***PLEASE, let’s not make this a discussion about scent lock, scent eliminators, etc. Let’s pretend, for the moment, that they do not exist.***

One of the basics of hunting is to hunt upwind, or at least expect that, more than likely, if you are going to catch a deer off guard, it will likely be coming from upwind or crosswind.

The concept of using scents, such as estrous urine or dominant buck urine, has confused me since I started hunting two years ago. You hang the scents up so deer will catch the scent and come to investigate. But, obviously, the scent is going to carry downwind, so you’ll be bringing deer in that are downwind of you. That, to me, is counterintuitive. I mean, even if you set the lure up 50 yards away from you, your scent will still be blowing in the same direction as the lure scent.

Let’s say the wind is coming from the north, as it so often does around here, and you set up 50 yards west or east of the lure. Yes, you are 50 yards away, but your scent doesn’t travel in a straight line and will disburse, just like the lure is doing. For some reason I can’t seem to wrap my head around the proper way to place them, if there even is one. Seems like upwind or downwind, to the relative right or left, your scent is still gonna carry with it.