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The best cover scent for deer hunting can be often viewed as a scent killer. However, this article is not about scent killers for deer hunting. If ways to kill your human odor rather than cover it up, you can read about the best scent killers for deer hunting.
There are many great cover scents that are used to mask the human odor to fool the sense of smell of a deer. I want to stress that cover scents should be used in union with scent killers like scent-free soap, scent eliminator, and scent-free detergents to maintain the best odds of confusing a whitetail deer’s nose.
Now let’s get into some of the best cover scents to help you become the best hunter in your area.
Best Cover Scents for Deer Hunting (Products)
1. Tink’s #69 Doe in Rut Can
Tink’s #69 makes some of the best doe urine that is cable of making big bucks go crazy in the peak rut. The deer urine in this can is very potent and is cable of being detected from a long range. I like to use Tink’s #69 to spray on the tops and bottoms of my boots before I get to my stand. I try to wait until about halfway to my hunting area before I apply the doe urine. This allows the strong odor to stay fresh near the place where I will be hunting.
I also will do a spray near the location that is ideal for an ethical shot to occur. Hoping that a buck will stop there to get a better smell of the estrous scent. Tink’s product lines are some of the best deer scents available today. I have had great results while using this masking scent. I even had a doe smell it and follow the scent on my boots up to 5 yards under my stand.
2. Conquest scents Evercalm
The ever-calm stick is used to keep deer’s spookiness at bay. The ever-calm stick takes scents and aromas from deer’s bedding areas to create a natural scent of deer habitat. Archery hunters can use this product in many different ways because it is in a deodorant-style container. If you can keep deer calm using a cover scent, it will help you kill more deer in the early season when bucks and does are less jacked up on the rut.
This is my go-to cover scent in the early and late hunting seasons for scent control. I apply a thin layer on my rubber boots, and hunting clothes, occasionally on an early season buck scrape, and especially will apply more if I am hunting close to a bedding area.
3. Wildlife Research 385 Magnum Scrape Dripper
A great way to cover your scent is to use a product that is meant for buck scrapes. The best way to use the Magnum Dripper is to create a mock scrape that is downwind of your hunting spot. The goal is to have the buck scent be blown in the same wind direction as your scent and confuse the deer or have them just smell the buck scent.
The Magnum Dripper can be one of the best advantages for pre-rut scrapes and getting many trail camera pictures of the bucks in your area because it slowly drips out the scent at an incremental rate that maximizes the amount of time you get out of one bottle. One bottle of scent can be used for approximately 2-3 weeks. It also only drips on non-rainy days to save more of that strong smell of doe estrus. The other major positive is that it only drips in the daytime which is great because a dominant buck will hit the scraps at night.
YouTube Video Tutorial: Using the Magnum Scrape Dripper
4. Wildlife Research Autumn Formula Spray
Sometimes the autumn formula field spray is seen as a scent-eliminating spray. However, it is more of a cover scent than it is a scent-killer spray. The point of this field spray is to make your clothes smell like leaves and dirt (which are the scent of autumn). I like to use this type of spray as my cover scent for the early season hunting. The spray bottle is the best product for spraying down your hunting gear as well while also eliminating foreign odors.
5. Wildlife Research Autumn Formula Laundry Detergent
The same idea applies to the autumn formula Laundry detergent as the field spray. The goal is to have your clothes smell like the woods in the fall rather than kill all of the body odor on your clothes together. There is no secret about this product. It is meant to kill the human odor and then add an autumn scent to your clothes. I used this product last year and have had no problems with it killing my own scent.
6. Pure Whitetail Buck Urine
The Pure Whitetail Buck Urine is great for calming down bucks while they are still in bachelor groups or after the rut. I do not use much straight buck urine while hunting. This is just my personal preference because when you have only 1-2 mature bucks in an area, another mature buck’s urine can create fear in the younger bucks.
However, use this product on mock scrapes or real scrapes and it will help cover your human scent in the woods and keep the buck calmer. Pay special attention to how much buck urine you use because you run the risk of scaring other big game animals from making an appearance.
