What I've found is that if your using a scent such as pine or apple and there are no pine or apple tree's, then you are putting the deer in a defensive mode, since they are aware what type of smell's are in an area that they frequent.
You got that right! I used to keep my clothes in a rubbermaid tub with cedar branches which worked excellent when I was hunting the cedar swamps up north. I wore the same clothes and hunted the hardwoods close to home once and I'll never make that mistake again.