Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Scents and the reaction from does Question

What is the traveling range of does? Specifically the matriarch doe. I ask this in conjunction with the use of “doe in heat scent.”

From my 4 years on a place in rural Kansas, I have had some bad days dealing with the queen doe. I practice pretty strong scent free procedures as best I can. I don’t run into stand and try to do all I can to not get busted by anything. It is a work in progress. I hunt the wind exclusively and if wind changes, I will move.

As an example last year, I had pushed a doe while walking to my stand in a cedar grove. She moved off a little bit, but didn’t blow or get too upset at the time. Me and my hunting buddy proceeded at a slight off angle to my stand. After being in the stand, she came looking for me. She tracked me down and blew…but didn’t leave. She walked around behind me and continued to stomp and blow for a good 20 min. She then moved off with the 4 other does with her. She circled upwind of me traveling nearly 340 degrees, traveling completely the 5 acre field in front of me to travel through the woods and get to another chance at checking my location from the opposite corner. She blew and stomped again. All this within 45 min.

I had already decided I was going to relocate, but I didn’t want her around when I did, but she was persistent.

It has me really thinking about the days I get busted were always the days that I used “doe in heat” scent. I don’t always use scent, but I have tried to at times of peek pre-rut/rut days. It has me wondering that the matriarch knows that the “doe in heat” isn’t one of her doe girls and also knows that does don’t travel outside of their area. And the use of the scent screams “this isn’t right” and makes it her mission to find the imposter.

Is there any validity to my theory? That the does all know each other and don’t travel outside their small range, especially when in heat.

JMHO, the "doe in heat" scent can be a double edged sword.

In the rut, it's worked for me as a good cover scent for bucks, and decent attracter for young bucks, and a warning to any doe in the area.

Outside of the rut, I think it's more of a warning, than a draw. I've watched mature does downwind get very wary of a "doe in heat" lure, and stand way off and "glass" for movement upwind. While I thought I was in rut window, I was probably causing more concern, than calming. I've quit using it outside of the peak rut days.

Deer are social animals, they know who's in the circle and who's outside. You probably had a good herd mother trying to figure out what the new scent was, who it was, and where you were at. Sounds like you cover worked, the doe didn't spook, and it kept her in the area and interested. Probably not how you wanted her interested, but she didn't spook for the next county either.

only thing to solve this, is shaft the old doe.

I speak from having dealt with more than one.... eventually you run into them, you have to kill them.

Its even what my mentor pastor taught me 40 years ago.

I agree with rost but shooting the old matriarch isn't so easy

I swear the old biddy who rules a woodlot I hunt recognizes my truck parked anywhere in the vicinity. She then sneaks around looking for me and blowing the entire time so every deer is on full alert. I hate her guts.

Those old does are the bane of my existence during archery season.

Going scentless based on my experience is only option and still odds not that great. I lucked out once and shot an old troublesome doe right after I moved my portable stand. She dressed out 175 lbs.

I guess try moving stands around frequently if area is big enough or get a doe tag . When I used doe in heat many years ago I used to have does come up to my ground scrapes. Seemed curious. But they then hung my stand and eventually winded me.

I guess good luck!

The only scent that works around here is the one they don't smell.

sometimes they say less is more....

On at least 4 different occasions and in different years I have had an encounter with the queen bee and she has made it her mission to find and expose me. All of these encounters, I had used doe in heat scent. And if my memory is clear, I doesn’t take her long to get all worked up after the scent is applied. Perhaps it is just bad timing, and even bad luck that she happened to be close when those time occurred and there is nothing to the fact that she didn’t recognize the doe that came in the bottle and went to look for the culprit.

But in all my other time in the woods, I have only had this behavior happen one other time when I didn’t use scent…and that was my fault for the path in which I took to the stand and the stand I chose to hunt. It was the same one where I was busted exiting the evening before. Where she really screamed at me as I was on the ground and very close to her before she noticed me, she was probably startled and then got really pissed. Reminds mo of when I used to sneak up and scare my mom. She would scream out of fright, then want to whip me with a kitchen spoon.

The next morning I tried to go in extra early and extra quiet and slow. The morning was damp, foggy and very still (tough when considering I had ½ mile winding walk through the woods. I made it all the way to the stand and when I was nearly all the way up my stand, she BARKED! And barked, and barked, and barked. Perhaps 15 times. I froze and tried to stay real still. She wasn’t falling for it. I couldn’t even see her as the fog was too dense. Have I told you guys how much I really hate this gal? That year I only had an either/or buck/doe tag. Last year I had both a doe and buck tag. My friend has finally given me the clearance to eliminate the issue, but I don’t think it will be easy. She doesn’t get to close. She is just a noisy loud mouth.

Last year I wanted to hang a scent dispenser that had a timer, so that I could place it and not have to go and re-scent in order to minimize my scent trail. I haven’t done it yet. If the scent puts queen bee on high alert, then the doe population gets on high alert. I want them to be on “all is fine and dandy in these woods” mode.