Well hopefully by now we all have at least one long beard under our belt …. right?? Maybe I should reword that…”maybe by now all of us have at least one short beard under our belt”.

May is a great time to be in the woods sharing in all things that make up spring. I know its one of my favorite times of the year. There is just something real special about being part of the natural surroundings when it begins to come alive in the early mornings.

Besides being a great time for turkey hunting it’s also a time of the year to get all my hunting clothes prepared. Before you know it, deer season will be upon us. My wife likes it too, because I begin to work through those piles of camo lying all over the basement floor from last fall. To some this may sound elementary, but its great to get the little things out of the way long before a season opens.

SORT: First thing I do is sort through all my camo. Separating camo patterns, heavy weight clothing from light weight clothing, hats, gloves, vests, socks, shirts etc .etc .etc. It seems over the years I’ve accumulated a wealth of hunting apparel, I suppose you could call me a coinsure of hunting clothes!

WASH: After sorting through the mounds of clothes, its time to begin washing out all the grime and debris. Before doing so, make sure to check out all the pockets – there is no telling what may had been left in there from last season. I recently found a nicely washed $100 I didn’t know about. Next turn all your camo inside out, this will aide in preserving the pattern itself. After many washings camo tends to fade and by turning it inside out it will help in slowing down this process. Many of the camo patterns on the market today are meant to catch the consumers eye, be very careful to choose a pattern that will match the surrounding you’ll be hunting in. The wide-open pattern of sticks and leaves blends into so many surroundings, making it an easy choice for so many hunting situations. Be sure to wash your clothes in a quality clothes wash that doesn’t contain any brighteners, better yet make sure the soap you use contains a UV killer to help offset the dyes and brighteners already in the clothing.

AIR DRY: Once you’ve washed all your clothing be sure to dry them by hanging outside. If I know nice weather is coming I’ll’ let my clothes air dry for days or until my wife gets tired of see them hanging on her clothes line. Again be sure to have them still turned inside out. We wouldn’t’ want the sun bleaching them.

STORAGE: Time to stow it away! After everything is dried and aired, I turn everything right side out. Carefully fold everything and place into airtight containers, Rubbermaid works best for me. Make sure to label each according to the contents, example1) socks, hats, gloves, facemasks, long underwear. Example 2) lightweight skyline camo, shirts, pants. Before the lid is shut I’ll mist into the container a liberal dose of a quality cover scent that smells like the woods. Some people like to use natural leaves, pine etc. and that’s fine, however a good earth smelling odor will do the same and its easier to work with.

So now when the season opens you won’t be scrabbling around to find your favorite camo and clothes for hunting. Better yet your time and energy can be spent a field scouting and setting up tree stands. The little bit of effort you put out today, will take away your headaches tomorrow. Your 1 step closer to preparedness!

See you next month, be safe and good luck on the long beard!

Kevin

I decided that a review of the basics on scents & lures seems appropriate for this pro tip article. Over the past decade I have conducted many shows and seminars on the understanding of scents and lures. The fact is I see a real hunger among all sportsmen for shedding light on this complex subject matter. Most hunters are often confused by the vast array and wild promises that hunting products of this type seem to offer. Mass marketing and fancy advertising has done little in way of educating the hunters on their use. Could it be that these same companies don’t understand the basics themselves?

One of the keys to your success in using these products is to understand the basics, so that you can make a sensible choice. The first key to painting the picture is understanding the difference between a scent and a lure. What are they? How do they work? How do you use them? Etc…You see, scents and lures are nothing more than odors you use to convey a message with.

Anything that will attract the attention of an animal, and then draw it to the source of the attraction can be classified as a lure. A sound of a dying rabbit will lure coyote, fox, and bobcat to the source of the sound. A small round hole in the bank near water’s edge would attract mink. A bundle of fur moving in the breeze would provide attraction to bobcat. Or last but not least, a grunt from your grunt call may be all that it takes to attract that buck within range.All these lures, per say, appeal to the animal’s senses. The above examples appealed to the animal’s senses of sight and hearing.

