John - I want you to share some credit with both you and ScentLok for the 10 point I took in 2017 as he’s my biggest buck and a rarity for the heavily pressured area I hunt in Pennsylvania.
I attended one of your workshops this summer which visually helped me confirm your instructional information on everything you do in the field and your ScentLok scent control regimen which was awesome. During post season I prepared several locations and had bucks and does within 50 yards each time I’ve hunted them. Your workshop made me realize the importance of scent control, patience and saving my best spots for the rut phases. I only set up locations where there was adequate transition and perimeter security cover for daytime visits.
While it was a struggle at first, I also paid no attention to wind direction because I was following your strict scent control regimen and it worked perfectly as I had deer linger and pass downwind on several occasion without a trace of detection. I never would have believed that could happen unless I witnessed it myself.
On November 3rd, I went in for an all-day hunt and at daybreak noticed that 2 of the 5 converging runways had fresh rubs along them making me think they were routinely being used. Since preparing the location in spring one branch in the tree had grown enough to partially block a runway so around 2:45 I climbed down about 4 feet and reached out and clipped it off and got back up. Shortly thereafter I heard a deer running towards me and it was a nice buck and he stopped right under me. As he was walking away I came to full draw and made a vocal doe bleat (as you showed at the workshop) to stop him and he stopped right where I cut the branch off. I took the 8 yard shot and watched as he ran about 50 yards and tipped over. What a RUSH!
Thanks for being a teacher and sharing your knowledge with hunters.
Ryan – Pennsylvania
My reply to Ryan was that I can only lay a foundation of what might need to be done and that he did all the work to bag this beautiful buck in such a highly pressured state and area. Congrats to Ryan and he was full of questions at the workshop and after.
