How I Got My First Deer with a Bow

[storiale]

Hunting Lure Strategy by Lou Storiale

This was only my second deer ever, a nice 10 point buck. Many deer have been taken with this strategy by me and my friends. Most of the deer have been bucks and 2 wall hangers to-boot.

• Purchase two bottles of doe-in-heat urine attractant like Tinks#69
• Obtain a gallon of water and empty 1/4 (roughly 30 ounces) of the water OR pour hot water into a gallon jug about 3/4 full (Hot Water Is Best)
• Empty both bottles of doe-in-heat urine into the gallon jug and mix well (its like getting a half a gallon of doe in heat scent) The hot water magnifies the scent.
• Take 2 wash rags (preferably without scent or at least ones that are clean)
• 1 Rope about 4 feet long should thread through the corner of each rag used to drag the rag on the ground
• Dip and drench both rags in the mixture of hot water and doe-in-heat scent
• When near your hunting spot, drag the rags to your hunting spot from several destinations approximately 75 meters from your hunting spot to a designated area 30 yards from your tree stand or hunting blind. A Star pattern is best, all leading to the designated shooting area. Obviously paying special attention to well-worn trails.
• When finished , the rags should be placed about 30 yards from your tree stand in an open or semi-open area in a clear shooting lane. and dump the rest of the deer urine water around the bush and freshen up the rag.

The rags should be placed approximately waist-high preferably in a bush where wind can pass through the rags to carry scent through the woods or hunting area. In other words, you do not want to let your "drag rags" get stuck on the side of a tree trunk (I've had it happen).

Deer scents and drag rags should be used in this manner during the chase period immediately prior to the rut.

This strategy does not mean that a deer will immediately walk up on your drag rag, but there will be deer coming in over the next 3 days to see what the hot scent is. Personally, I have used this method with great success, including my first buck taken with a bow and personal records shot by friends in 3 different states.

In the Midwest United States this time is, approximately between October 21st - November 14th, depending on when the rut occurs.

Some Deer Shot by This Method

• My first Deer with a Bow... He came in less than 30 seconds after I got in my stand and I shot him at 20 yards.
• I shot the 11 pointer in the picture below after hanging scent 150 yards away and dragging my rag all over the area (50 yards around leading the buck into the shooting lane).
• My brother in law shot his first doe while she had her nose buried in the rag for over 2 minutes.
• My buddy shot a 9 pointer coming in to the rag - the deer literally started dancing (jumping up and down) after smelling the rag.
• My buddy's dad shot an 8 pointer that was fully gray (high racked 8 pointer) approximately 6 1/2 years old DNR Official (same stand and same season as the deer mentioned above) picture is below.
• I shot a buck in the evening and my buddy shot a buck in the morning same stand, hunting over the same rag. Both deer came within 2 yards of each other (5 feet from the drag rag). Both ran to the same spot and dropped almost literally in the exact same spot.

These are just two of the deer taken using this method.

I have these two hanging at work - both are mine.

 

[Patocazador]

Unfortunately, your amazing success consists of 2 deer. That hardly constitutes a rule that others can depend on. It may be that your method is the best thing since sliced bread but it may just be due to chance or happening to time the rut just right in your area.

I have never had much success using doe pee or Tink's 69 but that doesn't mean it can't work. I have run into crazy-acting bucks who ignored me while chasing does while duck hunting in a swamp or deer hunting with no scent out.

I'm glad it works for you but 2 deer is certainly not much proof.

 

[Fremmer]

It helps to have a good spot, too!

Interesting use of the rags.

 

[storiale]

It is actually over 10 deer over the span of only four weekends, five of them being bucks... Three of them are on people's walls a very large 10 Pointer, an extremely large eight pointer and a very decent nine pointer

But, just to be clear it has never worked outside of pre-rut or early rut


Four of those bucks were taken in two different spots within 12 hours of each other. I posted the details of each deer on a couple different forums a few years ago.

But for less than $15 try it out for yourself, over a weekend you tell me if it didn't work

 

[rcmodel]

It is actually over 10 deer over the span of only four weekends, five

dang!

That's about 8 or 9 more deer then you can shoot legally in most places.

