HUNT HARD, HUNT SMART AND USE NORTHWOODS COMMON SCENTS. It all started with the arrival of Paul, my long time friend of 45 years. He had just finished and exhausting week of moose hunting in Northern Vermont. All the hiking and hard work produced only  great memories but no meat in the freezer. They had climbed ridge after ridge after the giants but to no avail. Paul arrived at my place pretty beat up from his weeklong excursion. We hunted the  next 5 days in a row with muzzle loaders , morning and evening only sleeping in once over the course of that time frame. It was totally different then last year. We couldn't keep the deer off us. We saw deer every time on stand. This year we have a full moon cycle which seems to have hamstrung us. In any case the deer were not moving . Well after  5 days on the ridges of Vermont with no sighting and 5 day at camp Vanier with no sighting , Paul had had enough. We woke at 4am that next morning and he looked miserable. The weather was damp and he was having no part of it. There aint no friggen deer in them woods. I ain't seen nuffin all week and this stupid full  moon has screwed us all up. I'm going back to bed and then I'm going home .  I chucked to myself and understanding his frustration crawled back in the sack myself. Although My wife and I wanted Paul to finish out the weekend in hopes of a successful hunt , I have to admit that that boy can eat. Shelli and I looked at each other throughout the week in amazement as our fully stocked fridge ended up looking like a soup Kitchen that had been closed for the past 50 years. It's no wonder the boys all there. Later that morning Paul packed his stuff, touched off his muzzle loader and had another packed up the last chunk of cake before heading back to Maine. Mean while Shelli and I zoomed off to our place of business in hopes of getting a few things done so that I could get my backside into the woods for the evening hunt. We got the call from Paul around 1:00 with his safe arrival in Portland and he wished me luck with the remainder of the hunting season. As the time approached 2:00, I hustled nervously around shelly  watching the clock and trying to finish my work. Finally  could take it anymore 2:30 ! Umm Shelli , looking at her smiling ear to ear. Get out of here, you're driving me nuts. Go get him . I know he's out there. I have to admit she's a keeper. A great friend and wonderful wife. Thanks Shell for covering for me.  Go please just go she responded. That's all I needed for my truck tires to turn . I raced home trying not to exceed the speed limit by more than 20 mph. Arriving home transformed myself I from a mild mannered business manager into a meat craving carnivore in 2 minutes. Gabbed my muzzle loader leaped back into my pick up and drove to the ridge stand.  I arrived at my stand location at 3:15. I then broke out my secret weapon: The LIL Hattie scent dispersal unit or SDU. It keeps my deer lures at a temperature of around 90 degrees. The difference is much like that of a cold cup of coffee compared to a hot one. The scent travels much further when it is warm. I applied my scent into the LIL Hattie carefully  much like a mad scientist mixing test tubes.  For some reason I had the incredible urge to laugh in a sinister fashion. Knowing  I had only a couple hours of day light left, I placed my scent upwind from my stand. The wind was blowing hard and I  know that mature bucks usually lock up 30 t0 50 yard downwind trying to confirm what they are smelling. I climbed my stand and marveled at the trap I had set and the time I did it in. Now all I needed was a volunteer from the nearby deer population. 3:30 arrived and I started asking for volunteers with my doe bleat. Bleat . Hello., Hello , over here. I'm over here! Looking at my watch a, a half hour had passed. It was now 4:00. I tried the bleat call again trying to be more convincing this time. Hello, I'm over here. Just a little hot doe waiting for you. No hunter here, just me your little friend. Bleat Blah Bleat Blah. This has obviously take years to perfect. While  chuckling to myself saying that is too funny Dean. Pay attention...The sound of the stiff breeze was interrupted by some foot steps . or so I thought. There was something on my right approaching but I thought sure I had heard something 50 yards to my left as well. Well it didn't matter now because whatever was on my right was approaching  fast . I got ready to take the safety off  my 50 caliber . I saw movement through the brush and got ready 30 yards no 25 ... Great a turkey..Unreal , I thought to myself. I didn't know a turkey could understand a bleat call. Again I chucked at the thought. The turkey disappeared  into the brush and I set back in my stand and relaxed . False alarm.. The wind continued blowing and I thought I heard another step to my left. It was about 50 yards away and downwind from my scent. It was very faint but I'm sure something was there.  