I was wondering if October 19th and 20th is too soon to use an estrus scent like WR Golden Estrus?
I have read that some mature does can cycle into estrus early and the mature bucks will be anticipating this to happen. Would I be better off using a full spectrum lure like Active Scrape this early in the game? I also won’t be back hunting that property until the first week in November if that makes any difference.
Thanks for ANY input from the IDO superstars!
We put out our scrape drippers this past Sunday. It’s a general scent but the bucks should certainly start their scrape runs anytime.
Nope. The last week in October can be nuts. Once the first doe comes into heat, the bucks come alive and start to go nutty!
I would definitely go with the active scrape or a buck urine for your first go round, and then when you go back to hunt, make a drag with estrous scent. I was talking with the guys at Whitcomb’s and they said they start collecting estrous around the 17th. I have had luck with a fresh estrous scent from either Whitcomb’s or another deer farm, definitely worth it. It has been more effective than some of the others.
I have already gotten a buck starting to make some licking branches and leaving his mark, scrapes will follow. I’ll agree that the last week of October is typically a good time to be in the woods as things are really ramping up. Where I am at in SC MN, surrounded by crops and high doe to buck ratios, I would spend more time working the buck to buck territory (i.e. scrape and rub) competition than the buck to buck doe competition as mentioned by Kooty and Brett. It is much easier with our ratios to entice more mature bucks into coming back to scrapes to keep up on territory at the end of Octobers 3rd week than it would be to entice a mature buck to a doe in estrus scent. I will also second the Whitcombs doe estrus scent 
Though I don’t use alot of scents each season I would be much more inclined to use the estrus scent when you are back in Nov than in Oct.
Came across a scrape up in the Leech Lake area Saturday.
The area I hunt has close to a 1:1 buck to doe ration so I’ll favor estrous scent in the late October, as it can drive the bucks gaga. Also, any sort of competition calling can work phenomenally!
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The area I hunt has close to a 1:1 buck to doe ration so I’ll favor estrous scent in the late October, as it can drive the bucks gaga. Also, any sort of competition calling can work phenomenally!
Thats the prime opportunity to use scents and calls no doubt. I re-read my post and I did not clarify enough what I was trying to say. I was getting at the fact that I agree with with you and Kooty on focusing on buck competition (scrapes/licking branches/etc) for the first trip and then if I do in fact try and use an estrus lure, I then do that later on in the late pre-rut/rut like the first or second week of November (time frame indicated in the original post).
Sorry for the confusion for my lack of punctuation. I will agree, that if you have a near 1:1 ratio, there is a very good opportunity for estrus scent working earlier than my experiences. I will never ever in my life get that opportunity due to our ratio with is much closer to >6:1 during most of the year, and nearing 10:1 during the time the second rut swings around. Our land practices draw alot of deer around and definately after the gun season and further into the early winter. Every one here gets a buck tag, and doe tags are limited for gun season (our primary hunting pressure). By December I have counted 52 deer in one of my food plots with only 2 of them being bucks older than yearlings 
Ouch yeah, that definitely changes the ball game a little bit. My buddy spent about 10 years taking countless does in order to get the ratio down. You don’t see as many deer now but pretty much every weekend we hunt you lay eyes on a trophy.
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I was wondering if October 19th and 20th is too soon to use an estrus scent like WR Golden Estrus?
I have read that some mature does can cycle into estrus early and the mature bucks will be anticipating this to happen. Would I be better off using a full spectrum lure like Active Scrape this early in the game? I also won’t be back hunting that property until the first week in November if that makes any difference.Thanks for ANY input from the IDO superstars!
As the discussion has indicated, buck to doe ratio certainly changes the effectiveness and timing of scents, types of scent, and calls; as does temperatures/moon phases/hours or daylight etc. What do you think your buck/doe ratio is where you hunt? A general area of the state may help for others to chime in on what has worked for them. Are you looking to shoot the dominant buck on the property, a buck your happy with, or the best opportunity buck given the time you have to hunt the land? These are items that will definitely change how you can approach scents to increase your opportunity at success.
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As the discussion has indicated, buck to doe ratio certainly changes the effectiveness and timing of scents, types of scent, and calls; as does temperatures/moon phases/hours or daylight etc. What do you think your buck/doe ratio is where you hunt? A general area of the state may help for others to chime in on what has worked for them. Are you looking to shoot the dominant buck on the property, a buck your happy with, or the best opportunity buck given the time you have to hunt the land? These are items that will definitely change how you can approach scents to increase your opportunity at success.
I don’t have a trail camera to fall back on for solid buck to doe ratios. But last year I only hunted three weekends starting Halloween weekends through mid-December. I recorded seeing way more adult bucks and a couple of mature bucks than does. I would say 2 bucks to every doe. I won’t venture to say this is the norm, but it was what I was seeing on this property on those weekends.
I hunt 80 private acres in zone 156….near Finlayson. The deer have been very receptive to calling.
I have only been hunting (and bowhunting) for 6 years, so killing any adult buck is a major accomplishment. I have yet to shoot a buck to score over 100″. Each year I shoot a bigger one than the year before and I have been so thankful for each deer I have taken.
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