by Ron Foster
That danged Boudreaux once out hunted me by using cherry kool-aid sprayed on vegetation to attract deer. But keep in mind Vanilla is a huge deer attractant, especially when mixed with oil of anise. Mix well and slather on the trunk of a favorite tree about 4-6 feet high. Making the deer work for the newfound "candy" will keep them in that area longer and they will come back for more. Oh by the way you want pure Vanilla not the synthetic crap.
One thing that was a good cheat back in the day was to use a new spray bottle(usually find em at dollar stores) and fill it with pure apple juice. Then spray bushes and tree trunks on my way into my stand.
Now remember son you can create "feed strips" anywhere you hunt. Maybe there's an overgrown field or a dry, grassy swamp or a creek bottom on your tract. Well, scythe you or mow a few strips through that cover next fall.
Besides doing that a good way to get deer attracted to a certain area is to get something they LOVE to eat! One of their natural foods is acorns; more specifically they love white oak acorns above all other varieties. Even if you hunt primarily in pines you can scoop up some acorns from local trees near where you live, put them in a sack and take them to your hunting woods. Now, you can certainly take them to the woods whole or you can create a super mix by putting them through your grinder and grinding them into either a semi-crunchy substance or even a fine flour-like substance. I would personally grind them fairly fine and mix with some feed corn and something a bit sweet like molasses this attractant is very palatable for deer and they will immediately pattern their travels to fro from the spot.
You see acorns are the preferred deer food in autumn, white oak is the preferred acorns. Deer judge acorn taste, and subsequent preference by the level of tannic acid in the nut. White Oak acorns have the least tannic acid and the large rock oak the highest content. Look for the nuts, not the leaves to identify hot places to put your stand. Leaves will not tell you if the tree is producing - only that, that is all that’s there. It takes many years for an oak to produce a good crop of acorns. Find the nuts, and you find the deer.
Several boxes of Rock Salt/Ice Cream Salt can be an effective attractant. The deer will actually eat the soil the the Salt melts into
Mix the mineral substantially with the soil.
The hole must be refilled after six months and then once a year after. The most usage appears to be during the springtime and summer months.
Deer themselves can be good bait if you know how.
Harvest fresh urine from the bladder of a freshly killed deer. To do this, put on your rubber gloves and pinch the cord running to the bladder and cut it 4 inches above the bladder. Tie a not in it and do the same thing with the cord running away from the bladder.
2
Hold the bladder above the quart jar and either re-cut the lower cord or untie it allowing the urine to spill into the jar. You can mix urine from does together but never mix buck urine with either doe or other buck urine. Put a lid on the jar and keep refrigerated until you are done collecting.
3
Get your outdoor grill or camp stove ready. Pour the urine into the 2 quart pan and heat until boiling. Reduce heat to a gentle boil and cook until urine is reduced by 3/4. This generally takes about 1 hour. This substance will be thick and smelly, so be sure to do this outside.
4
Set your reduced urine aside to cool completely. Cover it with a paper towel to keep bugs and debris out.
5
Pour the urine into the small dark glass bottles. Label them according to which type of urine they are. If it's from a 6 point buck, label it as such. This mixture will keep well stored in a cool, dark place for years.
Tips & Warnings
Buck urine reduced from this year's kill will be familiar to bucks the following year and they are more likely to come in for a fight.
Bucks become very aggressive during the rut. Never wear this lure on you body or clothing. You could be attacked. Never use the pot or jars used to process urine for cooking food later.
How to Make Your Own Deer Hunting Scent Eliminator
By Alicia Bodine, eHow Contributor
Deer
One of the most important things you can do when hunting is cover up your own scent. Deer have good noses and if they can smell you, they won't come close enough for you to get a good shot off. You don't need to spend a lot of money purchasing scent eliminators at a sporting goods store when you can make them yourself at home. You can also feel good knowing that your scent eliminator is all natural.
Instructions
1
Get 3 lbs. of acorns from your own yard or nearby park. Bring them to a boil in a large pot of water until you notice them softening up. Get one adult handful of pine needles from your yard and throw them in with the acorn water. Boil them for 25 minutes. Use a strainer so that you only get the liquid for your spray bottle. Use a funnel to pour the strained liquid into the spray bottle. Spray on your clothes before you go hunting.
2
Take out a large mixing bowl and fill it with two 8 oz bottles of distilled water. Pour in the same amount of hydrogen peroxide and mix the liquids together. Finish off with 1/8 cup of baking soda. Mix and wait for the liquid to settle. Use a funnel to add the liquid to an empty spray bottle. Spray on your clothes before you go hunting.
3
Turn your washing machine on and throw in 1/2 cup Borax and 1/2 cup baking soda. Add your hunting clothes and take them out when the wash is complete. You can air dry them or place them in the dryer with no dryer sheets. They will come out with all of their scents eliminated. You can then wear them when you go hunting without worrying about a deer picking up on your scent.
