Has anyone used any of the so-called "deer powder attractants" while hunting? Academy sells the "acorn," "beet," "sweet corn," and others. Is this just another gimmick or do they work?

They all work great for getting hunters, not sure how they actually work for deer. For what they cost/#, I can buy a lot of corn.

I keep trying, but I have yet to see anything really go for any of that stuff. I usually just put a small pile of it on the ground right in the middle of where my feeder throws corn, and in good view of my camera, I have seen MAYBE a couple deer even look at any of it. They dang sure scarf that corn down though!

when all the so called "scents" started becoming popular 20-30 years ago, everyone was giving those a try. I never saw the need to buy any as most of my friends that were trying various products out would give me a description of how they worked (or not). These were like Tinks, Buck Stop, etc. I think gullibility drives the market. I have tried a few without any noticeable success from most of the store bought scent products. I have not tried any of those actual fruit/nut types you mentioned and about the only thing I have seen that worked was the Trophy Rock.

Same here. I actually did an experiment by putting the attractant in a feeder on one side of my property and not using it in the feeder on the other side. I was using only plan corn in both of the feeders. 1/2 through the season I switched. I could tell no difference. I did not get more deer coming to the feeder that I now starting using it in and I did not get a decrease of deer coming to the one that I stopped using it in. I was using C'Mere Deer® 3-Day Harvest that I got at Academy.

One that I have seen really work is Big&J granular. We were getting deer coming to a field after months of failing to do it with corn

and I can back up this statement

deer number on my land have increased 200%

So this Big & J Granular is some good stuff? I just need to get the deer at my feeder on opening day and away from the other feeders nearby. Everyone else is throwing corn.

It will definitely get them in the area

You might also try setting your corn feeder timer to go off 15 minutes earlier than that "the other feeders nearby" to get the deer coming to you first and if that is well before light set spin time longer to throw out more corn to keep 'em there until legal light. If you know there are feeders nearby and you do not have permission to check on them, get as close as you respectfully can and listen for them to go off to check their times by your watch. I've seen deer waiting before daylight in fringes waiting on a feeder to go off and when it does they come right in.

IME not much luck on the powders but I've not tried the Big & J. Just spend your $ on corn.

Just from using an attractant? How do you maintain the 200% increase in deer herd while keeping them (and your habitat) healthy? How many acres is your land?

Tried some apple and acorn scented syrup stuff one year, poured a big bunch of it on a dead log, hoping the deer would at least pause to smell it.

No luck! Had three different deer walk within 5 feet of it and never even give it a sniff. It smelled pretty good to me, but they werent even curious...

This and set two feed times morning and evening to keep traffic on your place even when you are not there. That has been the key for me. I set one time right before daylight. That way if the neighbor is trying to beat me to the punch, the deer will eat up his corn ASAP then move towards me. I also use a road feeder and have to hustle to get into the blind before the deer get there.
I have also used Vanilla Extract in bow season on the corn in the road feeder as a sort of attractant but more so as a cover scent. I put it on the blind or around me in a few places to protect against swirling winds. That way the deer are smelling it as they eat the corn and if the wind swirls a bit.

1 deer to 2 deer

ah ha, vanilla extract ... great idea! how much did you put in your road feeder? did you just pour it into the top of the corn?

I started using it back in the early 90's more as a cover scent when bow hunting then later on corn also. I just put a couple of drops in as I add corn. Stir it around then add more corn. Just have to find out what amount works for you. I never feed all the corn out of the road feeder in one day so it stays in the feeder and the smell is on all the corn. You can do the same in a bag of corn and close it up. When they add apple scent to corn it is from a concentrate and metered in as droplets when the corn is running into the bagging machine. Not every kernel needs to be coated.

thanks! might give that a try with my road feeder (if I ever get the bracket made up to fit on my Kubota).

Had a doe eating a pile of corn with "Pig Out Bait" all over it. The deer came to it before the hogs

This and a 5 gallon bucket of corn on the front seat of the truck back in the 70's and 80's was my road feeder.

I've caught deer in a hog trap with corn that had a little diesel on it and sprayed on the trap to keep my scent down. Where they eating the corn or craving the diesel?

I've heard about the Vanilla Extract and I'm gonna try that this season in road feeder. good tip about also around blind. I also run two feeders at my box stand sets (one is 100-125 yards one direction and the other is 100-125 opposite direction) and set both am and pm times on each feeders at different times so it gives me 4 am feeds and 4 pm feeds total at stand location and a back up in case one unit fails until it is checked again. I've seen deer go back and forth between the two feeders (keeps them from crossing to neighbors). I use brushed in pop ups or tripods on trails leading to feeders and in between the feeders for bow hunting. Has been successful and multi set ups allow me to change with the wind. Also have multi locations to hunt depending on weather, wind and activity.

that coffee can is upscale compared to the old 2 quart sauce pan that I swiped from the camp junk pile ... Do you remember the old all aluminum cookware from the 50s/60s like this

That cookware is still used in a lease camphouse that I know of every night. Don't make like that anymore!

My parents still cooked out of some the old cookware like that. Old pressure cooker pot from the 40's-50's was still used to boil potatoes, corn, beans, etc.