heres my 2 cents, I think using scents can or could be very effective when using them at the right time and location, depending on wind, area, time,etc. I have tried scents and have never had any luck with them at all, but havent really keyed in on them either, so I seldon use deer scents I think its a lil overrated myself, ive had to many deer spook on theses scents. now the grunt call Ive had plenty of action on that. butI think that when an unfamiliar odor is new and a deer doesnt connect with it they spook.as far as bait piles I think its good when you have 1000 acres to hunt and no available food source, I think it creates a pattern in the deer to the area you want them to come. also it feeds numerous animals that benefit from it besides the deer. I also think bait piles are good for a hunter that only has a saturday to hunt. or very lil time to hunt. now ive done all of the above and theres nothing like patterning a deer and then ambushing him on his normal route to a natural food source, but Ive hunted ares that did not have a natural food source ( tree farms ) and havent seen a thing, Ive seen plenty of sign but they were never there when I was, this is when I would use bait to attract them to the area and create something. now Im hunting an area that has plenty of natural food sources acorns, cornfields, soy beans, winter wheat, natural browse, and have had an unbelivable yr. I guess it all depends on where ya hunt and how you want to go about getting some action.