4
Use a small bucket to mix a gallon of distilled water with 1/2 a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a drip of unscented dish soap and 3 cups of baking soda. Leave the solution out at room temperature for two days. Pour the mixture into your squirt bottle and spray on your clothes before you go hunting. You can also spray the hunting area with the spray to eliminate any scents that may be there.
Tips & Warnings
Vinegar is great at eliminating odors, but it may leave a scent of its own. This is why you shouldn't use vinegar in any homemade scent eliminator recipes.
Keep Borax away from children and pets. It is very dangerous if ingested.
“Ok listen up Clyde and I will tell you how this little village of ours managed to get by when we first got here and folks using the same forest didn’t. You see everyone who had did a little internet research on the art of deer attracting came across a old tried and true recipe for making up 200lbs of cheap deer attractor instead of paying 20 bucks for 8 pounds of the shit , Thing is the internet articles don’t tell you that the dairy feed component is some strong concentrated shit that is very bitter tasting to a deer if you don’t get it right. If you screw it up the first time and the deer gets that sour taste in his mouth he won’t be back. So the trick is to measure carefully and then amend it at first if you can. What I mean by that is to add a sweetener of some sort to distract the deer if you didn’t get it right, you see the deer will eat the sweetener first and being satisfied will ignore a sour taste afterwards. I bought various extra commercial small blocks of minerals with sorghum. Molasses and corn etc. as a topper to the the deer licks I was creating. You get a nice double whammy of long term and short term results that way.
Let’s look at some basics here Clyde so we have a mutual understanding.
Imagine that hardened antlers contain 40 to 50 % organic matter from mostly proteins while the most abundant minerals consist of calcium and phosphorus. The demands for these minerals on a daily basis can be significant for antler production. I a not talking about trying to trophy hunt in a survival situation, just deer nutritional needs,
In addition, a lactating doe's milk contains high percentages of both calcium and phosphorus to pass on to their young, also causing a significant mineral drain on the doe. What makes all this significant is the fact that phosphoro
us cannot be synthesized by the body so it must be provided in needed levels in the animal’s diet. This is where a mineral mix such as this could be very valuable if an area is lacking in these naturally.
Trace mineral salts do two things for deer. The first and foremost is it does have the salt/sodium attract the deer and promote the use of the mineral. Secondly, it provides the trace minerals such as magnesium and potassium that are very important to heard health but are not found in significant quantities like others.
Stock salt is again like part of the above. It has the sodium to attract deer to the minerals, Most mineral mixes have salt as their most abundant ingredient since a mix of just phosphorus, calcium, and other trace minerals have little attraction to deer once mixed with the soil.
As for directions of use we suggest using a 3-pound coffee can to measure out 1 part dicalcium phosphate, 2 part trace mineral salt, and 1 part stock salt. Mix all these together once ready to use but keep components separate during storage. Dig a hole in the soil about 36 inches wide and 6 inches deep and mix the mineral well with the soil. This should be replenished after 6 months and then once a year thereafter. Most use seems to be during the spring and summer months on mineral licks. It's a good idea to keep these areas replenished and stocked in the same spot to maintain use.
Because of shedding of the summer coat begins this time of year the deer need the salt, and maybe next year you will get this out early in the year to help with antler growth and fawn health.
Print this off and take with you.
WHITETAIL DEER HOMEMADE MINERAL MIX RECIPE
Ingredients: Makes 200 lbs. for about $23.00
1 part Di-calcium phosphate, this is a dairy feed additive bought at feed stores.
Comes in 50lb. Bags at around $11.00 you need one bag.
2 parts Trace mineral salt, the red and loose kind without the medications.
Comes in 50lb bags at around $5.00 you need 2 bags.
1 part stalk salt, call it ice cream salt
Comes in 50 lb. bags at around $2.00 you need 1 bag.
Directions:
-use a 3 pound or similar size coffee can to use as your measure for each part of the mix.
-mix altogether well but not until ready to use keep ingredients separate until ready to put to use.
-dig or tear up a circle in the soil about 36 inches wide and about 6 inches deep.
-mix your mineral mixture with the soil. maintenance:
-replenish in 6 months with fresh supply of mineral and then each year there after.
10
Movie Night
“Clyde you are 21 now and smart as hell, but your very naive or ignorant of so many things that were commonplace in the past and most likely are existing in one form or another this minute as to maybe not fit into this little FEMA nirvana being described to you by the government and them bible thumpers over at the boat landing. That’s dangerous as hell as well as a indicator of how unhappy you might be if you joined the little renaissance cult of big government and organized religion without having your eyes wide open. “ David said contemplatively while starring at the young man.
