Tips For Using Apparition™ Attractant Scents
Tip #1 - The Semi-circle Method
Appropriate for:
Nosy Whitetail, Dead Red, Blind Date
This is our most recommended and popular method for using our products. It is the same method that is described on the back of our scent packages, and is effective for all of our attractant scents. Simply apply the scent either directly to the ground (remove leaves and drip on bare earth) or on cotton balls in small film containers in a semi-circle pattern approximately 15 yards from your stand location. Be sure to place scent in areas that provide an open shot.
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Be sure to also:
 Use a human scent eliminator.
Apply a masking scent.
Wear rubber boots.
Pay attention to wind direction.
Be alert and expect the unexpected
Allow the deer to provide a quartering away shot.
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Tip #2 - The Q-tip Method
Appropriate for: Nosy Whitetail, Dead Red, Blind Date
This very simple method has proven to be a very effective way to use attractant scents. Simply apply any of our products to both ends of several Q-tips and place them among branches of shrubs and small trees within shooting range of your stand. The cotton on the end of the Q-tips slows the evaporation rate of the scent, and you can simply put them in a plastic bag for use during your next hunt. Be careful to remember where you put the Q-tips because they are easy to misplace.
Tip #3 - The Mock Scrape
Appropriate for: Dead Red, Blind Date
Watch Video (1.09 MB - 30 sec.)
This is one of the most talked about methods of attracting whitetails, yet many are unaware of how to make a quality mock scrape. First, be sure to wait until you see actual scrapes being made in the woods. You don't want your scrapes to be the first, unless the rut seems totally non-existant late into the season. Once you find a few scrapes, select a few areas in the vacinity, and within shooting range of where you plan to set up. Areas at the mouths of travel corridors typically work well. With a large stick found nearby, scatch out a circluar area approximately three to four feet in diameter, being sure it is beneath what would serve as a fine licking branch. Once the scrape is scratched out, rough up the licking branch tree with the stick, being sure to break a few small limbs, and even leave some marks on the trunk of the tree. Finish the scrape by dribbling a generous amount of Dead Red throughout the earthy area. It isn't a bad idea to create more than one scrape in the same area, just as a real deer would. Remember, you are trying to simulate an intruder buck.
Follow-up work after making the initial scrape is important. Try to freshen the scrape as many times as you can with fresh scratching and smaller amounts of Dead Red. A scent dripper that only drips during the day can be helpful. After a couple of days, it can be effective to dribble Blind Date in the vacinity of the scrape, to simulate the presence of a hot doe. This method, used in conjunction with a grunt call, can be extremely effective on mature bucks, which never shy away from running off an intruder.
Tip #4 - Setting Up the Blind Date
Appropriate for: Dead Red, Blind Date
This method can be extremely effective if done in the right area. First, locate what we refer to as a primary scrape in your hunting area. These are typically larger than other scrapes, have a noticible musk oder, and full of tracks from multiple deer. See our January 2006 issue of Arrow Points for a full article on primary scrapes. Once you locate the scrape, you can either dribble Dead Red in and around the scrape to simulate an intruder buck, or you can dribble Blind Date to simulate a hot doe. Be sure to keep the scent low to the ground, and if at first you don't succeed, continue the process as long as the scrape is continually being used. Using a trail camera can be helpful because you can see what happens when you're not around. If you are uncomfortable making mock scrapes, this method is for you.
Tip #5 - The Scent Drag
Appropriate for: Nosy Whitetail, Dead Red, Blind Date
This is one of the most incorrectly used methods of scent application. Many people begin their scent drag from the time they leave their vehicle, and end it several hundred yards later at their stand. Let us be clear.YOU WILL ALMOST NEVER DRAW A MATURE WHITETAIL MORE THAN 20 YARDS ON A SCENT DRAG. It's not impossible, but you will be much better served by making a series of short drags, ideally from trails and corridors that may be just outside of your shooting range. Or, you can make one drag following the same semi-circle pattern described above. The idea is to get the deer to walk just a few yards, hopefully to within bow range. Remember, archery is a game of inches, so just a few steps here or there can make the difference of being in the Pope and Young Club, or not.
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