Webster’s dictionary describes a lure as; to entice, tempt with the promise of pleasure or gain.

Webster describes a scent as the smell remaining after an animal has passed (urine).

It’s my opinion that a “lure”, which appeals to an animal’s sense of smell, is the most valuable. No matter what animal, they all use their nose to receive airborne messages. So it is safe to say that any odor or combination of odors convey a clear and usually reliable message to the animal. Odors emitted from any substance are made up of small minute gaseous particles, which are lighter than air. These particles have a tendency to rise in the air and carried off by air currents.

As odor leaves it source it slowly becomes more diluted with the air itself. The greater the amount of odor released from the source, the greater concentration of odor will be at a prescribed distance. When odor is picked up by an animal it must pass through the animals nose and flow over the nerves inside. Depending on how good your lure or scent is, often determines whether or not that animal will follow its odor. The closer the animal gets to the odor source, the more stimulation he receives due to the increase concentration of odorous particles. Wow…..!

A scent consists of nothing more or less than a single odor. Any product, such as feces or urine constitutes itself as a scent. Think of this; if you and a friend sat down to have a steak dinner, the first steak was thrown into a pan and cooked till done. The second steak was thrown raw into a pan with garlic, butter, onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper, etc. and cooked till done. Which is more appealing? The Scent of the first steak or the Lure of the second?

Now that you understand that you need to know that lures can be categorized into three groups;

GLAND LURES – Most animals communicate through the use of glandular secretions. This type of lure is usually a blend of those substances. It’s made to appeal to the competitive, sexual and territorial instincts that most animals have. Most high quality gland lures, no matter what the animal, take exceptional skill, knowledge, and much experience to formulate.

FOOD LURES – Their primary attraction to an animal is food. Most food lures contain various plants, musk’s, and extracts, etc. animals might find attractive. Without a doubt this type of lure plays more of a role of importance among trappers than that of hunters- particularly deer hunters. Don’t confuse this with bait and check your state game laws before hunting with such an attractant. Some of the most common food odors among deer hunters are; apple, cherry, pear, sweet corn, etc.

CURIOSITY- ‘Curiosity Killed The Cat’. Most all animals are curious by nature, especially the Whitetail deer. It’s why this lure maker puts such great emphasis on the use of this type of attractant. Most often this type of lure contains smells foreign to the animal’s habitat. An example of one such odor might be vanilla. Many animals like its sweet odor yet seldom does an animal come on contact with it along their daily travels. You must remember that a curiosity attraction is a relatively “short lived” attraction. Once he has satisfied his curiosity – he loses almost total interest. If you’re a deer hunter, you had best be in position when ‘Mister Hat Rack’ decides to respond!

Doe Passion and Buck-in Rut Urine: A winning combination! Click to shop.

I have to tell you that in all my research, food lures where the least consistent in attracting deer. The best results they showed where during the pre rut at midmorning or early evening periods.

When choosing a scent or lure, remember that you are telling a story. The more convincing you are of that story often will result in “luring in” that animal. For instance…. When trapping coyotes I might put in a set consisting of nothing more than a chunk of bait in a hole with a liberal dose of coyote urine. The urine acts as a suspicion remover and that another coyote has moved into the area and buried some food. The bait odor, however, will hold the attention of the coyote until caught.

When deer hunting, I often strategically place out our Doe Passion deer lure (in heat gland lure) around my tree stand. Once in the stand I will periodically mist our fresh Buck in Rut Urine into the air. This combination more often than not has proven itself deadly. The best time to use this combination is during the rut and near existing dominant scrapes.

What message “story” do you think your sending the buck that made those existing scrapes? Get the picture!

Bowhunting World Magazine, February 2010

You still have one more chance to fill your buck tag, but let’s face the facts. Arrowing a buck in the late season can be a tough assignment. To start with, there are fewer bucks available, and these survivor bucks are a lot smarter after a long deer season. And then there is the brutal cold temperatures to contend with. And if that is not enough, the hunter “burn out” factor can be demoralizing.

