How to Make Your Own Hunting Gear

A few homemade hunting tools can greatly increase your hunting success.

Over the years, many hunters have come up with a variety of ways to attract and catch game. Among a few notable homemade hunting gear items are scent attractors and scent blockers. These tools can greatly increase your chances of catching game while out on a hunt. A scent attractor will give off a favorable aroma, bringing the animal into your shooting range. A scent blocker will keep the animal from detecting your human scent while patrolling the woods. Both of these tools can be made from natural and ordinary household items.

Things You'll Need

• 2 pots
• Water
• Strainer or cheesecloth
• Plastic spray bottle
• Salt
• Petroleum jelly
• Vanilla extract
• Small pickle or mayonnaise jar
• Acorns, peanuts, pine needles, pine cones, tree bark, green ferns and other natural foliage debris

Instructions

Natural Scent Blocker

1. Gather up some foliage and other natural debris from the hunting area. Look for pine needles, pine cones, acorns, tree bark, green ferns, mushrooms and leaves.

2. Place all your debris into a large pot and cover it with water. Set the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to medium and cover the pot. Cook the debris for 30 minutes. Allow the pot to cool.

4. Place a cheesecloth or a fine strainer onto a secondary pot. Strain the liquid through the strainer or cheesecloth. Discard the debris.

5. Siphon or pour the liquid into a plastic spray bottle. Spray the solution onto your hunting clothes to rid the clothes of any manmade scents, such as laundry detergent or human body odor. Set the clothes out to air-dry on a pile of hay or leaves.

Scent Attractor

1. Gather up acorns and other nuts of a hard-mast character, such as wild peanuts. If no peanuts are available, purchase a bag of raw peanuts or peanut oil.

2. Place the acorns and peanuts or peanut oil into a pot and cover with water. Add a tablespoon of vanilla extract and a tablespoon of salt.

3. Bring the solution to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes. Strain the liquid through a strainer into a secondary pot. Discard the debris.

4. Fill a small pickle or mayonnaise jar one-quarter of the way full with unscented petroleum jelly. Pour enough liquid into the jar to fill it up. Stir in the solution throughly. Keep the excess liquid solution to make more later.

5. Spoon out the scented jelly and rub it on nearby trees and stumps around your scouted hunting trail.

Tips & Warnings

• For deer hunters, deer urine can also attract animals to the area. If you happen upon an area where a deer has urinated, you can pick up the leaves or rubbish that are wet with urine and use the rubbish to wipe on trees near your scouted area or tree-stand.

• Ensure that you obey all hunting ordinances for your specific community.

• Never point a weapon at anything that you do not intend to shoot or kill.

References

• Foremost Hunting: Homemade Scent Blockers
• Backwoods Bound: Homemade Deer Attractant
• Rochester Magazine: Hunting for Hunting Inventions