Seems like a little overkill but maybe not.



Natural Deer Urine Attractants Illegal in Virginia
Chronic wasting disease (CWD) poses a significant risk to the long-term health and stability of the
Virginia white-tailed deer populations. Since it was first found east of the Mississippi in Wisconsin in
2002, CWD has been found in a total of eight eastern states, including Virginia. To date, the Virginia
Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) has spent over one million dollars on CWD monitoring
and management efforts. Importation bans on whole carcass and certain carcass parts (i.e., brain and
spinal cord) from high-risk CWD areas (including areas or states infected with CWD or any North
American enclosure intended to confine deer) are already in place in Virginia, along with a ban on
interstate movement of captive deer and elk. Reducing the use of natural deer urine attractants by
prohibiting the possession or use while afield for the purposes of taking or attempting to take,
attracting, or scouting will further minimize the risk of introducing CWD into a new area of Virginia.
Why is the use of deer urine attractants risky?
The infectious proteins (i.e., prions) known to transmit CWD have
been found in the urine, feces, and saliva of infected individuals.
To make these commercial scents, urine from captive elk and/or deer
kept outside of Virginia is collected over a grate system that does not
prevent contamination from either feces or saliva. The “urine” product
is not treated chemically or with heat to kill the infectious proteins
because these treatments would also secondarily destroy the desired
scent characteristics. The infectious proteins causing CWD are
extremely resistant to degradation and may persist in the environment
for years in contaminated soil, thereby posing a disease transmission
risk to deer for extended lengths of time. Additionally, many of the
facilities are located in areas or states with CWD. Deer in Virginia that
taste or sniff these products may actually be exposing themselves to
CWD harbored by deer living hundreds of miles away that were used
to collect the infected urine.
Why did the Department decide to ban these urine-based products?
The VDGIF is taking a pro-active approach on this issue and has banned possession and use until it is
proven that prions are not spread in commercial deer urine products, rather than continue to risk
introducing CWD to new areas until it is confirmed that urine attractants do spread prions. VDGIF’s
intent with this regulation is to protect our deer hunting heritage by ensuring that future generations
have the same opportunities to deer hunt as are available to Virginians today and to protect the long-
term health and stability of the Virginia deer herd. Both of these goals can be achieved, in part, by
trying to minimize the areas in Virginia infected with CWD.
What does “possess or use” a natural deer urine attractant mean?
It will still be legal for products that contain natural deer urine or other bodily fluids to be purchased and
sold in Virginia. However, it will not be legal for individuals to have these products in their possession or
Effective July 1, 2015, it will be illegal to possess or use deer scents/lures that contain natural
deer urine or other bodily fluids while taking, attempting to take, attracting, or scouting wildlife
in Virginia.

Never use scents. I think it's a good idea to be proactive & ban them. I think it's silly that hunters use them.

Please explain why it is silly to use scents? I don't use them all the time but do use them sometimes in the rut. Deer rely greatly on their nose so why not make him think there is a big stinking buck in the area or a hot doe?

X2

During rut the woods are full of does in heat. I don't think a buck is gonna be tricked by a bottle of 6 month old doe urine collected from an out of state doe. just hunt the does. Why spend $ to pour out urine?

Are you saying that spraying doe pee on my boots when I get to within 100 yards of my spot is silly? Why? I'm curious ...

You could probably pee on your own boots and do the same thing.

What about the pre-rut, when all the bucks are horny, and none of the does are in cycle yet?

I don't use scent much, but have before, and to deny that it can work is foolish. I've literally watched a small buck, step out on a power line, downwind from a scent canister and walk 300yds and start licking it.

Beg to differ. I have killed a number of bucks that I know came to a urine attractant. One in particular stands out, where I was using a drag rag behind my boot of Code Blue Doe Estrous and I had walked across a large field on my way to a back treeline. I saw the buck enter the field from some small planted pines over 600 yards from my stand. When he crossed my path, he immediately put his nose on the ground and started to trot towards me. I had placed a stick 30 yards from my stand and turned the bottle upside down and place it one the stick. He sprinted right to the stick and actually knocked it off to the ground. I arrowed him seconds later.

Another time, I had a big dominant buck that came in following Harmons Dominant Buck urine and walked directly to my tree.

It works sometimes and other times it has probably cost me a shot or two, but I will continue to take my chances with it.

You wrong

don't work??? Yeah right!! If this stuff didn't work, the sales of Tinks 69 and many other products just like it would not be in the millions of dollars annually.

I too can give testimony where I have seen bucks follow my scent drag.

Regardless of whether it works or not, the article the OP posted says it may contain CWD, and if so, it's probably good to ban it, but I doubt it would help in reality. They probably just want to ban something.

Sales of urine and scents is (a) marketing and (b) because deer are curious by nature, and will often stop to sniff something or take a detour to check out a mock scrape, dripper, drag line scent or whatever.

I believe New Hampshire or Vermont also has banned use of urine.

If we don't have CWD in the Southeast already I'd be surprised, with the number of penned deer shipped into the region. Just hasn't been formally discovered yet.

As for 'silly to spend $ on it,' there's a lot of stupid shucks people spend their $ on but isn't banned. Spend your money your way and let other folks spend theirs.

Hunters acknowledge that a buck has a superior sense of smell, but don't want to think that a buck can differentiate between a doe in heat and doe urine poured out of a bottle? Just because someone saw a deer follow a scent trail means nothing. I've seen a nice buck follow my scent trail when I had diesel fuel on my boots.

Most products are sold to deer hunters through effective advertising.

I just pis* around my stand while i'm there and on my way to it, this way the deer get used to me and don't pay any attention to me.

This. Apparently they're fond of Marlboros too