MIKE BRAUN Doc's has the scents to celebrate

If you are a die-hard hunter of white-tailed deer, 2118 state Route 46 in Cortland should be considered a virtual shrine to the sport.
Doc's Deer Farm and Scents has been operating a sophisticated deer urine collection facility at this site since 1998 and producing a full line of scents, scent eliminators, deer attractants, clothing and related items.
Come Sept. 18-19 the site will have displays of live deer, contests, food and vendors for the second annual Doc's Deer Festival. The date was postponed from its original date by a week to avoid a conflict with the Mahoning County Coonhunters Festival, planned next weekend.
Entry will be $5 for adults and free for 12 and younger. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 18 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 19.
Vendors on display
Among the vendors with exhibits at the farm will be Great Lakes Outdoors Supply of Middlefield and November Gun and Tackle of Suffield along with boat and ATV displays. Vendors interested in remaining available spaces cancall (330) 518-7794 for information.
Some of the deer in owner Keith "Doc" Ainsely's 150-head herd will be on display, including the amazing 17-point monster buck they affectionately call "Ugh." This deer "scores a whopping 225 in the Big Bucks Club," Doc said.
"Ugh" was named by Doc's wife, Cara. "When you see him running, he just looks like a big dope," she said of the name.
There will also be other deer in the herd including some piebald and albino deer, the one mule deer Doc has, as well as some of the six elk. "Buckethead," a 1,000-pound elk with a most-impressive rack, should also be on display.
Bring your bow
Those coming to the festival are encouraged to bring their bows and participate in a three-for-$5 novelty shoot and meet members of Doc's team extreme -- a group of dedicated and experienced hunters who can offer numerous tips and stories about deer and deer hunting all around the United States.
Also planned for the festival will be numerous exhibits on the latest in archery and deer hunting equipment, and there will be an archery range available for sighting in a bow or to try out new ones. Seminars on archery, gun hunting, deer scents and sound techniques are also planned, and Doc's pro staff will be available to answer all hunting questions and to escort tours of the farm.
Doc said that outdoor television personalities will also attend, and Heather Merit's Birds of Prey will be on display and demonstrating throughout the two days.
Doc's Deer Farm and Scents' 35-acre Cortland facility is considered among the world's largest and most sophisticated deer urine collection facilities. The actual collection building will not be open during the festival.
Innovative process
Since starting with a "herd" of four deer in 1995, Doc's has collected deer urine for its products in an innovative process that prevents the collected liquid from spoiling and turning dark brown.
Most other deer urine-type products, Doc notes, turn color because of bacterial contamination. Doc's products stay a clear, golden-yellow color because of the extremely clean and sanitary conditions Doc's practices, he said. Additionally, he said, Doc's strives for a calm environment at the collection facility to ensure that urine produced by the deer is uncontaminated by stress.
Assisting this effort is the fact that Doc's deer herd is kept outside, in a wide-ranging fenced and natural area.
Furthermore, Doc's never ads preservatives or additives to the urine, never freezes the product and buys and destroys leftover product each year to maintain a higher level of freshness, he explained.
All deer urine at Doc's is collected, bottled, labeled and packaged by hand.
For more on the company and its full line of products, visit the farm Sept. 18-19 and sign on to www.docsdeerscent.com.
braun@vindy.com