This is kind of a lenghty one so bear with me, I just want to make sure I get all of the details:
I am a pretty new hunter and am pretty much learing on my own as I go, I don't really know anybody to show me the ropes. I was in the public woods for bow season today, I did a scent drag of estrous urine into my blind, and hung estrous wicks up in two shooting lanes at 25 yards. At about 10:30 am (went in at 6 am) about 100 yards a way I spot a deer walking through the brush, can't tell what it is at this point. I gave gave a few estrous bleats and a few min later a tending grunt, with nothing. I then did a 1 min rattle, and the deer came charging through the woods right into about 40 yards from me. kept walking at 40-50 yards in front of me, but I couldn't get a shot I was confident with. It made a scrape at the base of tree and rubbed his head on a branch, and slowly walked away. He was withing 15 yards of my wicks and didn't look at either of them, he walked over my scent drag path a couple of times and didn't react at all. When he was almost out of sight, i did two estrous bleats, he came back halfway, then left for good. I did several sequences of bleats, grunts, and rattles but he never came back. I would take his non response to the scent to be the rut hasn't progressed to him reacting to estrous scent yet, and it is still in the dominance phase which why he came crashing in at the rattle...but then why wouldn't he come back? Did the estrous scent possibly scare him off, or is it possible the scent was tainted/un-natural and it scared him off? What is the best route to go from here, should I keep doing the same thing hoping it will work next time, should I make a mock scrape. If I make a mock scrape, what scent to I put on it (estrous or buck), and how long before I hunt do I make the scrape (does it take a couple of days to get the buck comming back, or do I do it the day hunt)? Also, if I did scare it away with the scent, is it gone forever and should I find a new spot, or just try a different tactic the next day. BTW, the buck looked like a 6 pointer, 2 years old about if I had to guess.
Sorry for the lenghty post and bombardment of questions, any help or advice is appreciated.
I am a pretty new hunter and am pretty much learing on my own as I go, I don't really know anybody to show me the ropes. I was in the public woods for bow season today, I did a scent drag of estrous urine into my blind, and hung estrous wicks up in two shooting lanes at 25 yards. At about 10:30 am (went in at 6 am) about 100 yards a way I spot a deer walking through the brush, can't tell what it is at this point. I gave gave a few estrous bleats and a few min later a tending grunt, with nothing. I then did a 1 min rattle, and the deer came charging through the woods right into about 40 yards from me. kept walking at 40-50 yards in front of me, but I couldn't get a shot I was confident with. It made a scrape at the base of tree and rubbed his head on a branch, and slowly walked away. He was withing 15 yards of my wicks and didn't look at either of them, he walked over my scent drag path a couple of times and didn't react at all. When he was almost out of sight, i did two estrous bleats, he came back halfway, then left for good. I did several sequences of bleats, grunts, and rattles but he never came back. I would take his non response to the scent to be the rut hasn't progressed to him reacting to estrous scent yet, and it is still in the dominance phase which why he came crashing in at the rattle...but then why wouldn't he come back? Did the estrous scent possibly scare him off, or is it possible the scent was tainted/un-natural and it scared him off? What is the best route to go from here, should I keep doing the same thing hoping it will work next time, should I make a mock scrape. If I make a mock scrape, what scent to I put on it (estrous or buck), and how long before I hunt do I make the scrape (does it take a couple of days to get the buck comming back, or do I do it the day hunt)? Also, if I did scare it away with the scent, is it gone forever and should I find a new spot, or just try a different tactic the next day. BTW, the buck looked like a 6 pointer, 2 years old about if I had to guess.
Sorry for the lenghty post and bombardment of questions, any help or advice is appreciated.