Where are you doing this mass slaughter?

And how many big meat freezers do you have?

rc

 

[Davek1977]

9 1/2 yrs old huh? Was the der offfically aged, or is that a "guesstimate"? Whitetails aren't known for living beyond 10 in the wild, and even that is EXTREMELY rare in most areas....

 

[Sav .250]

Questions asked............ answers needed.

 

[storiale]

Ok gentleman, I was off. It was 6 1/2 tested by Park Rapids, MN DNR. I'll have pics of that deer (I used to have them posted on another forum), plus two other mounted.

To clarify, because there seems to be some confusion....

This wasn't all done in one season.. The 10 pointer was in 2002. Used the technique again in 2004 in Minnesota where my buddy and his dad shot 1 buck each, the 9 and the high 8 (pics to come).

Then in I think it was 2009, we did it again from almost the same spot as in 2004... I shot a buck in the evening, then in the morning my buddy shot a buck - just as described.

My bro-in-law shot that doe with her nose buried in the rag the same year (2004) but it was at a different area. We really let them have it that year.

I'll have pics soon. On a different computer and my buddy's dad is sending his wall mount (the high 8 pointer). When you see that deer, you'll see it was 8 1/2.... my bad on the 1 year off, but I just called him in Minnesota and he set me straight.

Also special note: Park Rapids, MN during some years you could take 1 buck and up to 7 does in the same area, just need a new tag - obviously.

So after the pics, it is really up to you. Negative people always lose out on opportunity... End of Oct to early Nov - try it.. It works. and yes you have to be around deer and have a good spot, I think that goes without saying.

I know you guys think I'm new, just because I'm new to this forum... I've been on the Realtree Forum since 2003, 2003-2005 almost every day.

Peace!

 

[Hookeye]

I prefer to hunt the topography/thickets and use calls.
My idea is to do the homework, let the deer pretty much do their thing, and ambush them.
Sneak in and out.
Putting stuff on the ground, that will be there when I'm not...........no thanks.

Years ago I had success with some lure. But it was always the 100" deer and under in pre rut.

High pressure area in general, but on private chunk of ground.

Rattling used to work up there, but then neighbor guys started doing it..............starting Oct 1. No doubt they turned their spots into chemical dumping grounds with all the scents too.

With every other shmuck doing what they saw on TV..........I think it best to just be super sneaky and let things be normal where I'm at.

 

[storiale]

And I respect that.. That is how I hunt more than 90% of the time. Silent totally camouflaged scent free and still

 

[Patocazador]

Hunting downwind is the only sure-fire technique that I have found in 50 years of deer hunting.

 

[buck460XVR]

Hunting downwind is the only sure-fire technique that I have found in 50 years of deer hunting.

I took my first buck with a bow in 1968. Since then I have heard of hundreds of sure fire ways to get a big buck. I've used rut type scents since they first became popular back in the mid-seventies. They don't work near as well as they used to. My experience is, hunter success depends more on deer concentration in an area and amount of hunter pressure in that area more than any other variable. This is especially true when using scents and calls.

 

[Davek1977]

Save maybe one year, I've taken at least one buck every year since I started hunting, making for 26 bucks at least....that tie afield has proven ONE thing to me. there is NO SUCH THING as a "surefire" method. Some techniques work better than others, but there isn't a hunter out there who has a foolproof way of legally harvesting a deer any time they go out.

 

[Kingcreek]

I've killed over 50 whitetail deer with bows and arrows over 30 years of hunting. I agree with Davek1977, There is no sure thing in hunting.

Once upon a time, I was parking my truck and suited up to hunt as scent free as possible. I parked behind my cousins horse barn to walk out to the timber. Her BF shouted at me to come help him and I did. He had a young stud colt get loose and we eventually got him cornered and coralled. I went ahead and hunted and watched a 6pt buck follow my trail across a field of corn stubble all the way to the steps of my tree stand.

 

[Hookeye]

I let a lot of deer walk the last few yrs.
Don't need to "buck out" or even kill a deer.
Tag soup tastes fine.
Have killed dozens of bucks..........big whoop de do.
Part of getting where I ended up I guess.

Won't shoot one unless it's a good one these days.