Maybe another turkey that thinks it's a deer I thought. I checked my watch 4:20. I watched to my left.  I could see nothing but there the sound was again. Then about 100 yards away I heard a deer blow twice . Now , what's going on with that, I thought. I immediately broke into my brains Deer vocalization archives DVA for short and determined that the deer is either  blowing at me , my LIL Hattie or ... another deer.  I decided to respond with a soft grunt call. Placing my mouth on the call , I let out 3 grunts. I'm over here  in deer talk. No sooner than the call left my mouth , the footsteps returned. There was something there the whole time. I listened and watched. I  know your there , now where are you. Looking at my watch 4:30 not much time . Just then a deep cheated heavy racked buck separated itself from under brush. I wasted no time. The Muzzleloader barley touched my should when I pulled the trigger. A large puff of smoke  interrupted my vision momentarily as I watch the large buck bolt.   I immediately startled playing the scenario over in my mind. It was a good buck. 8 points , maybe bigger . Wow . Then I thought I had shot so fast. Did I hit him  I remember the cross hairs dropping behind the front shoulder before the large puff of smoke filled my scope. He did take off like a bat otta hell.  Did I miss him. climbing down from my stand , I couldn't help but think I had to have connected at 60 yards. It was losing day light quickly . I went to where I had seen the deep cheasted buck and yes there it was . Red Gold and lots of it for  about 40 yards and heard a crash and some trashing. Was he still alive? Did I wound him? Did he just take off? Oh no , the coyotes are going to get to him before I do. Aliens are coming . The sky is falling. Ok , I thought . get a grip Dean. Great now I'm talking to myself. Just back off and give it some time. I climbed off the ridge went back to my truck and went to get some help. It was funny because I pulled into the yard and shells Jeep was there. Shelli ? Shell are you there? No response. Oh no , the coyotes have gotten her to. Over here she responded . You shot a deer didn't you. I knew it , I knew It . Yea shell , I shot a corker . He's a big 8 maybe bigger and I'm going to need some help. I think he's dead up on the ridge. There was lots of blood and I think I heard him fall down. I'm going to call <Mark for some help. No she replied, let me go . Please Dean , I've never done this before and I really want to know what it's all about. Looking at my watch and then into her eyes, I had to say yes. She was so excited. I asked again , are you shore? We don't know what we may or may not find shell. It can be messy , hard work and potentially heart breaking. All 120 lbs jump up and said , I can do this. Please. One condition Shell I am always open to discussion on everything we do . This time you have to listen to everything I say.  It's very important ,I know what I'm doing. You got it , she replied. Thinking to myself wow, I wonder if this will ever happen again. The decision was made. It was Shelli and Dean on the blood trail of what I believed to be my best buck ever. After arming ourselves with multiple flashlights and batteries we jump into the pickup and off we went. We arrived at the ridge. It was pitch black . before closing the door to the pickup  I looked d at Shelli and asked her if she was ready. Remember, be careful where you step, it's dark. Go slow be quiet and listen. Looking back under the brim of her camo  baseball cap she nodded eagerly an said but I feel like if have knots I my stomach and I'm real nervous. Good I said , that's how your suppose to feel now let's go. I have ego admit that I was a little nervous myself. I know what could be waiting at the end of the trail but also feared at what might not be there. We were almost to my stand where I had shot when we arrived at a small swamp that we needed to cross. Standing in 6 inches of water with my rubber boots, I looked back at Shell and said be careful it's kinda deep. No problem she whispered back. Looking down at her feet and scratching my head I said sneakers? Hikers, she snapped back.  