The Madison Twp. men, who work or formerly worked at the AK Steel mill in Middletown, have grown the business by becoming marketing experts on social media. The company has a web site, but its use of Facebook and Twitter has greatly helped it grow its customer base.
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The business now sells several deer scent products to more than 50 dealers in the U.S., and the three men have plans to eventually have a full-size collection facility that would allow them to work full-time on the product.
“We care more about how well our product works, instead of how well it sells,” Martin said. “Imagine selling a product to your friend or neighbors that doesn’t work. We take pride in making sure our product works.”
Denver’s is a part of deer scent industry expected nationally to generate $44 million in 2016 from the 17 million deer hunters in the United States. The week-long gun season for whitetail deer opens Monday in Ohio, where more than 500,000 deer hunting permits have been sold in past years.
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The Denver farm, which has 18 stalls where urine is collected from the deer, is state certified by the Department of Agriculture. To sell the product, the deer farm is inspected annually to make sure the deer herd is receiving good care.
“We treat these deer like they’re our pets,” said Neal, who is the “mad scientist” behind the formula to make the deer scent.
Selling deer scent products began with a Cobleskill, N.Y., trapper who produced the first known deer scent in the 1940s. It was called Original Indian Buck Lure, and it was sold through ads in outdoor magazines for $2 a bottle. It did not contain any deer urine, according to lore.
Urine-based scents really got started in the 1960s when George Robbins, a Connellsville, Pa., mink farmer founded the Robbins Scent Co. He began supplying urine in bulk and bottle to scent sellers who sold “secret” formulas and blends.
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There are several reasons why deer scents are growing in popularity. Hunters typically do not have as much time as in the past to devote to harvesting trophy white tail buck. Any “gimmick” that promises greater success is worth a try they say.
The Denver’s product is different than most deer scents sold on shelves at large outdoor retail stores. The product is all natural, with no preservatives added. Because of this, the product must be kept refrigerated and must be used within a few months by hunters.
The product is carefully collected from each individual deer on the farm and bottled with the deer’s name on the side. The favorite deer by customers is Dixie.
The deer scent is popular with hunters. The company has more than 1,000 hunting staff in the U.S. using and marketing the products and in 2015, Denver’s tripled its sales, the businessmen said.
The company would not share its sales numbers, but said they expected to sell 10 times the product in 2016. The men are working on a new deer scent product for 2017.
“We want to be known as the highest quality product on the market for hunters,” Martin said. “We never stop working on new ideas.”
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The men said they work 100 hours a week producing and promoting the product and working their full-time jobs. It’s a family business as their wives and children help in packaging and delivery of the product.
The Denver’s product sells for $19.90 to $34 a bottle.
“In the end, we’re hunters. This is our reputation. We want a product that helps us in the woods and makes others better,” said Anders.
To learn more about the company, go to denversdeerscents.com.
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