 

[buck460XVR]

....that tie afield has proven ONE thing to me. there is NO SUCH THING as a "surefire" method.

Sure there is. Just look at the cover of any hunting rag the next coupla months. Everyone will have the caption "Surefire methods to get your buck this year!". Still, about 75% of those folks that buy those rags will go home empty handed.......

Odds are there have been just as many big bucks taken by folks walking blindly into an area they have never been, as there have by folks that drench a dozen rags in deer pee and hang them like flags from trees.

 

[Patocazador]

Sure there is. Just look at the cover of any hunting rag the next coupla months. Everyone will have the caption "Surefire methods to get your buck this year!". Still, about 75% of those folks that buy those rags will go home empty handed.......

And 75% of those "hunting" gunwriters never left their desk and laptop.

I won a trip to Westervelt Lodge in Ala. about 30-35 years ago. A gun writer for Field & Stream was there. He shot a button buck after legal hunting hours. 6 or 8 months later there he was in Field & Stream posing with "his" trophy 9-point that another hunter had killed. He had posed with the deer before it was caped out.

 

[storiale]

The 8 pointer - 6 1/2 Years Old, Officially Confirmed by MN DNR

This buck (notice the gray hair on the nose), was aged by DNR in Park Rapids in 2005. Directly taken because of this strategy by Mike Hafner of Park Rapids.

 

[jrdolall]

I couldn't begin to count the bucks I have killed in my life. I hunt in states with liberal limits (Alabama is I think 112 per year) so I am not bragging. In the 80s and 90s we shot any legal deer, and a few illegal deer. Legal is anything with horns showing above the hairline.

I have had deer, does and bucks, follow my drag rag right up to the stand. I have had deer cross my drag rag trail and never slow down. I have had deer get to my trail, sniff, and blow like crazy before exiting the area on the run. The same has happened with all scenarios when I didn't use any type of scent. Yes, I have had a buck follow my human scented boots to within 20 yards of my stand. Head down, ears back and looking for a 200 pound white guy in hunting boots I guess. I have never had a mature buck follow my trail to my stand but I have had them stop and offer a shot.

As soon as you figure out a "surefire method" for anything related to wildlife you can become a sports writer...or a TV show host.

Using scents and calls CAN be extremely effective or it can be extremely ineffective and actually run off your intended quarry. Pre-rut is normally the best time to use either but it is by no means "surefire". After 40+ years of hunting all over the country I tend to trust a cover scent more than an attractant. Having a solid buck to doe ratio is probably the best scenario...other than blind luck. My two biggest bucks were killed because I was downwind of where the bucks were travelling. One was following does and the other was moving to a safer area away from a threat. Only one of the deer I have on the wall was killed as a direct result of calling and that was a deer I didn't even know was around. I was grunting to a two year old 8 pointer just to see his reaction (he came all the way to the stand) and a nice 4 year old came over a ridge to investigate.

 

[storiale]

FYI - I am not the one that said "sure thing" anywhere in my message.

 

[storiale]

For those of you that want to try this method.. I'm bumping this. Next weekend 10/29 will be the perfect weekend to try this out. Optimal time is Friday evening or Saturday Morning to lay out the scent. Let me know how it works for you!!

 

[bang_bang]

My good friend and I both shot our first archery deer the other day. We stood in the same spot and shot them about 5 minutes apart, both big mature does. He used a compound, I shot a crossbow. We've both killed a few tons of deer a piece, never used any fancy stuff.

 

[red rick]

Nice deer .

I killed my biggest deer to date with scent and calls . He came out almost where I had the doe scent hanging . I also have killed dear right after taking a dump and we are talking about 15 or twenty yards with my gun still resting on the tree . I have seen more than 1 buck killed while we were standing by the truck and talking to each other .

 

[Dog Soldier]

I am not an Archer. But I am a life long hunter and was a Rocky Myn guide for many years. I have always been amazed by the skill and patents of dedicated Bow hunters. I think Storiale is representative of the best of the Archers.. He shares his success and experience.

 

[H&Hhunter]

Hey if it works for you use it! I am a western hunter I don't pretend to know anything about tree stand hunting in the the thick stuff back east.