Chuckling to myself , I hit reverse and said Ok , jump on let's go. A short piggyback ride took her to the other side and back on dry land. I a couple hundred  we  arrived at the blood trail . Here we go , I whispered, Go slow, Stay behind me,  be quiet, and try not to step into the blood in case we need to back track. Moving slowly through the darkness , we kept our flashlights on narrow beam so not to spook any animals nearby. The deer appeared to be hit hard. However we had gone nearly 150 yards. Pausing and listening for signs of life every minute or so we came upon a large boulder. The blood lead us up on and the off the boulder and to a large log where he had stopped. Wow, I whispered , Shelly look at this. Shelly started tapping me on the shoulder. Blood on both sides . I can't believe that the deer is not right here. Shell continued tapping me on the shoulder. Wait Shell, not now, he has to be here somewhere. After a slight push in my back , I snapped around ... What honey.  I held my flash light to her face. Her eyes were glazed and her lips trembled as she pointed her light 5 feet away.  He's right there. We immediately embraced for what seemed like 5 minutes. Look at him she whispered. Oh my god he's beautiful. Sitting down beside him she patted his thick coat and was the first person to ever touch him. The buck was well over 200lbs on the hoof and sported and wide 10 point rack. What a blessing I thought. Of all the track jobs over the last 30 plus years, this will forever be the most memorable. I field dressed the large buck and pointed Shelly in the direction of the Pickup. We took our time laughing and often hugging most of the way down off the ridge.  Placing our maglights every 30 yards in the dirt Shelly would come back and grab the other side of the rack and help pull. She certainly could pull as hard as Mark but she was after all a heck of allot cuter. We arrived home both tired from the hard work and excitement. I got from here Shelly . Thank you so much for your help . I would have never shot this buck if it were not for you. Wrapping a biggest bear hug she could muster , she looked up at me and said . Now I understand why you do it. Thank you Dean... I love you .   PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING. JUST ASK THESE FOKS. A great story from Ray Demers Pro Staff : Pete Porters Story Pete's 2nd Vermont Pope and Young Buck I shot a corker! Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction!!! Three weeks before the season opens we get a severe wind storm that knocks all of the acorns out of the trees. All of a sudden there are no deer in the deer cameras. Food sources have changed. I had seen some really nice buck including a 14 and a couple 10’s The 2008 archery season started off okay and ended with virtually no sightings of deer. I passed on 7 deer opening day. No other chances. Opener of gun season I get a call that my friends brother had “hit” a nice buck and it was headed my way. I was 1/2 mile away and uphill . About 1/2 hour later this nice buck is flying past me. I blow him into the ravine with a chest shot from my 350 magnum. More shots? “Chuck, your deer is down, your deer is down!” His deer? Well he did hit it through the brisket through the skin. His deer? I had a 350 magnum through the chest. Chuck ended up tagging it and I lost a friend out of the deal. It was a 6 point with a 14 2/8” inside spread and weighed 172 pounds. I hunted the rest of the season and passed a 3 point as it was too close to being legal or illegal. Not worth the “whoops” factor. As I had an unfilled rifle tag and 2 unfilled archery tags I decided not to get a muzzleloader license. If I couldn’t get a buck with my bow, I’d go without. Opening late season archery in Vermont. Well I broke all the rules. I didn’t shower, got up late, drove to where I wanted to hunt and the road was plowed closed. I could have hiked in. It was about 4 degrees and really noisy. I opted to go get a hot chocolate and think of another place to go. About 9:00 I was a little warmed(In my truck) and ended up on the other side of where I wanted to be about 200 yards from my other destination. As the ice storm had coated my ladder stand I walked out to a tree with a stump attached to the base and cleaned off a place in the snow. The ice had all the limbs sagging