We Texans are blessed to live in the best state in the country for hunting deer. I’ve enjoyed hunting those big body deer up in North Dakota, the Golden Triangle in southwest Illinois and many other places but give me a good old fashioned Texas deer hunt any day.
The choice is ours whether to hunt the woods and fields of east Texas, venture down to the famous Texas Hill Country for a hunt or possibly head way south to the brush country for a chance at one of the heavy horned monarchs the region is known for. Looking for some mule deer venison and antlers for the wall? Head to the beautiful Trans-Pecos region or for some really big mule deer, the Texas Panhandle.
August is the month when we deer hunters begin to get fired up each year. It’s about 6 weeks until the opener of bow season and on many Texas ranches that are permitted by Texas Parks and Wildlife, all legal means for taking deer are allowed at the beginning of archery season and on through the end of February. The hunting shows have been in progress across the state with vendors displaying the latest and greatest thing in everything related to deer hunting.
As deer hunters our goal is to ultimately get the deer out of the brush to present an ethical shot as close as possible and through the years, we have employed many ways to accomplish this.
The use of baits and scents has always been legal in Texas and I’m positive it will remain so. There are few Texas ranches that do not use corn feeders during the fall months to concentrate deer, both bucks and doe. Buck hunters know that the does that pattern to the feeders during the summer will still be in the area come the breeding season (rut) and bucks will be on the move checking for receptive doe.
A deer’s primary defense mechanism is its nose but deer also use that highly refined sniffer to attract mates as well as locate food. I’ve long been a believer in using scents to attract deer, both sex based scents as well as food.
About this time last year, I met Mr. Paul Moore who by accident discovered the very best food attractant I’ve used for deer. His company is called Vineyard Max and is based in Nacogdoches. The name might be a giveaway for you. Grape skins that previously were a throw away, the by product of making wine is the primary ingredient in Vineyard Max Deer Attractant.
Paul knew there must be a good use for those many tons of grape skins that were going to waste. At first he thought they would make a great mulch for flower beds and he used them for that but he soon learned that deer were flocking to his yard in record numbers, munching on the newly distributed grape skins.
After testing the product for a season, Moore discovered deer were naturally attracted to the smell and taste of grape skins. His product is primarily hammer-milled grape skins with a little corn chops and rice brand added.
My first time to put Vineyard Max to the test occurred on a hunt out in Sterling County with my good friend Larry Weishuhn. There were still a number of doe permits that needed to be filled in late February . When Larry invited our mutual friend Jeff Rice and I out to hunt, I mentioned to my friends that I wanted to bring of this new grape based attractant to try out. I remember Larry telling me this would be a great testing ground because as far as he knew there wasn’t a grape vine, either wild or domestic anywhere near his least situated out in far west Texas.
I was hunting with my .50-caliber CVA Optima muzzleloader and hoped to get good video of a few deer being harvested. Larry had informed me that deer were plentiful on his lease and taking the required number of doe should be no problem. It wasn’t but we had to alter our hunting strategy a bit. I planned to set in an elevated blind over a corn feeder and post haste shoot the first fat doe that appeared on the scent.
Soon after Larry dropped me off at a prime spot, I began seeing antlers coming from all points of the compass to the feeder. I had the camera rolling and waited for a doe, and waited and waited. At one point I had four bucks inside the feed pen and a couple younger bucks waiting for their chance to jump the fence and enjoy a late afternoon snack. After a couple hours of seeing plenty of bucks including a couple of impressive wall hangers, I begin to wonder what was causing this phenomenon.
Weishuhn arrived just after dark to pick me up and he also had seen only bucks. The reason, he explained was not a lack of doe but the fact that the more aggressive buck was dominating the feeding stations, we needed to formulate a plan, and fast. We only had a couple days to hunt.
“Why not bait several areas around the junction of heavily used deer trails with this new Vineyard Max attractant? We can set up downwind in the brush during the afternoon hunt and see if we can pull those doe out of the brush. It won’t take long to see if the deer will come to this ‘new’ grape scent,” Weishuhn said as we were driving back to camp.
After another morning hunt of watching numerous bucks but seeing zero doe, we proceeded to bait several spots with the grape based attractant. That afternoon, we each positioned ourselves in the thick juniper brush downwind of the baited areas. I actually shot my doe while walking up to my spot. She and other deer had obviously found the bait pile earlier in the day as most of the attractant was gone. Jeff had several doe and a yearling spike come to his bait pile just before dark and Weishuhn later shot a fine buck.
I’m sure we probably could had used the spot and stalk method and taken a few doe at longer range on this hunt but for filming we needed to get the deer in closer. After spending over 60 years hunting deer, I learn something new every season. My take away from last year is that deer love the smell and taste of grapes, regardless where one might be hunting. Deer also love corn and every hunter knows the golden kernels are the ‘go to’ bait in feeders across the state. But I’ve found a bag of Vineyard Max mixed in with the corn or simply piled on the ground brings in traveling deer that would otherwise pass by. The smell brings in and there’s just something about the flavor of grape that deer are attracted to and caused them to keep coming back.
To learn more about this grape based attractant, visit www.vineyardmax.net Luke’s radio show, Catfish Radio with Luke Clayton now becomes a podcast each week and can be heard wherever podcasts are found.
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