7. Outdoor Hunting Lab Apple Scent
Outdoor Hunting Lab Apple Scent is one of those cover scents that are best used in the correct scenarios. If you do not hunt near any apple trees, it is probably not a good idea to put an apple cover scent on your clothes or near your hunting spot. Use these types of specialty products as they fit your needs. However, apple scent can be utilized as a cover scent and an attractant which could be a win-win for you and your hunting success.
8. Hunter’s Specialties Earth Scent Wafers
Hunter’s Specialties Earth Scent Wafers are a great choice to use in the placement of the autumn formula scent spray. They come in a small and portable case with a couple of clothes pins. All you have to do is pin a scented wafer to your clothes and off you go into the woods. I do not use these anymore because I often would forget to put them on or leave them in my backpack. If you really love Scent Killer Gold as your best scent killer and are looking for an extra cover scent, I would recommend using this type of product while you are hunting.
9. Outdoor Hunting Lab Pine Scent
Outdoor Hunting Lab Pine Scent is another one of the cover scents that should be used based on where you are hunting. Do not use this if you do not hunt near pines. It will only confuse the bucks and cause them to become even more warry than they may have already been. I plan on using this type of scent as I start to explore more public land with different types of trees.
10. Scent Assassin Natural Earth Scent Spray
Scent Assassin Natural Earth Scent Spray works to kill your human odor and gives you the finishing touches of a leafy scent. However, it is not an artificial leafy smell. It smells more like a pile of leaves that you raked in your yard but has let sit there for a few days and got hit by some rain. It is the perfect cover scent for fall. It will fool deer into believing that nothing is in the woods except the fallen leaves and other animals Great product that is made in the U.S.A.
11. Golden Estrus By Wildlife Research With Wicks
Estrus Urine will be used by many hunters throughout every hunting season. There is a special magic that runs through the woods when the rut is on and you are pretending to have a hot doe in the area in hopes of a buck chasing and looking for that hot doe. However, one aspect of using doe in heat urine that gets overlooked is using wicks to move the scent to a concentrated area.
I like to use these wicks to place the estrus scent so that the wind is blowing my scent and the urine scent in the same direction but slightly over in the direction that I have a shooting lane. This will jam the deer’s nose and hopefully have them come close enough to the wick to hit your shooting lane. These wicks can also be used to put on a drag rope. All you have to do is dip them in the estrus urine and then place them where you would like them. Love using this tactic during the pre-rut and rut.
The Power of Cover Scents
Cover scents were designed to be another advantage to help deer hunters keep the deer they hunt calm and unaware of their predators. Trying to eliminate your scent is a great start but sometimes you can not eliminate all of your human odor before heading into the woods.
That is where the cover scent can play a huge role in not alerting mature deer that you are in the woods. This is important because as we grow as hunters we want to harvest bigger bucks that are keener to predators. That is how they got to be a mature buck in the first place.
I prefer to use less potent cover scents for deer hunting. I do this because most of the time the types of potent cover scents that are on the market are used in specific areas of the woods such as apple trees or pine tree scents. I hunt in very basic timber and go for more autumn formula cover scents and earth scents.
The Difference Between Cover Scents & Attractants
The best cover scents for deer hunting are used to aid in the process of getting rid of the human odor in the woods. Attractants on the other hand are more for getting deer to come to you. These products include certain sprays, mineral licks, and salt licks. If you are interested in learning more about the best whitetail deer attractants, I have written an entire article explaining the products that I have used and other products that can be used as attractants.
There are also specific times when using the best cover scents for deer hunting can be more effective than attractants. If it is early in the season and the rut is not on, I tend to use cover scents for than attractants. This is because there is less scent that attracts deer at this time of the hunting season. But, limiting your body’s scent is always important when whitetail deer hunting.
Conclusion
Now that you know more about the types of cover scents that can be utilized while deer hunting. Be careful not to use too many cover scents at one time because it can cause more problems than it will solve. I would recommend using scent killers and one cover scent given the time of year and which cover scent best suits the needs during the time of the year.
You may also be interested in a free E-book to help you create a personal hunting game plan or a Free PDF that explains the 5 most important fundamentals for whitetail deer hunting.
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