towards the ground. Everything was coated in ice. I noticed I couldn’t see my sights without the sight pin lit so I knew I’d have to turn that on as soon as I saw/heard a deer. I empty out a spray bottle and fill it with Northwood's Common Scents urine. Todays flavor was doe in heat. I spray it all around my stand and occasionally with a burst of wind. At about 9:30 I heard some crunching and saw just a rack coming over the crest of the hill. I got my sight pin lit and started turning counter clock wise as I am left handed. I noticed the buck was limping. He came into about 12 yards and was in some thick whips under some hanging pine limbs. I pulled back and waited for a shot. He started to move and I shot. Just as I was releasing he spun and I hit him in the lower part of the hind quarter. His head dropped as if he thought he was being attacked as I was fumbling for another arrow. Before I could even get the arrow on and release clipped in, a huge buck came over the hill from the same direction as the other one did. In the blink of an eye he hit the first buck in the chest and pushed him back until he slammed into a tree. When he hit the tree the second buck picked the first buck up the side of the tree about 2 feet. I saw an opening at the first bucks chest and shot him with my rage 2 1/2” broadhead. The second buck took off back over the hill as fast as he had come. The first buck lay there motionless. I called Corey to help me drag and load the deer. He was in Plymouth NH with his girlfriend. I then called Nick to come help me get him into the truck, gutted and tagged the deer. He weighed in at 146 empty and was aged at 8 1/2 - 9 1/2 years old. I took him home and Nick and I hung him. As I skinned him I noticed many holes in him body. About 30 of them. When I looked at the heart I saw that 1 of the other bucks tines went all the way through the heart! I had shot a dead deer! Well at least he was going to die with or without my arrow. He had 13 point. Of them 11 were scorable. After the drying period he was scored by master measurer , David Coker at 138 3/8" as a 10 point typical. Buckmasters Region 10 Director (ME,NH,VT,MA,CT,RI) Master Angler since 1981 X-Stream Fishing Guide Service - Alaska- New York- Vermont Trophy Head Hunts - Guide/Outfitter New York- Vermont- Florida Buckmaster's-Master Antler Scorer Record book of Exotics-Certified Scorer Northeast Big Buck Club - Scorer Vermont Big Game Trophy Club - Scorer Northeast Common Scents- Pro Staff the Wolf & Wild Canine Sanctuary- Director http://www.wolfsanctuary.com Got Two Bucks Steen ? As a matter of he does have two bucks and one heck of a story to go with them that will last forever . Here is Steen's story : I am sending the enclosed photos to show you how good your product worked for me. On November 30 , I was in my tree stand . I had sprinkled some of your Doe In Heat buck lure on a few branches .I had used other scents in the past without much success , so I was in doubt as to weather this scent would work . I had been in my tree stand for about an hour when the 11 point buck came in . I came within 10 yards of my stand and I shot him with my bow. I still was not sure if it was the buck lure that brought him in till the next day . 2 Nice Bucks I was hunting with my 12 year old son . It was about 8:30am . Some of the buck lure was still on my gloves and wool pants from being spilled on the previous day . My son and I were sitting on a maple log and I was telling him that this was a good deer crossing . A few minute later , I said Nick I think I here something . We looked up the steep bank in front of us and to our surprise we saw a fine 8 point buck running straight at us . My son's exact words were ," Dad is he charging us ?" I whispered to him to be quiet . The buck ran up to about 15 yards from us . Mean while I had drawn my bow . When he looked up and saw us , he put on the brakes and I released my arrow . A few minutes later we got our deer .It was one of the happiest moments of my life . M y son was with me and I had just shot both of them with a bow just 16 hours apart . I truly believe that your buck lure worked . I have never hunted anywhere accept New Hampshire . I'm 39 years old and have tagged a deer every year since I was 17 . I truly believe that the buck lure did it for me because these were the two easiest bucks I ever gotten .        