Well.. Vanilla is a natrual attractant. From that perspective, it will bring in deer, basically because of curiosity. It is good in early season use. I have used it as an attractant in the past, it will bring in deer particularly early in the season. Older deer – patriarchal does and larger bucks will however find it suspect from the start. Young deer and smaller bucks will come in to it without hesitation.

Now.. if you are Black Bear hunting.. use 1 Part distilled water, 2 parts vanilla extract and 1 part Anise Oil. Bears will come to it. AS AN ATTRACTANT – Anise is pretty strong and you don’t want to walk around smelling like Licorice.

Just my experience.

I have not personally used it but have heard of its use as Steve mentioned. I have used soap that had a low amount of anise oil in it and I thought it was a very good product to keep yourself clean without using commercial soap before a hunt. Wish I could find that soap again. But getting back on subject, I would not object to trying the vanilla. I beleive Steve is right though, that it is a curiosity attractant. I think it is worth experimenting with.

I have used the vanilla, I couldn’t say the results were either positive or negative on deer. I cant get past the feeling of smelling like a 6 foot ice cream cone.

Bill

Never thought of using vanilla before, but i have played with the thought of apple scented air freshener like fabreeze… or would that be considered “baiting”?

Don’t know about putting it on my clothes, but I’d try it on a wick or cotton ball away from me. I’ve had good luck with Trails End for pre-rut and rut and it has some anise in it. May give the vanilla extract a shot though.:roll:

I don’t know about the vanilla, but had someone say they always used anise as a combo cover and attractant and had a lot of success. I don’t have enough deer to have the courage to try, in case it spooks them.

I’ve used pure Annise oil on my boots an pants cuffs to help cover my ground scent when scouting Sika deer wallows pre rut for many years and know it works well.
I also belive pure Vanilla oil would do exactly the same thing.
Pure oils fatigue the animals scent receptors but because it’s a scent the actualy like,it doesn’t bother them.
The same thing works with dogs,prue esentual oils fatigue their noses an for a short time they have a hard time smelling lesser scents.
It only works with the pure esentual oils though,the artifical flavourings don’t work.

Folks used it quite a bit back in the early 70’s, and there was actually a brand that used the vanilla smell, but I can’t recall the name. Vanilla is kind of a neutral odor and like anise, or mint is somewhat an attractant. I’ve used a lot of natural stuff over the years to good effect. I have even used cloves and allspice to help cover human odor.

Me and my good friend tim been using it for a awhile now. first we wash our hunting clothes with bakin soda and then spary them down with the vanilla and let them hang out to dry. and when i go hunting, i spary down with it again, under my boot to my hat.be honest with u just straight vanilla.
good luck to u all

and i forgot a to tell a couple things, dont buy the vanilla with alcohol in it deer dont like it. and that we use it all season long.

Have not heard about Vanilla but I had an old trapper tell me one time that he used, with much success, strawberry gelatin powder. He would sprinkle around traps and on himself, etc. I played with it last season and not sure it attracted many animals but the deer that came in would put their noses to it and lick and then move on. So, he didn’t spook them. 8)

Mr. Stout, I think the product you remember was called “Cover Up”and it did indeed smell exactly like vanilla extract. That’s probably all it was!

I put a cap full of vanilla in my pancake batter. That attracts lots of compliments.:D

kwikstik wrote: Mr. Stout, I think the product you remember was called “Cover Up”and it did indeed smell exactly like vanilla extract. That’s probably all it was!

they use make some called VK

I think it is curiosity more than any other factor. I think the only real Deer cover scent is No scent at all! If they cannot smell you, your ahead of the game! The best way to do that is keep the wind in your face and hunt based on the predominate wind direction for the day. Having said that, I would think a “cover scent” would be a derivative of the natural surroundings. More blending in to the scent stream than being a curiosity.:)

I have heard of vanilla being used before. I’ve never tried it myself.

Another scent that seems to not bother deer is cinnamon. My father and I buy a big bag of “Atomic Fireball” jawbreakers each deer season. The main purpose is to keep your throat from drying out and causing you to cough (or suffer with the need to). I can honestly say that every deer I have shot whether with shotgun, or muzzle loader (still no bow kill), I have had one in my mouth or just finished one.

Call me crazy, but it seems to be okay with the deer.

The hardest part for me is not crunching on them after they are half gone.

I used it in a wick dripper out away from my blind, and can’t say good or bad about it. I will keep pressing on to see what happens, as our general season opens next Saturday the 23rd as archery only closed Sunday night the 17th.

George D. Stout wrote: Folks used it quite a bit back in the early 70’s, and there was actually a brand that used the vanilla smell, but I can’t recall the name. Vanilla is kind of a neutral odor and like anise, or mint is somewhat an attractant. I’ve used a lot of natural stuff over the years to good effect. I have even used cloves and allspice to help cover human odor.

Back in the 70’s I used a commercial product called “Cover-Up” that was mostly of Vanilla. Can’t say that I was ever aware of it spooking the deer but never could be sure it worked in a positive way either. These days I do not use cover scents, I simply think if the wind is wrong I’m probably going to be had no matter.