Dousing yourself in doe urine won't guarantee you a big buck. In fact, that's one of the things you should not do. Proper use of deer scent is very important for success. With any of the deer-specific scents -- general deer scent, doe estrous or sex scent and buck urine -- the attracted deer comes looking for the scent source. You don't want to be "It." There are many scent dispenser systems that can be hung on trees near your stand or even better, where you want the deer to pause for a shot. Place the deer-lure scent on the upwind side of trails or fresh sign and position yourself downwind. If you use boot pads or drag rags to cover your trail, take them off and hang them just like a scent dispenser. Use a cover scent at your location. Using a dispenser, rather than wearing the cover scent, is a good idea. Walking into a restaurant wearing skunk scent won

Calling deer is becoming increasingly evolved. Today we know much more about whitetail vocalization than ever before. However, one of the most effective buck calls isn't a vocalization at all. "Horn rattling" simulates two bucks fighting. A buck hearing this becomes aggressively curious and often comes to the sound. An old set of antlers or a set of commercial synthetic antlers, are clashed together to mimic buck conflicts from light sparring to mortal combat. Accomplished "rattlers" shake the brush and pound on the ground to imitate buck-fighting sounds. Rattling seems to work best during the highly competitive pre-rut period when the bucks are sorting out who is boss. Response diminishes during the actual rut but picks up again in the post-rut period when fewer receptive does are available. Aggressive buck grunting seems to work best during the same buck-competitive periods as rattling. However, deer are naturally curious about other deer, so light, low grunting may attract a buck just about anytime. -- Terry Rohm

Don't ever believe that a mature whitetail buck is dumb even when in heavy and hard rut. He may move more that he ordinarily would. He may move more in daylight than usual. And he will certainly venture into unfamiliar territory while chasing does. This goes against his native caution, which is temporarily overpowered by the natural instinct to procreate. But he's not stupid. He senses that he is in compromising situation and his general wariness increases. He will use every advantage available even while indulging in the risky business of the rut. Hunt the rutting buck just as cautiously as if he were not in rut. But since his normal pattern is disrupted, hunt other places. During the rut, hunt on the margins of heavy doe-use areas such as feeding areas and main trails. That's where bucks that are not already chasing a doe will hang out. Continue to hunt cover and hunt it carefully. He may be "in love" but he is nobody's fool. -- Brenda Valentine

Deer are most active during periods of low light. This means "light-gathering" ability is a very important factor in a deer-rifle scope. Light enters the scope through the objective lens and a big objective lens lets in more light. However, magnification limits the amount of light passing through the "exit pupil." (The payback is that higher magnification offsets this by presenting a larger image.) To determine the exit pupil's diameter, divide objective diameter (mm) by the power. A 4X scope with a 40mm objective lens has an exit pupil of 10. The eye's pupil only dilates to 6 or 7mm, so an exit pupil the same size or larger will max out your eye

Oak trees of some species are found all over the range of whitetail deer. This is good because deer love acorns. However, they love some acorns more than others. White oak acorns are preferred because they have less tannic acid than red oak acorns. White oaks bloom and bear nuts every year. The red oaks bloom one year and produce acorns the next. Hunter success is the reverse of acorn success. When acorns are abundant and widespread so are the deer. With deer spread out and not required to move very much to feed, hunter success drops. However, when the acorn crop is diminished by a late spring frost, hunters who know where to find alternative foods cash in. Remember red oaks bloom the year before they produce acorns, so a late spring frost doesn't damage them. Also, some white oaks may have escaped frost damage. Either way, the hunter who knows where to find acorns when acorns are scarce is in a very good position. -- Bob Foulkrod