Sincerly , Steen Gilpatrick                        PS   I'm looking forward to using your buck lure next year . Michael's Idaho Buck Michael heads out west every fall to help his client take large Whitetails like this on . Here is his own story : Hi Dean , I spoke with you on the phone a while back and you asked for a picture and a short story of my hunt  : While scouting I had found some good sized rubs on several trees . A couple days later while hanging my tree stand , I found some scraps in the same area . A friend of mine had used your Doe In Heat Scents with good results . On the way to my stand I used a drag line leading to trails in the bucks travel corridor .I had placed a drip bottle with your scent on the bucks scrape that was visible from my stand . Later that morning at 11:00 , a buck came down the trail where I had used the drag line . He walk up to the scape with the drip bottle a stopped for a perfect one shot kill . A short pack out was nessesary but enjoyable none the less . I work for an outfitter and use this technique quite often for our clients. A good quality product like yours definatily helps in our efforts to put trophy deer infront of our hunters . This Deer scored 143 and 5/8 gross . I have enclosed a couple pictures also. Your product is a good one and I would be happy to use it in the future for myself and my hunters .  Thank you             Michael Branch Mitch does it again ! As I had mentioned earlier , Mitch and I go back a ways . I lost track of how many times he has knocked 'em down with the help of NorthWoods Common Scents . Hey Dean , here are a few pictures of my deer , I hope you like them .We need to hook up so that you check out the rest of them .Your friendship and product , NorthWoods Common Scents are outstanding .I have used them for years now and continue to have great success . Thank you very much and keep up the good work . Nice racker Huh ? Yaaa !  Keep in touch ,      Mitch   Jimmy 's back to back bruisers Jim , has been part of Team NorthWoods for over a decade and takes his hunting seriously .   His favorite technique is Still hunting and using NorthWoods Common Scents . Here is his story . Dean , I am writing to tell you how NortWoods Common Scents has help me become a better hunter .I started using Deer Scents 9 years ago . I've tried most of them on the market with limited success. I managed one 8 point buck in the last seven years . I've  always seen deer . Mostly does and spikes with little chance for a shot with my bow. 2 years ago I tried NorthWoods Common Scents real late in the season .On the last day your Doe in Heat brought a huge 12 point buck in with an estimated live weight of 300lbs . Although I missed the shot , I have never seen a animal of that caliber. Last year  I couldn't wait to get into the woods . I purchsed some NorthWoods Doe Urine to start the early bow season. I had six oppertunities where deer came well into bow range comfortably on the scent. I waited , hoping to see the large buck from the previous year . Muzzel loading season brought the same success. I was seeing more deer /more bucks then I'd seen in all the previous years combined. Again, I let these smaller bucks walk . On November 30th I had put out some NorthWoods Doe in Heat , shortly after I saw a Doe cut down wind from the scent . The doe dissapeared in to a thicket . Ten minutes later a buck appeared . He was on her track but was confused on where to go . The buck was on the Northwoods Doe in Heat instead on the doe . I pulled up and fired . I saw him fall. Not realizing the size of the buck I had shot, I about choked when I saw him. The bucks weight exceeded 200lbs dress and had a 24 inch inside spead. Now I am already looking forward to next season and I know I will be using NorthWoods Coomon Scents .    Sincerly   Jim Dussault Jims Buck ... unreal ! I took this eight pointer after tracking him for several miles . I knew he was a ways ahead of me and he was looking for the girls. I had a pretty good idea where he was going , So I cut up wind from him at a fast pace and laid out seveal scent bombs and waited. It wasn't 5 minutes later he came in and I had another NorthWoods buck . I could go on and on with the stories I've heard or expierienced myself . From activating  mock scrapes , deer licking my tree pegs , does licking dripper bags , bucks charging in or cautiously following a drag line . Of course doing your homework helps and time on stand is critical. One thing is for certain though , using  NorthWoods Common Scents will certainly increase your odds of success .