You need to spend some time in the woods and just learn it the hit or miss method. It is always best to team up with a more experienced hunter so that you can be taught the basics, but I have been hunting a long time and Iseem to be a little more lucky than most of my friends. But, I can tell you this: you will never have them completly figured out! What works with one deer won't with another. Age has some role in it, but I have seen mature bucks act plain stupid, and young bucks that acted like the bull of the woods. Scent does work on the right animal, but the next one that comes along will bust you in a heart beat. I have killed bucks six different states using scent and calls, but I scared off one of the biggest bucks I have ever seen this year in Ohio the first time I put horns together. I have killed several bucks by rattlin them in. Everyone has their opinion on what works and what don't. Its the same with fishing. Some people live and die by one bait, and the next person will swear that it won't catch a fish. Spend the time to see how the animals act where you hunt. Listen to the does on the food plots and the bucks that come in with them. Learn to echo that and you will have a better chance with a call than just blowing it like a tuba. Another thing to remember is that if you have animals on the property you are hunting you probably don't need to do anything. Like someone else suggested, find the food source or the bedding area, and you will kill deer. And, when the rut comes in hard, throw everything I just told you out the window because you might kill the buck of your dreams in you back yard. Good luck!