So how can you improve your odds? We asked three of the country’s leading bowhunters their secrets to success in the late season. Here is what they told us.

The Ayes Have It
Jeremiah Parker, marketing manager for Leaf River Outdoor Products, begins the late season by zeroing in on food sources such as late soybeans. “I am not as concerned with locating a big buck or two, but rather finding large concentrations of deer. The more deer there are feeding comfortably out in the open, the more likely a mature buck will appear during legal shooting hours. He will be seeking not only food, but maybe one more chance to breed.

“I then set up trail cameras all around the field in the hopes of photographing a racked deer. On one 3,000-acre lease I set out 25 to 30 trail cameras along the perimeter of 4- or 5-acre fields. You must do this as quickly and as scent-free as possible. I have the cameras pre-set, and don’t fiddle arid fidget around when positioning the cameras. I also wear rubber boots and spray myself down with a quality scent elimination spray. We know when someone breaks into our house; so do mature bucks!

“In addition I often set out mock scrapes in front of the camera,” says Parker, “and also legal scents and lures in order to increase my odds of a big buck sighting. Using cameras to ‘help scout your hunting turf is important, especially for guys and gals who only have a weekend or two to bowhunt the late season. In these cases, ‘trophy’ is in the eyes of the beholder. But if I am looking for an exceptional deer, and I know from my trail cameras that a big buck is frequenting a certain feeding area, then I will not take the first buck that shows himself, but rather hold off a bit. Those big mature bucks seem to always wait for the last minute before arriving at a field filled with does.”

Food Plots
Jay Gregory, pro staffer for Millennium Treestands and host of The Wild Outdoors television show, believes the late season actually starts in the summer. “Locating bucks in the late season can be a tough assignment. Food is the key, but natural food sources such as acorn flats, stands of pod-bearing locust, and wild apple orchards can spread deer around as can cut corn lots and harvested bean fields.

“It is much better to plant your own food plots. I like to have standing corn and standing bean fields as well as green plots of winter oats and brassicas available during the late season. Then when the regular deer season ends and winter rolls in, bucks will come to the food plots to replenish their fat supplies and maybe have one last sexual encounter. I hope for severe weather now as the deer will yard up around the food source. It is like hunting them in a smaller pond. It is a lot easier to know where they are going to be spending the majority of their time.

“We will use rattling horns and try calling to bucks that seem to be walking away from us, but we do so sparingly. Late season bucks are generally thinking more about food than sex, so we hunt them on a feeding pattern.

“Bowhunting the late season over a food plot is not without its risks,” adds Gregory. “There are generally a lot of deer in the immediate area, and they are still skittish from the gun season. You must exercise extreme caution erecting your treestand, and that stand must be both comfortable and quiet. Any fidgeting or metal-on-metal noise once you climb on board will also spook nearby deer. Keep in mind that the higher you climb, the more likely you are to be skylighted due to the lack of foliage.”

Mock Scrapes
“I am a believer of using scents to stir up deer in the late season,” says Kevin Kishel, president of Kishel’s Scents and Lures. “Bucks don’t stop being territorial, and over the years 1 have used mock scrapes to bring high-pressured bucks in for kill shots. Bucks, by the way, that have gone nocturnal or are holed up on posted property that I do not have access to.

“Typically I set out my mock scrapes near bedding areas and attend to them once a week to keep them fresh. Even when most bowhunters think the rut is over, racked bucks are still looking for hot does. I scrape the ground clean, and add interdigital and tarsal gland scents to the mock scrape and douse the licking branch with preorbital gland lure. Then I add some buck urine to the mix. I believe this calms them down and helps them feel a little bit safer knowing another buck is around. It is like adding frosting to a cake.

“You must be patient when bowhunting over a mock scrape,” adds Kishel. “Mature bucks have learned to adapt to hunting pressure. They will let a younger buck approach the mock scrape, using him like a guinea pig, before showing themselves. If you can hold off from shooting a yearling animal, your chances for a big buck will skyrocket.

