Around here, I find the most success finding bucks in the pre-rut and rut centers around toe does. NJ has a buck to doe ratio that is way of of whack. What I have found many times is a very faint trail (almost like that mythical big buck trail 20 yards off the real trail) that crosses the trails used by most of the local deer at a 90 degree angle. I begin to find these in late September and as the rut kicks in, I try to hunt them. It seems like these are circuits that the bucks use to find the does. I find the most activity in the 200 yards from the feeding area.(like 200 yards from the field. Sometimes in thick areas and sometimes in open woods. It has worked for me and I see bucks doing this just about evry year.

I never use cover scent unless I can step in droppings or the food source for the area.

Greg