John’s Note: Hank Parker, former Bassmasters Classic Champion, and his two sons, Hank Jr. and Billy, produce the TV shows, “Hank Parker 3D” and “Hank Parker’s Outdoor Magazine” on the Pursuit Channel and “Hank Parker’s Flesh and Blood” on the Outdoor Channel. They use deer lure to get more bucks within bow range. When we asked Hank, “What are some of the trends you’ve seen in the deer lure business in the last few years?” we were surprised by what we learned. Deer lure can be an effective tool to allow bowhunters to put bucks in front of their bows. But if deer lure is used incorrectly, it rarely if ever works. Hank is the president of C’Mere Deer (www.cmeredeer.com). If you’ve wondered about how to use deer lure effectively, stay with us this week, and Hank will tell us how.

Parker explains, “I’ve seen a shift in consumer response to attractants. 

In the last few years, there’s been a huge influx of deer attractants on the market. The hunter is somewhat confused on how to use deer attractants effectively, and some attractants have been less effective than others. The hunters who’ve used deer attractants effectively are still buying and using attractants. When they find an attractant like C’Mere Deer that works for them, they’re not telling their buddies about the attractants, especially the ones who hunt in the same area they hunt. Hunters are much like fishermen who start catching fish on one particular lure. That lure becomes their secret lure. The hunters who use deer attractants and aren’t successful tell everybody that attractants don’t work. I think that explains the drop-off we’ve seen in hunters buying and using deer attractants.

Another trend I’ve seen is hunters haven’t learned how to use deer lure correctly. You can’t put deer lure in the middle of a deer’s trail and expect it to work.

First, you have to put an attractant where you find deer signs, or where acorns have been cracked open, and the deer have eaten the meats out of the acorns. One thing to remember about any hunting aid is you can get bad results from a good product, if that product isn’t used correctly.

Deer lure is much like duck calls. If you try to call a duck into a place that it doesn’t want to come to, it’s not going to come. If you turn your decoys upside down, and the bottoms of the decoys are showing instead of the heads and backs of the decoys, regardless of how good your duck call is, you won’t bring any ducks to the blind. C’Mere Deer will work, if you don’t put it in a deer trail. You have to place it in an area where deer feed and lightly rake leaves over it. The deer will find the attractant with their noses, and they’ll return to that spot several times. But if you pile it up, so they can see it, they know that pile of deer lure hasn’t been there the day before. They’ll be very suspicious of it – especially in daylight hours. So, as hunters learn and understand more about how to use deer attractants, I’m sure we’ll see the market for deer attractants boom again

To learn more about deer hunting, you can get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks, “How to Hunt Deer Up Close: With Bows, Rifles, Muzzleloaders and Crossbows,” “PhD Whitetails: How to Hunt and Take the Smartest Deer on Any Property,” “How to Take Monster Bucks,” and “How to Hunt Deer Like a Pro,” or to prepare venison, get “Deer & Fixings.” Click here to get these books.

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About the Author

John Phillips, winner of the 2012 Homer Circle Fishing Award for outstanding fishing writer by the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA), the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors. Click here for more information and a list of all the books available from John E. Phillips.

Next: Hank Parker on Two Ways to Use Deer Lure – Correctly and Incorrectly