“I used to have a Scent-Lok Suit, but I wore it out because I put it in the dryer too much,” said the trophy bowhunter. “Now I use scent-eliminating sprays and cover scents. I stop wearing cologne a month before the season starts and I always take a shower before heading into the woods. I make sure my hunting clothes are scent-free and I spray down regularly with Scent-Away to make sure I stay scent-free. I have deer walk downwind of me all the time and they don’t get alarmed. Getting a shot at a trophy buck is a rare thing. I don’t want to mess those opportunities up by being winded. I try to play the wind, but you never know where a buck is going to come from. To be safe, I am always scent-free. Being scent-free isn’t an easy task. It requires a lot of extra work, but I think that is a big part of my overall success. Once a hunter gets used to taking the steps to be scent-free every time he goes hunting, it isn’t that big of a deal. Getting into that routine is the tough part.”

GETTING RATTLED
Once Sommers is set up and close to a bedding area or scrape, he begins to rattle.

“Rattling doesn’t work every time you do it,” Sommers explained. “In fact, it rarely works. It is definitely a low-percentage game. But if you keep doing it, it is bound to work sooner or later. I have killed a lot of my big bucks by rattling them in.”

One of the main reasons Sommers believes rattling has worked so well for him over the years is because he places himself close to a bedding area or close to a scrape.

“I think when everything goes right and I am able to sneak in close to a buck’s bedroom without his knowing and I start rattling, he is going to come and investigate because he thinks a couple of bucks are fighting in his domain. The same holds true with hunting over a scrape. If a buck hears a fight over one of his scrapes, he is going to want to check it out.

“I don’t just rattle,” he continued. “I try to imagine I am in the middle of the fight. I will smash into branches and trees and smash the antlers together to make it sound like a real fight. I have had multiple racks break on me. That tells you how hard I am smashing the racks together. Creating a real loud-sounding fight is a must. Acting like I am part of that fight is how I have been able to bring bucks within shooting distance.”

Sommers said when he plans on rattling, he tries placing his stand in a place with a lot of thick cover. This way, as he is thrashing around in the tree, incoming deer won’t see him if he is moving. Another advantage of being in thick cover is that a buck needs to come and investigate if he wants to see what is going on.