Anise Oil Scent for Whitetail Deer

[Rol Page]

Has anybody used ansie oil scent to attract deer?  On two separate occasions I have walked up within shooting range, less than 100yds, of deer while the wind was at my back, (returning to my vehicle - not my preferred approach to likely deer cover) and had standing shots in part I believe because I had been chewing anise candy.  Maybe it was just a fluke, or maybe it contributes to the curiosity and confusion of the deer.
 
Any insight will be most appreciated.    Thanks,  Rol

[BUGEYE]

the candy might do it, but the wind out at 100yds could be different than at your location.

[deernhog]

Used anise in punchbait to stalk a blue catfish.  We mix doe urine with vanilla for an attractor during the rut. Has always seemed to work better than the straight doe pee.  The anise might have some use so try it and see. I had one 6 ft from me downwind while I was eating a Halls cough drop. She smelled it but could not figure out what I was till I turned my head to run her off.

[Silvertp]

I have no doubt that scents can be used as attractants.  I don't however believe they can be used to "cover" human scent. 

At 100 yards the wind was either dispersing or diverting your scent.  Gum or otherwise you would get the shot.

A hunter soaked in anise is just that...the deer would smell a hunter ....oh, by the way a hunter soaked in anise.  There may be things you can do to reduce your scent, but in the end you are still a human (sweaty, farting, deodrants, shampoo's, and shedding skin cells.. etc) but still a human.  Game that considers human scent that reaches their ofactory an alarm will smell you and act accordingly.

Silvertp

[ironglow]

  In years past, anise was a popular bait/scent to trap muskrats..

[Rol Page]

Thanks for the comments fellows.. I agree that we cannot effectively mask the human scent.  I work as a volunteer with a Lady who has search and rescue bloodhounds.. I have yet to be "lost" and not found  .  I use unscented soap, (laundry and bath) double rinse the laundry and unscented deodorant and watch what I eat a few days before hunting, no onions or garlic.
 
Best of Luck Hunting and Be Safe.  Rol

[buck460XVR]

Anise was a base in many of the old original deer scents back in the fifty/sixties as I was growin' up as a kid. The gum-chewing incident reminds me of bow-hunting thirty years ago from a tree-stand while chewin' Levi Garret. I would spit at the base of the tree and would have deer come in and paw at the areas I would spit. Never did figure out what they thought it was.

[oneoldsap]

        I gave up using attractant type scents long ago . Never found thm to be effective . Unscented laundry soap , deodorants and cover scents is the way I go . Fox urine is a great cover scent , so is Skunk and Racoon . Rattling and a doe bleat work pretty good in the right place . The wind in your face and stealth are your best defence against detection .

[ironglow]

  I have some of Randy Anderson's vids. When he sets out his caller 50 yds or so from his location..he gives the area around the caller a couple 'spritzes' of something Primos.  Don't recall him saying what he used, so I am asking..   Is it scent, cover scent or scent supressor ?

[deernhog]

I have no doubt that scents can be used as attractants.  I don't however believe they can be used to "cover" human scent. 

At 100 yards the wind was either dispersing or diverting your scent.  Gum or otherwise you would get the shot.

A hunter soaked in anise is just that...the deer would smell a hunter ....oh, by the way a hunter soaked in anise.  There may be things you can do to reduce your scent, but in the end you are still a human (sweaty, farting, deodrants, shampoo's, and shedding skin cells.. etc) but still a human.  Game that considers human scent that reaches their ofactory an alarm will smell you and act accordingly.

Silvertp

 
I agree 100%. All the scentblocker in the world be it scent or the clothes sold to do it can't cover the scent of a human. It only takes less than a second of exposure to the interior of a vehicle, smoke, food or fuel to contaminate your scent. Lysol type disinfectants I have heard are the worse scent to be around than any but can't prove that. Hunt where the scent is blown away from your target area. Especially after a few days at camp. Onions, chili, beer, wood smoke and B O make for a heck of a scent bomb going down wind :-)

[ICEPICK]

Used anise in punchbait to stalk a blue catfish.  We mix doe urine with vanilla for an attractor during the rut. Has always seemed to work better than the straight doe pee.  The anise might have some use so try it and see. I had one 6 ft from me downwind while I was eating a Halls cough drop. She smelled it but could not figure out what I was till I turned my head to run her off.

I had a buddy who used vanilla for deer, and he always got his buck.

[deernhog]

Used anise in punchbait to stalk a blue catfish.  We mix doe urine with vanilla for an attractor during the rut. Has always seemed to work better than the straight doe pee.  The anise might have some use so try it and see. I had one 6 ft from me downwind while I was eating a Halls cough drop. She smelled it but could not figure out what I was till I turned my head to run her off.

I had a buddy who used vanilla for deer, and he always got his buck.

We use vanilla we buy in Mexico on vacation. Has a real strong smell. Mix it 1 part vanilla 3 parts doe pee. We make the scent trail from upwind then drop the rag in an ambush spot up wind.  Will be about right to get serious on the rut now thru our rifle season.
 

[ICEPICK]

Here is a pic of a nice buck chewing and licking the tree that I have that mineral bucket on.  The bucket will last from the spring right till the end of the summer or more.  This tree is cut at about ten feet, but I think I will cut another two feet off of it and remount the bucket.