The use of a decoy to lure in a mature buck is genuinely an art of deception. When a mature buck comes strolling in, he is looking, listening, and smelling in hopes of either finding a mate for breeding or matching up with his competition to establish dominance.
When a buck is looking, the decoy is an eye-catcher. While a buck is listening, a hunter creating a few territorial grunts on their call is the sound catching his attention. A buck relies on his nose for confirmation to convince himself that what he is seeing and hearing is real.
To fool a whitetail bucks’ nose when using a deer decoy, he must smell the hunter’s lure near the decoy. However, the hunter does not want the buck smelling any remnants of human scent or other foreign odor that may be lingering on the decoy.
Below is a step-by-step process to destroy all unwanted odors from the decoy before the hunt and keep them away until it is time to hunt.
STEP 1: CLEAN THE DECOY BEFORE THE HUNT
The first step to destroying all odors from the decoy when it is time to hunt is cleaning the decoy itself with ScentLok 4X Liquid Soap and water.
The day before I hunt with my decoy, I set it up in my back yard or wherever there is a suitable water source. I then spray the entire decoy with water, washing away any dirt, oils, or anything that might have come in contact while in storage. Then, I scrub the entire decoy with the liquid soap, assuring that all odors have been removed. I follow this by rinsing the decoy off and letting it air dry.
STEP 2: DESTROY ANY REMAINING ODORS BEFORE TRANSPORTING THEM TO THE FIELD
After the decoy has completely dried, I like to ensure that any unwanted odors that could have been missed are destroyed.
Once the decoy is dry, I turn on my ScentLok OZ NFuse sprayer for about a minute. After the water has been infused with ozone, I spray the decoy down. I make sure to spray over the entire body, including the tail and underneath the hollow body. In doing so, I am reassured that no unwanted odors that could potentially spook an approaching buck have been removed.
The next step in keeping a decoy free of foreign smells is to ensure that no odors get on the decoy when taking it to the field. Transportation methods for the decoy, such as the trailer of an ATV or in the back of a truck or SUV, are places with odors from gas, oil, and food. These odors will cling to the decoy that has recently been cleaned.
Instead, I carry a cloth carrying bag that has been washed along with all my hunting garments in odorless laundry detergent. When ready to transport the decoy to my hunting location, I disassemble the decoy and place it in a bag to ensure no odors get on the decoy until I arrive at my hunting destination.
STEP 3: HUNTING WITH A DECOY
I spray down the decoy again at the vehicle before carrying it to my specific hunting location.
After I remove the decoy from the carrying bag once I have arrived at my location, I then provide a 2nd dose of ozone-infused water from my NFuse sprayer at the vehicle. One last time before hunting, I make sure that any odors that may have been missed or any new odors that may have found their way on the decoy have been destroyed.
With these three steps, a hunter can be assured that a buck can come within a close range of the decoy and never smell any foreign odors that could potentially put an end to the hunt.
The decoy is now scent-free and ready to be used with a deer lure to attract mature bucks to the decoy.
Hunters should place deer lures on the ground around the decoy or some scent applicator near the decoy. NEVER put deer scent on the decoy itself. Keeping the deer lure around the decoy and not on the decoy itself guarantees that it stays scent-free when transporting back and forth from home to the field. Some hunters even opt to hide the decoy near their hunting location to use in the future; by not having deer lure directly on the decoy, nothing will find it in its hidden location.
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