again I am NOT saying they NEVER work
its MY experience deer hunting 3+ months a yr for over 25 yrs, that I have a LOT of less than stellar results on them working, have seen them stop deer, have them look and then LEAVE, NOT come in, and what I feel I have done more times was let them KNOW something was in MY direction they wanted NOTHING to do with!
I have had decoys do the same things
some times they would; work, on the curiosity side, and MOST times they would seem to deter deer away, as they would get into staring contests and after the decoy would NEVER move or, they would figure out something wasn't quite right with it, and leave(I have had bears and coyotes knock them down which was cool!!)
I have also the same opinion on scents
some times they work, others IMO they just tell deer there are /is something there that may keep them , over attracting them in!
I spent THOUSANDS of dollars on these things over the yrs HOPING "X" product would be a tool worth having!
and to date, I am just as happy and successful NOT using any of them and rely more on hunting skills to get me where deer want to be! and trying to stay as scent free as possible and play the wind!
under again certain circumstances YES calls will work, as will decoy's and scents
I personally FOUND this again happens MOST in places that have more control over pressure on hunting lands, places where there is a good mix of OLDER Deer to younger deer.
when you/I hunt say public lands or higher pressure area's
let's face it, OLD mature bucks , ain';t that common place, and deer in general tend to be more wary IMO< due to having to dodge hunters and pressure from them more often
in places where things are NOT pressured and more natural, YES< sounds scents and even decoy's again WORK better, as deer have more age structure to been around longer to LEARN what sounds and scents mean more, and the less pressure, they are more relaxed and well, less likely to take sounds and scents as FAKE as much IMO!
yes they can work, I just won't waste my money on them anymore! I still kill deer without them just fine relying on skills I have learned over the yrs! and rather use them than gimmick's that may or may NOT work!