“You’re the oldest of the younger generation of a post apocalyptic world now. You were eleven when the poo hit the fan and can remember Mc Donald’s, video games, going to the grocery store or a fancy restaurant. But you got 15 and 16 year old boys and girls in your troop that barely remember bits and pieces of that and younger ones that can not even conceive that a thing called China buffet is any different than the Hopsings putting on a shindig in good times if the community donated enough foodstuffs and labor to make it happen. You are very sheltered to the vileness of evil people, you know very little about the atrocities of history caused by religion or politics that I guess we should of taught you so history would never repeat itself. I will take the blame for that as well as insisting and horrifying you with bits and pieces of the holocaust over the years. Trying to keep you all happy and fed was a fulltime job enough without having to tell you about the burning years of witches in Europe and Salem or the Inquisition. I tell ya, I got to laugh at myself in some ways as to what ways you were taught and how.” David said chuckling.
“We do have lots of teachers here abouts.” Clyde said grinning about how he or other members of the community sometimes had to undo certain lessons learned from those that were adamant about myths, folklore, and conjecture or just out and out wrong about filling the kid’s brains with their own take on things.
“Well thing is what I meant was those DVDs I keep playing for you kids on movie nights were outdated in relation to the modern world when I bought them. I actually gave them a lot of thought at the time because money was tight but I said HEY!, I got the only working DVD player on my laptop because I got solar so I need to be the movie man. Now I admit that the “Full seasons of the “Beverly Hillbillies” , Gilligan’s Island” The Survivors” from the BBC”, Western Classics and a 100 short classic cartoons was not the best post apocalyptic theater or learning experience for you youngins or the adults but that was the most money I could come up with because I only had 50 bucks allotted for entertainment and not necessities. Maybe I should have had LowBuck or Goathollow do a contest of some sort on YouTube back in the day. It was a mental necessity to choose though. I got 500 episodes so come by the David house a couple time a week for movies in a darkened world without a Bijou.
Figure 1 Use Coupon Code Prepper 1 at SUNRNR for 5% off or Free Panel
11
Portable Necessities
Having too much time on your hands can make a man think about and do some funny things” David mused as he watched Cleatus pulling his portable outhouse down the road with his son Jamie.
“Now who in the hell except Cleatus would have such a thing already built and ready for the endo of the world? Seems Cleatus used to race the damn things at various events around the country and according to him this was one of his prize winning entrys. Cleatus these days had himself a worm farm,a ferilizer business and what used to be called a truck farm growing vegetables. Cleatus would haul one of those damn things to whatever event they were having on the lake inorder to collect some free crap and occasional barter item or two.
Rules and rates for their use were simple. Stewart had had hand in this and was a backer of Cleatus`s obscure business. The “shitter” was free to use by anyone but the amenties would cost you. The number one amenity being toilet paper, but there were others. One of which was a solar exhaust fan in summer, wood fired heat in winter, radio, a movie on a laptop, radio,the use of a umbrella or a blanket, water, perfume, moutwash etc. and of course tipping the bathroom attendant was highly encouraged. Usally eveyone just encouraged the bathroom attendant to stay the hell away as they did their business. They had the rolls of toilet paper on the outside of the outhouse to prevent you from using more than they were charging you for to boot. You had to reach out the door and spin it and it wasn’t a comfortable feeling knowing someone was out their keeping count of the number of sheets or spins you did. Most folks these days toilet paper had page numbers on it so it cost you something for the luxury of the real deal.
“Hey now, that’s an idea. Those two could tell me the latest gossip. Cleatus went and serviced the crappers over by the landing quite often, maybe he would have some answers. “ David said wincing at the thought of having to go talk to the man and his son because they insisted on shaking hands and David didn’t like the thought of doing that with someone who emptied buckets of shit for a living.
“This outhouse was Tok's entry into the 1979 Great Klondike International Outhouse Race. The race is held in Dawson City in the Yukon Territory and has been run every Labor Day since 1977.”
“Hello Cletus! You working hard today I see.” David said walking down to the road and greeting the sweating pair of men.
“Hey David! We are getting ready to set you up some facilities for your guests at your community meeting.” The balding overhaul no shirt wearing man from god knows what
backwoods bayou named Cletus said smiling and extending one of those grubby paws that gave David thoughts of ptomaine poisoning.
“Hey, looks like you gave her a new coat of whitewash!” David said pretending to admire the porta john and avoid shaking hands.
“Yea me and my boy here got her fancied up for you day before yesterday. You remember my son here Jamie?” Cletus said pointing at a even dirtier reflection of himself in his family tree.
“Hi David been awhile!” Jamie said extending a blackened nailed sweaty as well as dang near furry hand towards him.
“Damn! Is that tire going flat?” David said avoiding the handshake and pretending to scrutinize the tire on the opposite side of the trailer that Jamie was on.
“Don’t look like its going flat to me” “Cletus said putting the towing crossbar down. “Might need a bit more air though, thanks David” He concluded examining it by pushing down on the muddy threads with his hand.