How to Use Urine and Glandular Deer Scents to Attract Whitetail

The main goal of every avid Whitetail Deer hunter is to attract more deer to their stand location of choice. Thus, if you visit your local sporting goods store or take a look at a prominent outdoor outfitter’s catalog or website, you will be presented with a plethora of different types of deer scents for accomplishing this goal. For instance, both urine and glandular deer scents are very popular methods for attracting Whitetail Deer to a stand location and both can be very effective. Let's have a look at the different options to consider:

​Deer Urine Scents

So, first let's explore deer urine scents. These types of deer scents are harvested both directly from pen raised deer and from deer that have been harvested by hunters, and they are used to attract deer to a specific location. Consequently, urine scents consist of either doe urine, doe-in-estrus urine, or ​dominant buck urine and are generally applied to either the soles of a hunter’s boots or to a rag which the hunter drags behind them as they walk into their stand; thus creating a scent trail that often causes any deer that crosses ​the trail ​​to turn from their intended course, in order to follow the scent trail and lead them right to a tree stand or ground blind.

Glandular​ Scents

​There are the various types of glandular deer scents which consist of interdigital gland scents, preorbital gland scents, tarsal glad scents and, mock scrape scents and they come in the form of both liquid scents and solid wafer scents with each type of scent having a particular purpose.

Preorbital

For instance, preorbital gland scents such as Code Blue’s Rack Rub are harvested from the glands located above a mature deer’s eyes and are meant to be used to mark territory in order to ​pique a deer’s curiosity and especially for creating mock scrapes. Therefore, they are deployed by rubbing them on overhang branches along well-worn trails to advertise an intruder deer in the area as well as on branches over mock scrapes to add realism to them.

Interdigital

Next, there are interdigital gland deer scents such as Tinks’ #4 Fresh Tracks which are harvested from the glands between a mature deer’s hooves and are used to create a false trail for any deer that come across it to follow to your stand. Thus, you can either apply them directly to the soles of your hunting boots or, you can apply them to a “drag rag” which is a piece of fabric with a cord tied to one corner with the other end of the cord looped around your ankle so that it can be dragged along the ground behind you as you walk.

​Tarsal

In addition, mature Whitetail Deer have scent glands located on both of their hind legs called tarsal glands. Thus, hunters can choose to use either actual tarsal glands or a gel such as Code Blue’s Tarsal Gland Gel. However, it should be noted that while actual tarsal glands can be used dry, they work best when recharged at the beginning of each hunting trip by impregnating them with either pre-estrous doe urine, doe-in-estrous urine, or dominate buck urine (depending on the type of Tarsal Gland you have and whether or not the rut has started). ​Then they can either be attached to a cord which is then looped around the hunter’s ankle, so that the Tarsal Gland drags along the ground behind the hunter to create a false scent trail or they can be hung from a tree limb near a hunter’s stand to simulate an intruder deer or, they can be hung over a mock scrape to lend extra realism to it.

Mock Scrape

But, in order to create a realistic mock scrape, you will first need to find a well worn deer trail with a line of scrapes that are already there and then find a place in between two scrapes with overhanging branches adjacent to the trail where you can clear a space on the ground two to three feet in diameter. Then, you will need to impregnate the bare ground with a buck’s interdigital gland scent and well as a dominate buck urine such as Code Blue’s Whitetail Buck Urine or Tinks Trophy Buck which works even better when poured over buck’s tarsal gland to give it added realism. Then, you will need to spread some buck preorbital gland scent on a branch suspended above your mock scrape to complete the process. Last, if you use a tarsal gland to pour your dominate buck urine over, then the tarsal gland should also be suspended from a limb overhanging the mock scrape.

​Different Types of Scents to Buy

​It should be noted that deer scents are available in two different forms consisting of liquid scents and solid wafer scents.​

Liquid

All liquid deer scents such as doe urine, doe-in-estrous urine, and buck urine can be used to impregnate a drag rag for laying down a false scent trail or by dispersing the scent on the breeze by placing it in a scent dispenser such as a medicine bottle stuffed with cotton balls or a commercial scent dispenser placed either on the ground near your stand or by hanging it from a tree limb near your stand. ​It should be noted that scent dispensers can range from the very basic with nothing more than a reservoir and a wick to the very elaborate ​portable heaters and electric fans to help disperse the scent.

Solid Wafer

Whereas, solid wafer cover scents are specifically designed so that they can be attached directly to a hunter’s clothing without permanently impregnating the fabric of the garment with the chosen scent. Therefore, they come with either a plastic ring attached to the wafer which folds out or a metal pin attached to the back of the wafer so that it can be pinned to the hunter’s clothing.

Choose Wisely

So, as you can see, using both urine scents and glandular scents can be valuable tools that enable hunters to attract any deer in their area and then to lead them to a particular location and then cause them to linger in that location long enough to get a clean shot.