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Understanding three basic principles will dictate the performance level of your TRAILSTIX. Those principles are gravity, pressure, and suction. Gravity will create pressure through trapped air inside of the lower unit. That's why it's critical to leave an air pocket by not overfilling. Suction will be created every time you remove the end cap from the applicator tip. Suction is also created every time the sponge applicator tip is depressed. It will replenish itself naturally from the sustained liquid reservoir inside of the lower unit. The TRAILSTIX may look like a "walking stick", but it is ill advised to be used as one.

Mastering the TRAILSTIX requires finesse developed through practice. I highly recommend practicing with tap or distilled water on a flat, dry (oil-free), surface to gauge the amount of pressure it requires to leave the desired amount of liquid. The amount of liquid deposited is in direct proportion with the distance traveled to reach your stand location. I approximate distance by steps or strides. Every stride is approximately one yard. I can calculate and regulate scent dispersal by knowing my distance traveled, and the areas that require more dispersal such as trail intersections and scrapes. As I mentioned earlier, practice for awhile (30 minutes) filling, removing end cap, and leaving liquid deposits on a flat, dry (clean) surface with plain distilled water. The easiest way to fill the lower unit of the TRAILSTIX is at your starting point. Remove the end cap and press your sponge tip tight to the ground. Then, fill the desired scent, being careful not to exceed one inch below the coupling. Secure the o-ring plug section and begin your scent trail, where and when you deem necessary. Before use in the field, run 1 oz. scent eliminator, followed by 1 oz. of distilled water through the applicator sponge. Distilled water has no chlorine or other bacteria-killing additives, unlike tap water. Chlorine and other additives will kill the pheromone in estrus urine. Gravity, pressure, suction. Practice makes perfect.

Using the TRAILSTIX or TRAILWIX product as opposed to grain piles or mineral licks during summer months is more productive, not to mention, much easier. One ounce of liquid scent suspending 4-5 feet from the ground eliminates unwanted animals from occupying memory card or film space. It cannot be washed away by rain, and evaporation time (tested in 90 degree plus temperatures), is literally days, depending on wind strength. I usually seek out high traffic spots (by deer tracks) in funneled transition areas between bed, food and water sources. Position your TRAILSTIX/TRAILWIX above your surveillance camera for better pictures. That brings deer in for an up-close, frontal view as opposed to a bent-over, rear-end, "food pile" photo. If it's bucks you're targeting, use a natural doe urine or estrus scent. Be sure to spray down the entire target area that you've contaminated by hanging your camera and TRAILSTIX/TRAILWIX product, with scent eliminator spray. Find an area where target scent can travel distances if they stray from the beaten path.

I could write down dozens of different, effective uses and set-ups, but three stand up above all others. Keep in mind, no hunting device out-performs location.

My best morning and mid-day stands are situated in saddle areas that funnel deer between ridges. Bucks vent their growing testosterone levels on trees, and plow the forest floor with scrapes in these locations. If I'm coming down one ridge heading south, I concentrate scent on the east/west intersecting trails. Once I reach the saddle area where my stand is located, I'll continue up the opposite ridge without leaving scent until I reach the midway point. Then I'll begin the same procedure coming down, concentrating scent on intersecting trails. Hopefully there are some natural scrapes nearby. If not, I'll create mock scrapes 40-50 yards from my stand (which would've been done already). I'll leave scent deposits on the ones that are really getting worked. Then I'll hand my TRAILSTIX with the applicator tip about 4 ft. off the ground. The only scent I use in my TRAILSTIX during this time is an estrus urine. I'll hang it 25-30 yards from my stand, which faces west with the tree blocking my back to the east. At that point, I'll spray a territorial buck scent on brush and bushes surrounding my stand, before climbing in. This serves not only as a cover scent, but it adds some realism to the scenario.

Once bucks begin "bird-dogging" does, I start hunting food sources in the evening. These are areas that congregate does nearly all year. Often times, the fringe area of the fields are loaded with scrapes and several access trails coming from different directions. From my stand location. I'll do a "half-moon" shape scent trail following the same principle as before. Starting at the midway point, I'll lead an intensifying trail back to my stand, at which point, I'll stop placing scent and walk to the midway point in the opposite direction and lead it back the same way, concentrating scent on all access trails and only nearby scrapes (50 yards or less). Then I'll hang my TRAILSTIX directly in front of my stand at the stopping point of my scent trails. This is an excellent time to use a bedded doe decoy in front of your stand below the TRAILSTIX.

This tactic works so well it seems unfair. This is the time of the year that I concentrate on venison, particularly a big, fat doe. I haven't forgot about the mature bucks, but after being pushed and chased around by gun hunters for the better part of a month, they almost go totally nocturnal. I have late-season spots that serve as a refuge for pressured deer. It's still a percentages game. The high percentage of mature buck sightings are during the last waning minutes of the day in the best locations. I base this off of my own experiences. To make a long story short, I'm planning on tagging a doe in the best area I know of that a mature buck could step out (if that makes sense?).

Back to the scenario. Deer are now back to the mode they spend the majority of the year in, albeit a few exceptions. I find that deer will bed down as close to their food source as their comfort and safety cushions allow them. This aspect makes it more difficult to approach your stand at times. On the flip-side, deer are much easier to pattern because of the lack of browsing food available, making them easier to hunt. There's always a "catch 22" to some degree in every aspect of bowhunting. That's the allure of it for me.

I'll usually spend a few evenings watching this spot before hunting it, taking note of what's coming out and where they're coming out at. You can validate your plan once you are actually standing in the spot the deer are coming out at. That's where I'll hang my stand, and I'll hang it high (25-30 ft.). As a rule of thumb, I don't like hunting directly on top of these spots, but factor in the time the deer are actually coming out (usually about the last 5-10 minutes of legal shooting hours). Remember I started this scenario as "this works so well it should be unfair", right? Here is the reason it really does work so well. I can go into the cover the deer are coming from (about 30 yards) and load up the TRAILSTIX with my secret liquid sweet corn/vanilla scent, and lead it right in front of my tree and hang it there. I can't remember one time that I could not have shot at least one deer doing this. I think it's that sweet aroma and the hunger factor is dropping their caution as they reach the source. I'd do the same thing if I'd been pawing through snow and ice looking for tidbits. Either way, it's a dead ringer and a sure tag-filler.