The goal here is to answer some of the many questions I receive from hunters each season.
What’s different about Pollick’s deer scents and lures that cause deer to show more interest than they do in other lures? Also, how do you use them?
Pollick’s Whitetail Deer Lures are a proven formulation of 70% buck or doe urine, fortified with 30% authentic whitetail deer musk gland tinctures. These concentrated tinctures carry natural scent messaging pheromones extracted in a liquid, odorless base. Pheromones are small gaseous-like particles contained in deer urine and scent glands. These pheromones carry unspoken scent messages to all deer that smell them. Pheromones, like smoke, are carried on changing air currents.
Pollick’s Deer Musk Gland Tinctures can be used alone to relay a single natural scent message a deer would leave behind.
Pollick’s Whitetail Deer Lures and Urines blend the optimal amount of our different deer musk gland tinctures with our buck and doe urines to express multiple natural scent messages of interest to whitetail deer for the different seasons.
- Pollick’s Deer Musk Gland Tinctures are a strong concentration of Buck or Doe Preorbital Gland head scents deer use on licking branches and tree rubs. Preorbital gland head scent is used by all buck and doe the entire year on communal licking branches. Preorbital acts as a message board to announce other deer present in the area. It is difficult to find these licking branches until buck begin to pee over their tarsal glands and open up visual breeding scrapes beneath them.
- Pollick’s Buck or Doe Interdigital Gland tincture is natural hoof musk trailing scent used by all whitetail deer every day of the year. This scent is sex specific and allows for constant contact every time a deer’s hoof hits the ground.
- Pollick’s Buck or Doe Tarsal Gland tincture is sexual identity, territorial and advertising scent which is carried to the ground by buck or doe urine while peeing over its hock glands. Without tarsal gland scent in a buck rut or sex lure – you really don’t have one. The seek and chase period starts as doe begins to pee over her tarsal glands. Doe tarsal sexual advertising scent signals she will be coming into heat soon and will be of interest to buck in the area.
- Pollick’s Buck or Doe Sex & Anal Gland Scent contains numerous sexual pheromones that peak intense interest in all rut and sex lures during the pre, peak, and post rut mating period.
Plain deer urine carries pheromones telling the approximate age, sex, and condition of the deer which passed it. However, it lacks sexual and other vital information in the urine.
Doe in heat or estrus urine only retains its in-heat pheromones for just a few days. According to chemists and biologists, the pheromones in this estrus doe urine are quite delicate and breakdown and dissipate in just a few days no matter how it is stored.
Natural deer musk gland pheromones are much more potent and can be contained in tincture by an experienced lure maker for years. Pollick’s natural deer lures and urines are full-interest attractors. Since urine only tells the sex, approximate age, and condition of the deer, we add buck and doe interdigital trailing scent, tarsal gland territorial, and sexual identity advertising scent, plus high interest sex and anal gland tincture pheromones to all Pollick’s rut and doe in heat lures.
Pollick’s deer scents and lures contain 99% pure, sweet tasting food grade glycerin to slow scent evaporation in warm weather and freeze proof down to -20 degrees. We also use an odorless preservative so our scents, lures, and urines retain their natural scent attraction for years stored in a cool, dark place. They store even longer if refrigerated after hunting season ends.
These are some of the important factors that separate Pollick’s natural scents, lures, and urines from the majority of attractors offered to deer hunters today. For this reason, hundreds of hunters tell us no other deer scent, lure, or urine they have tried compares to the natural attraction whitetail deer readily respond to in our lures.
How do you set-up early trail cameras? And how much do you use?
Most hunters without a lot of experience using deer lures tend to use too little instead of using too much lure. Pollick’s 2.5 ounce lure bottles holds over 200 pump sprays.
Some hunters set up early season trail cameras to monitor doe and fawn population. Others like to follow rack progression and movement of the available buck crop for the coming season. Use 10-12 sprays of liquid Pollick’s Buck or Doe Preorbital on early overhead licking branches, or use 2 droppers full of long-lasting Pollick’s Buck or Doe Oil Base Preorbital Gland head scents. Then add at least 10-12 sprays of authentic Pollick’s Buck or Doe Interdigital Gland hoof muck scent beneath the licking branch where the deer would stand. Check your cameras in a few days and you will be amazed at the abundance of pictures! This is the same natural communication deer are using themselves at this time of the year. Interdigital and preorbital are the two natural scent communication used by all whitetail deer every day of the year.
What are Mock Scrapes?
