Outdoors With Mat Taylor
How well do deer attractants work?

The regular deer season opens Saturday, 30 minutes before sunrise. This is the day most anticipated by dedicated deer hunters. It is also a day eagerly awaited by local businesses, as thousands of dollars are infused into the community by the hundreds of deer hunters who invade the county.

All hunters should check out the annual Hunters' Edition that will be in Friday's edition of the Dispatch Record. I am prejudiced because I wrote several of the articles, but I think our hunting section is one of the best in the state.

The special edition includes excellent articles by John Johnston, Harold Harton and Jed Dunning. The annual Texas Parks and Wildlife Department deerhunting forecast is included, along with numerous photos and other articles.

Dunning has an article in the Hunters' Edition on deer attractants and other methods that hunters use to lure a trophy buck to their deer blind. Be sure to read it and see if you agree with his opinions.

One of the most recent popular deer attractants is a product called C'Mere Deer. I have talked to several hunters who swear by it, and others who said it didn't work at all.

I decided to give the product a test to satisfy my curiosity.

I purchased a jug of the powdered materials for something over $20. It is not inexpensive. C'Mere Deer also comes in a liquid form.

The label indicates the material is a powder blend of plant extracts, sucrose, minerals, corn, soybeans and rice bran.

There are several options for using the product. One method is to mix it with corn in the deer feeder. I did not do this, as corn alone is one of the best deer attractants I know. Since deer come to the feeder and eat corn anyway, the addition of C'Mere Deer would not be a good test.

I did pour about a cupful on several clumps of grass around a deer feeder and the next day, it was gone. Deer do eat the powder, apparently. I also poured some on a mineral block. The next morning, it also was gone. Deer ate all the powder and part of the block. Again, I did not consider that a real good test since deer also feed on mineral blocks.

Third, I poured several piles of the attractant at different locations in my pasture. Again, after two days, all the C'Mere Deer had been consumed.

I have proved to my satisfaction that deer readily eat the product, but does it attract deer or did the deer just discover the powder and eat it? At another feeder, I poured a pile of powder several yards away. I viewed about seven deer come to the feeder and eat corn. After a time, I approached the feeder and, of course, the deer ran. I noticed that all the corn had been eaten, but the deer attractant was untouched. Does that prove deer prefer the corn to the attractant? In that instance, it did.

Will the product attract more than deer? As I was walking over my pasture putting out the attractant, my Welsh corgi puppy walked with me. Every time I poured out the product, the dog would try to eat it. I suppose I can say that since my dog ate some, the product is also a dog attractant.

On another occasion, I put some of the attractant near my home. I then I observed my guard donkey eating it.

So, in addition to being a deer and dog attractant, it is also a donkey attractant!

It was not my intention to condemn or praise the product, and my tests were not scientific. I did prove, however, that deer and other animals readily eat the attractant.

On the C'Mere Deer label, it states the effectiveness of the product depends upon the availability of natural foods. I am sure it would be more effective during periods of drought and when most vegetation is dormant. I also think it would be a good attractant if it were used in a pasture where there are no corn feeders.

That is what I plan to do when I hunt later this season on a property with no artificial feeders. I think that will be a good test.

Again, be sure to pick up a copy of Friday's Hunters' Edition. I know most hunters will enjoy the articles.

Former Soil Conservation Service employee and longtime writer Mat Taylor offers his outdoors column for Dispatch Record readers. He can be contacted at (254) 518-2262 or via email at mntaylor@agristar.net.