Trails End 307.........I'm a believer.......again

[rantingredneck]

I've tried several deer attractants over the years but only Trail's End has given me visible results.

Tonight was the second time.

The first was a few years ago. I walked in to an acorn ridge with a climbing stand on my back. I had boot pads with trails end on them. I got the stand set up and shimmied up the tree. As I was pulling my rifle up I looked up and a buck was walking in my tracks with his nose to the ground. He headed straight for me, but took notice of the Remington 700 trying to climb the tree and decided to be elsewhere.

Tonight I was set up along a fenceline at the edge of a 2 year old clearcut. It was horribly windy. I was freezing my butt off and hadn't even seen a squirrel. I had put up 4 of those Trails End Trophy Leafs before getting into my stand. These are the solid plastic wafers that have the scent impregnated into them. I hung 2 along the trail to my stand behind me and 2 in one bush about 15 feet in front of my stand. So I'm freezing my rear off and looking at my watch. 6:00 comes and I'm looking forward to 6:30 so I can get down. 6:02 an 8 pointer comes out of nowhere and circles the bush with the trails end wafers hanging in it twice. He's twitchy and excited acting. Kinda got the fight or "fornicate" look about him. As he makes the second lap around the bush I leveled the pin on his shoulder and released. He was so jumpy he jumped the string. Squatted backward as the arrow slipped right in front of him. Then he scratched out and was gone in a flash.

.............looking forward to gun season.............

 

[Gbro]

Deer are very curious, They will also follow tracks without any added sent.
I remember years back. It was opening morning of the MN 1st bucks only season (1975-76-77?). anyway as daylight started to spread through the forest I was settler into a boat cushion 20+ft. in a big cedar tree. I could hear something coming my way and then spotted a hunter sitting at the base of a spruce tree 300 yard away along an old logging trail that I had entered on. This deer was crossing in front(alder/hazelbrush mix) of him headed my way. After the deer past him without that hunter giving any notice to hearing anything, He got up and started strolling my way. (It was a small doe and I was just enjoying what was happening). This deer stopped aprox 25 Feet from the logging trail and the other hunter strolled right by me and the doe. I was about 75ft. the opposite side of the trail as the doe. I was thinking this is going to be good when that deer bolts. Well it stood perfectly still and he walked right past and out of the slash I was covering. Then the doe walked out into the trail and sniffed it and followed that guy right out of the area also.
I was that old (22-23yo) hooty owl that we had always talked about, wondering what they get to see as they look for something to eat ALSO

 

[Gbro]

Same Tree another year.

I used to jump deer many mornings as I headed to that favorite Cedar tree. The dad-burn thing would crash out and then stop and snort at me. i used to enter several different ways to no avail.
Then things changed. I bought my M-77R .270win and also for the 1st time I had skunk sent with me.
Nothing moved that morning when I approached the tree, I had the sent in a pill bottle taped to a 4ft stick so i could keep it close to the ground and down wind of me as I walked. I put the stick against a bush below the tree and settled in. Then it happened, I watched a buck(6pt.) get out of his bed 50-60ft. from the trail I came in on, The buck circled the slash and I thought I had missed my opportunity as I didn't want a going away and or moving target. Then to my surprise, He is circling the wind and comes in behind me. Right under my tree, not 4 ft from the skunk sent and starts to snort. I was shooting straight down at him. Then as I climb down I find out why this happened, Two hunters came walking along the same trail. He was doing to them what he or another(s) had done to me for 2-3 years.
I fooled him, and many others over the years with essence of polecat

 

[The Terminator]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I wanted to say that for me what has worked well is to spray vanilla extract onto leaves of plants. Deer are almost addicted to the scent and to the taste.

I have also had them come to peanut butter smeared on leaves, no joke. They love it.

I tried doe urine on cotton balls one year, but, I watched a fox come and eat them all. Last time I did that, foxes are expensive to feed. Best - Ted

 

[shortwave]

Despite the risk of sounding like a Trail`s End commercial, the stuff made a believer out of me many years ago. Bow season,mid Oct. in southwest Ohio. Myself and hunting partner going into our favoritehunting spots. We walked into woods together. He headed up a large draw and I started up a hillside of mature trees. About two-thirds to the top of the hill was a wall of multiflora-rose that stretched clear down the ridge-top. I got about halfway up hill(still in mature woods) and decided I`d better stop and finish getting ready to still hunt into my stand. I laid my bow down, got my bottle of Trail`s End out and proceeded to splash it on like cologne. I got the rest of myself ready and the last thing I did was put my head net on. As I pulled the net over my head and opened my eyes, out of pure chance, I was looking at a very nice bucks head sticking out of the wall of thicket about 70 yds. up the hill. I froze and watched as he stuck his head in the air. All of a sudden he bolted down the hill about 30yds. straight towards me and skidded to a stop. I watched as he snorted and pawed the ground like a bull. My bow still on the ground was not a comforting feeling. All of a sudden he turned and ran towards the draw where my buddy was at. I listened and could hear alot of thrashing around over their but couldn`t see anything. I thought surely my buddy had stuck the buck. I went up to my stand and at dark came out expecting to see my freind with this nice buck. He told me the buck came within 20 ft. of him and made a huge scrape but he couldn`t get a shot at him cause of brush. Neither of us had ever seen a buck that fired up before. Two things I do today,1 : never put the Trails End on me, 2: use it on a drag rag all season as I`ve since shot many deer(bucks and does) from my stand watching them come in on my trail with their nose to the ground

 

[Byron Quick]

A couple of friends and I have used Trails End product for several seasons with no success.

One season, I was hunting in an old farming field. No food plots that season. Broomsage, patchy scrub oak, and volunteer pines.

Now, I killed the Georgia limit in that one 20 acre area that season-2 bucks and 10 does. So it was good habitat for deer and had a good herd in the area.

Darned if any of the bucks or the does I saw were paying any attention to any scents I had put out.

On the other hand, it could well be the operator. I've never had any success with grunt calls, rattling, etc. either.

There's only two things that have ever worked for me and that's tree stands and still hunting. Seeing as how the deer killed by me still hunting is exactly one, I'm chalking that one up to luck.

The only thing that has ever worked for me is to find a good area, put up tree stands in that area, and then sit in those tree stands as much as possible.