“You must also be as stealthy as possible during the late season. In some cases bucks have been hunted hard for better than three months and are on high alert. This means you must pay close attention to the wind, practice scent control, and eliminate other errors, such as avoiding erecting squeaky treestands near known buck bedding areas, to be successful.”

Katch K9′s Kishel’s Style

The Dirt Hole Set

Having traveled this great nation coast to coast, I would have to say that one of the most effective sets in a trapper’s “bag of tricks” for taking canines is what is called ‘The Dirt Hole Set.’

As we try to mimic the theory of that “dog that buried the bone,” The Dirt Hole Set, when presented correctly and in the right location can be deadly to K9′s and Cats.

Below, I illustrate exactly how it is done, my style. Despite all the variations to this set, I have found the most effective way to make this set work is to keep it simple.

Want to catch K9′s?

Try my technique!!
Kevin Kishel

First find a suitable site location.

This varies from region to region, state to state.

Do some pre season scouting and line up as many areas that K9′s travel the most.

Get the odds in your favor trapping is a numbers game.

Set the Trap

Before I ever begin making a set, I like to set the trap and have it ready for bedding.

Equipment

Layout your needed equipment.

Pictured here is:

My 3 in 1 Trapping Trowel
Trapper bag with lure
Cable Stake Driver
Kneeling Pad
Sifter

Prepare Trap Bed

Begin digging out the area to bed the trap.

I like to keep this bed the size of my trap and not much larger.

Keeping the dirt pattern small makes K9′s less suspicious when working the set.

Stake Trap

Attach trap to staking system and drive into ground.

I prefer using our cable stakes – they have maximum holding power.

Trap Bedding

Begin bedding your trap.

Be absolutely sure the trap is rock solid and does not move under the dirt.

Pack dirt solid around trap to keep it from movement.

Any movement that a K9 feels under his foot will make him leave.

Spend your time bedding that trap!

Trap Positioning

The positioning of the trap is extremely important in relation to the placement of the hole.

I like to determine my placement of the hole after my trap has been bedded.

Pictured here the re-rod stake is showing the hole position with my trap placed about 8-10″ back from the hole and slightly off center about 2 ½ “.

Hole is dug at about a 45° angle towards the trap.

Covering the Trap

Begin sifting the dirt over the entire trap area.

Apply Attractants

Finish your set off by placing Lure, Baits or Urines and/or a combination of them all on the backing and down into the hole.

Pictured here is our deadly
Crossbreed Call Lure.

Deadly on K9′s and Cats.

Results

Some Additional Pictures

Finished Set
** Note Hole Size **
Keep the hole small, no more that a 1½” in diameter.
K9′s work the set better.

Set Location
Dirt hole blended in near game trail, excellent location.

Katch K9′s Kishel’s Style

The Finished Dirt Hole

Maximum Holding Power

Field Tested – Versatile – Light Weight

For those of you not familiar with our Cable Staking System, the following is a step by step instructional for your education.

Unlike conventional re-rod or wood/plastic stakes, our cable stakes are durable, light weight anchoring devices for all kinds of outdoor use.

Your choice when maximum holding power is needed. Hunters, Trappers, Campers and Dog Trainers use them just about anywhere for a solid anchoring system.

Step 1)

Find a suitable trap site location or area.

Step 2)

Prepare the trap bedding and attach the cable stake to the trap.

Step 3)

Insert the cable driver end into the cable stake and prepare to drive the cable stake into the ground.

Step 4)

Begin to hammer the cable stake into the ground.

Step 5)

Hammer the cable stake down into the ground just until the top of the cable stake loop is above the ground.

Note: In heavy soils or rocky ground you do not have to drive the cable stake totally into the ground.

Many times you only have to only drive the cable stake half way into the ground, depending greatly on the soil type.

Then, just twist and lift to remove the driver.

Be sure to tug from your trap chain to lock the stake into the ground.

Step 6)

Finish off your set.

Step 7)   Apply Lure and Get the Results!

Kishel’s Cable Stake System

Maximum Holding Power

Go to our Shop On Line page to purchase our cast bullet point stakes and heavy duty stake driver