Some chemicals, such as gasoline, insect repellents, and cleaning agents, can also spook deer. To avoid this, use scent-free versions of these products or keep them away from your hunting area.
By incorporating natural scents they dislike, such as garlic, lavender, mint, and cinnamon, and applying them strategically around your garden, you can create an invisible barrier that protects your plants without harming the deer.
But guess what the real scare was to the deer, surpassing even the wolves? Conversational human voices were overwhelmingly the most fear-inducing of the sounds to which the deer were exposed. In fact, it was found that the deer were nearly twice as likely to run from human recordings than those of any other predator.
Select sugar sweeteners and a strong acorn flavor come together to create an impossible-to-ignore scent. This blend will not only attract deer to your property, but hold them in the area for extended periods of time. Kandy Korn is another super sweet concoction that will drive your deer mad.
Natural sweet-and-salty flavor and molasses scent pull deer from afar.
For many deer hunters, Tink's #69 is the OG of deer attractants, and as such, it has been a staple at deer camps across the country for generations. Made with a blend of concentrated doe estrus urine, “#69” is the product number, although plenty of rut innuendo has accompanied its use.
Food-based scents appeal to their need to feed. And while I wouldn't recommend it, scents from foods that don't normally occur in a specific area will still attract the deer that live there. That might be part of the answer to vanilla. While foreign, it is a food-based scent.
Deer are susceptible to smells and will stay away from things they don't like. The top ten smells they hate the most include mint, bloodmeal, garlic, human hair, Irish Spring soap, hot pepper, eucalyptus, lavender, predator urine, and fennel.
A deer or groups of deer might be unafraid of smoking on walking trails, in backyards, or other areas with regular human traffic. That same scent detected in an area with no human traffic will result in a dramatically different reaction from the deer.
Wolves and mountain lions have evolved as effective killers of deer but with very different physical characteristics and hunting behaviors. Of course, for their part, white- tails have found ways to protect themselves. A mountain lion is a solitary predator that stalks and ambushes its prey.
Auditory deterrents can repel deer with their noise, and include noisemakers like gas or propane exploders, whistles, and ultrasonic devices. Gas or propane exploders produce loud, banging noises, which frighten deer away, and have been used to help protect orchards, row crops and truck crops.
Modern findings — both anecdotal and research-focused — have revealed that whitetails tend to circle back into their bedding areas after being spooked from them. This can take a few minutes, or a few days, but bucks almost always return to their bed.
It may seem silly, but sprinkling soap is a tried and true method of deterring deer from entering and destroying your garden. Cut Irish Spring Original soap into cubes, and place the pieces into the ground around newly growing plants.
Mothballs sometimes are used illegally to repel pests not listed on labels. Some of these “off-label pests” include: squirrels, skunks, deer, mice, rats, and snakes, among others animals. Use mothballs pesticide products to control the pests listed on the label only!
Salt is a great year-round attractant. Use either blocks or loose salt to keep salt and mineral sites fresh. Deer flock to mineral salt mixes, too.
Typically, a deer's favorite food items include nuts and fruits. Some of the natural sources of food that deer love are acorns, beechnuts, hickory nuts, and pecans. In terms of fruits, deer love blackberries and blueberries, and apples are a favorite item for them.
Cinnamon: This is another smell that deer hate and tend to avoid. Like the above plants, you can use this to deter deer without worrying about adverse effects on family members or pets.
In theory, putting a layer of fresh coffee grounds around favorite plants will mask their smell for the deer and replace it with a bitter scent. Plus, coffee has a distinctly human-world smell that may activate the deer's flight response because they will associate it with danger.
Brightly colored flagging can help deer avoid contact with the fence. Flagging should be in the blue to yellow spectrum and attached at waist height in 3 foot intervals along the fence. These colors are recommended as deer have dichromatic vision and do not process the color red, orange or pink as well.
If you're looking for a natural deer repellent, cinnamon can help protect your garden as the animal cannot stand the scent or taste of the spice. There are a couple of chemical-free deer-repellent recipes you can use.
Human odors are the most common odor that is alarming to a deer's safety. Human odors, including sweat, cologne, or laundry detergent scents, are a top concern for hunters. Whitetails can easily detect these foreign odors, associating them with potential danger.