It was back in 1989 and I was hunting on a ranch in western Dimmit County, Texas.  By Texas standards a fairly large place, 110,000 acres, called the Farrias Ranch.  My friends and I were only hunting on part of it, 5000 acres, but it was known to have some very good deer.  Up until this time in my hunting life I was just like everyone else, using liquid scent, because it was all there was to use.

This part of Texas is known as the Brush Country and nothing grows much over 10 feet tall.  No climbing stands used here.

We hunt from tower stands, ground blinds, or from elevated racks on the back of pickup trucks.  We hunt openings in the brush, roads, or senderos.  A sendero is a long, cleared opening like a road which has not been used for a long time and brush is taking it back over. 

This particular afternoon I was hunting from my truck looking down two senderos.  I went out about 2 in the afternoon for a good 4-hour hunt.  After getting to my position, I carefully got down with my 35 mm film canisters packed with cotton, my liquid scent, and started putting out my doe in heat scent for my afternoon hunt.  After having walked around for about 20 minutes, putting out my scent, I got back up in my truck stand for the afternoon hunt.

About 5:30 several bucks came out and went right by my scent bombs and never even lifted up their heads.  Nope, I swear they never knew they were even there.  That's the day I started thinking about a better way to distribute scent,  this was the beginning of HOT TRAILS® SCENTED HUNTING CANDLES. 

Hot Trails® can be used in just about any type of hunting situation you can imagine. 

When you are using a scent, what do you want to happen? 

That's a dumb question, of course you want to kill a deer, but what has to happen for that results.

1. The scent has to become airborne so it can be carried in the wind.
2. The scent should be able to sustain itself, keep producing the same smell for a long period of time, 
3. The scent should be capable of traveling a long distance and leaving a trail for the deer to follow it back to its source.

The title of this article is 'Have More Success Using Scents', so I guess I should start giving out some tips. 

Since Hot Trails® scent carries out to over 500 yards you can strategically place the candle to penetrate the exact area you want.

• If you know where a bedding area is, or a staging area where animals gather before entering a field, you can now hunt this area without getting to close and scarring the deer off. 
• Get 100 or so yards upwind of the area you want to hunt, place the candle out and upwind of your location and let the wind carry the scent to the deer. 
• You have 4 to 5 hours of burn time in the candle, so sit back and let the wind and scent work for you. 
• Some times a buck will come in and actually burn his nose on the top of the lantern, and then sometimes he will stop short. This is why I say to place the candle upwind of your location. For example, if the wind is blowing from your left to right, place the candle at a 45 degree angle to your left and out away from your location.  This way, whether the deer comes to the candle or stops short of it, he will still be in front of you and in a perfect position for your shot.

I had a fellow send me a picture of a deer he shot in Alabama. It was the 2nd best deer killed that year in his state, and he pulled him out of a swamp.  The deer was living on an island and anything approaching him would make noise in the water and alert him to trouble.  It took Hot Trails to entice this trophy buck out of his hideaway, and it was the last time he did.

If you hunt in areas where there lots of gully's and ravines, use the wind to blow the scent either up or down the ravine to see if there are any animals bedded down in these hard to get places.

I use the Doe-n-Heat from early in the season all the way thru the rut.  Sometime I burn both Doe-n-Heat and Dominant Buck at the same time.  If I rattle, I always use both. 
Since in Texas it is legal to bait with corn, I use the Deer Corn candle when I hunt a new area.  I put corn on the ground, and burn the candle so the smell will get out where the deer can smell it.  If you hunt in a State where you can bait, but not hunt over it, feed corn, take it up and burn a candle when you hunt.  The animals are used to the bait, and when they smell the corn candle they come in expecting to find more corn.

In the months to come, I will write more about how to use our Hot Trails® Candles, or give me a call at 800-927-7404 (Toll Free) or Email me at bmoore@hottrails.com and we can talk about it. 

It is now 2003 and hundreds of thousands of candles have been burned in the wood since then, all over the United States, Canada, and Mexico.  We have even sold some to folks in France, and Italy. 

One of the biggest problems I have is getting other Hunters who use Hot Trails® to tell their friends about it.  I know men who travel 30 miles to buy them at shops were nobody knows who they are, just so their hunting buddy's don't find out the secret to their success. 

Have a great Hunting Season.  I hope you?ll try our Hot Trails® Candles because I know they will work for you and help you get the trophy you've always wanted.

For Information On Hot Trails Scented Hunting Candles and other Hot Trails Products Contact:

HOT TRAILS, INC 
P.O.Box 460221 
630 Home Crossing
San Antonio, Texas 78246-0221 

Phone:  800-927-7404
Email:   bmoore@hottrails.com
Web Site:  www.HotTrails.com
 

The Bowhunting Netcenter

• Bowhunters eMagazine 
• To Bowhunting.Net
• This Month's Bowhunting News & Articles
• Product Evaluations
• New Products
• Find A Company
• Sweepstakes
• Live Chat
• Bowhunters Message Boards

• Wild Turkey Hunting Network
• Live Chat 
• Bowhunting eLibrary 
• Meet Other Bowhunters
• Deerhunting.Net 
• BowhuntingStore.com 
• BowhuntingBusiness.net 
• Find The Deer
• Shoot Pass or Wait 
• Cyber Bowhunt