July and August are a good time to start your man-made, but authentic scented mock scrapes. Use the previous stated application of Buck or Doe Preorbital Gland head scents on licking branches or a cut off grapevine about 4 feet high. Good scents to use at this time in the scrape, dirt area beneath these licking branches are Pollick’s Interdigital, Authentic Scrape Starter, Mystic Intrigue, Buck Musk and Urine and Doe Urine with Tonquin. These lures are specifically formulated for early season scrapes. September and October and all through pre, peak and post rut seasons, use more potent sexual scents in the scrape. These include Pollick’s Buck or Doe Tarsal, Dominant Buck Urine, Buck or Doe Urine Tarsal Plus, Complete Scrape, Flaming Doe and Flaming Seduction liquid or oil, or finally Buck or Doe Sex Gland Scent. These are heavy on sexual, high-interest scent pheromones deer are checking urine for throughout the rutting and mating cycles. Use these scents, lures, and urines now in the scrape dirt area below your licking branches. When you first open the mock scrape, use more scent in the scrape dirt area. ¼ to ½ ounce, in particular. The following scent applications can be less. Re-scent your preorbital branch and dirt scrape area at least every 5-7 days.
How do you lay scent trails?
If using our felt boot pads or a drag cloth, be sure to saturate with scent. Stop about every 100 yards, lift your boot, and apply 5 or 6 more sprays to the boot pad. This will lay a strong, lasting scent trail to your stand. Twenty or so yards before you approach your stand, begin walking a circle around your stand and hang two of Pollick’s Scent Wicks in strategic shooting lanes and saturate them well with lure. Now hang your boot pad in the last shooting lane before entering your stand. With a favorable breeze, a deer could pick up the scent from quite a distance depending on the prevailing wind currents. When leaving your stand, collect scent wicks and boot pads and place in a resealable bag to re-scent and use on your next hunt. You only want the deer to approach these wicks while you are present. Only licking branches, tree rubs, and breeding scrapes should be scented with preorbital head scents on a regular basis where you want deer to visit.
What are Tree Rub Lines?
To lure an intruder buck to your area, make a rival buck tree rub line. This can be set up near breeding scrapes or hunting stands. Use a de-scented hunting knife to scrape bark off of a sapling about 3 feet high. Then apply about 10 sprays of Pollick’s Buck Preorbital Gland liquid or 1-2 droppers of our long-lasting, oil based Buck Preorbital on the scrape bark area. For complete authenticity, use about 6 sprays of Pollick’s Buck Interdigital hoof gland trailing scent at the base of the sapling. Now saturate a boot pad with the Buck Interdigital and lead a buck trail to your next sapling you want to scent and repeat the procedure. You could also use a single spray of Pollick’s Buck Interdigital scent on the ground every 10 feet or so to the next sapling.
What is Pollick’s October Cover Mist?
This is a strong tincture of 10 natural plants, tree leaves, hemlock, and grapevine. I make it in the spring when the plants are full of natural juices. This cover scent will retain its natural scent for years or until you use it. This blend is an excellent all-season natural area cover scent wherever you choose to hunt. Spray on boots, clothing, blinds, and most importantly, mist your hat. Every two hours while hunting, re-mist your hat to weaken and mask human odor. You want these natural plant odors to blend with the 70-80% of human odor produced from your breath, face, and neck area as it moves into the prevailing air currents. Also, mist your stand area down before leaving if you intend to hunt the next day.
Do you offer Synthetic Deer Lures?
We do, and they are brand-new! Due to numerous requests from hunters in states that no longer allow the use of natural deer scents, lures, and urine because of CWD outbreaks, we now offer some reliable synthetic attractant deer lures legal to use in all states. They include:
- Pollick’s Synthetic Licking Branch – oil based, long lasting scent in a 2.5 oz, no-mess dropper cap bottle
- Pollick’s Synthetic Curiosity – used to lay scent trails, hanging scent wicks, or for adding additional interest in mock or natural buck scrapes. 4.5 oz, spray-pump bottle
- Pollick’s Synthetic Mock Scrape – bottled in a long-lasting, time-released liquid gel which eliminates the need to re-scent as often. 4.5 oz, flip-top bottle
All three synthetics sell for $16.95 each
What are some tips?
Hunters regularly report to me that buck eagerly follow a single spray of Pollick’s Doe Preorbital Gland head scent placed every 20 feet or so, particularly head-high on plants, weeds, and shrubs on their way to and around their hunting stand.
Pollick’s Doe Preorbital Gland liquid or oil-based head scent placed alongside Pollick’s Buck Preorbital gland scent on licking branches above breeding scrapes increases interest and visitation throughout the pre, peak, and post rut mating cycles.
When grunting or rattling, buck will normally approach downwind using the prevailing air current to approach the sound of your rattling. I have read that roughly 50% of buck responding to your call detect and break you. Hanging 3 saturated scent wicks in shooting lanes around your stand allows him to key in on the wick that is downwind.
All Pollick’s whitetail deer scents, lures, and urines can be used to lay high-interest, natural scent trails deer will follow. These natural attractors can all be applied to hanging scent wicks around your stand. Adding Pollick’s different natural scent attractors into your breeding scrapes to represent varied deer visitations encourages buck to check and tend scrapes more often.
I hope you find this information helpful,
Paul