but mentally i also feel it helps cover my sent a bit if the wind is swirling. If i spend $50-$100 on attractants during the season it isn't a big deal for me and i feel i get some benefit from them.
 

dennishoddy

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We use corn feeders starting last week and for now are set to go off once a day for about 5 seconds. We'll bump those up to twice a day in a couple weeks. We also use Big & J BB2 and the deer love it. I do use attractants when hunting. Not sure how well it helps to attract deer to my stand but mentally i also feel it helps cover my sent a bit if the wind is swirling. If i spend $50-$100 on attractants during the season it isn't a big deal for me and i feel i get some benefit from them.
Man, I know your new to white tails, but don't waste your money on scent covers. They don't work.
Use the wind to your advantage. Build stands to take advantage of different wind directions on the same trails. One stand on the north side and one of the south or in-between. I have areas that only get hunted a few times a year because the wind isn't right. The 1/4 mile walk in would have my scent covering the 22 acres and can assure you, zero deer will appear even when the feeder goes off.
You can thank your wallet later.
 

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