CA1289109C - Animal liquid lure dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
An animal liquid lure dispenser consists of a vial of liquid animal lure in open communication with a microdrip chamber. The microdrip chamber communicates with a dis-pensing tube, which dispenses the lure a drop at a time onto the floor of the forest. The device contains a flow control device for regulating the flow of lure through the apparatus.
The apparatus is designed to be used in simulating, or with an animal "scrape" in the forest. The device is suspended from the branch of a tree, so that the lure drips at a regulated flow onto the real or simulated "scrape."

Description

BACKGROU~D OF-THE'INVENTIO~
This invention relates t~ an anim,a~ re ~ ted for hunters and~ more specifically, to an anima~,~iquid lure dispenser.
FIELD'OF'THE'INVENTION
The present invention relates to an animal liquid lure dispenser adapted to simulate a "scrape" made by white-tailed bucks. More specifically, this inventivn relates not only to the liquid lure dispenser, but to a 10 method of simulating buck "scrapes."
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ~RT
Liquid animal lures, which rely on specific scents to attract particular animals, are well known. A type of buck lure used by hunters is a liquid which gives off the odor of a receptive estrus doe, This,lure consists of the urine of a receptive estrus doe~ The use of the buck lure, however, has not met with a great deal of commercial success because of its method of application.
In many instances, the liquid is commonly used by satu 20 rating a wad of cotton with the liquid and carrying the saturated wad of cotton in the hunter's coat, so as to attract the buck to the hunter. The liquid has a very strong and rather unpleasant odor. Since the hunter carries the saturated wad of cotton in his pocket ?
the odor from the,liquid permeates the hunter's c~othing j ~8~e~P

and prnvides,the hunte~'s clo,thi~g with an u~pleas~nt Qdor ~hich is retai~ed,long'after the,hunti~g season is over~
One method of applying the,lure is'to dispense the li~uid lure through a conventional plastic squeeze bottle with a nozzle top. There~ore, the h~mter squeezes the bott~e to apply drops of the,lure as he walks along the desired trail. Maintaining the desirable application rate while walking through the woods or along a trail can be a tedious chore for the hunter. Additionally, the advantageous 10 app].ication of the lure to the trail is overcome by the scent of the hunter himself. Therefore, the spari~g application of the liquid along the trail is not sufficient to overcome the 'buck's natural apprehension of the huma~
scent. Applicant is aware of U. S. 2,959~354~ to Edward W. Beck, of Yeadon, Pennsylvania~ who has discl~sed a cup-shaped container, which has a tubular ste~ extending from the bottom of the container and a cover threadably fixed on a threaded rod, secured to the top of the cover so that the top of the container could be opened or closed 20 upon rotation of the cover.
The container contained a liquid lure membe~, havi~g the odor of a doe so that the container could be suspe~ded in position and opened slightly to ~llow the scent of the doe's urine to permeate the area and,thus,lure the buck into the proximity.
Clark Lincoln and Norman Benzing? on the other h~Pd, in U. S. Patent 4,506,806, disciosed a container worn on ` 12~ 9 the belt of the hunter, having a depRndi~g tube which trails along the ground and e~uipped wi.th a valve. SQ as to regulate a reguIar application of.the doe's u~ine along the trail of the hunter9 .This latter procedure is known as a liquid trail.lure.
SUMM~RY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there .is provi~ed a dispenser for animal liquid lures which can be used to simulate the natural habitat of the deer and which can be 10 set up so as -to provide a buck "scrape." This scrape can either be a scrape made by the buck or a simulated scrape produced by the hunter. In any event~ the apparatus of this invention is suspended from a.branch over~a~ging:the scrape and the doe's urine flow from a vial into a drip chamber and through a dispensing.tub~ in slow, well~
regulated drops. The dispenser is made so.that it.will dispense as little as one ounce of doe's urine for a period of up to 30 hours. Therefore, the hunter can set up the lure the night prior to the hunt and mask.his sce~t with 20 fox or skunk urine lure, so that the buck does not pick up the hated human scent. In this manner~ the hunter can then approach the site the following morning and set up his blind, awa.iting the approach of bucks.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DR~WIN~S
Fig. 1 is a side elevation o~ the apparatus of this invention, suspended from a.tree limb ? over a buck "scrape,"
Fig. 2 is an illustration of a method of a hu~ter preparing a "scrape."

Fig. 3 is an illustration o the clamp member of this invention.
Fig. 4 is a frontal elevation of the roller used in conjunction with the clamp member.
Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the drip chamber of this invention.
Fig. 6 is a top view of the drip chamber.
Fig. 7 is a side elevatioll turned 90~ ~elative to Fig. 5 of the drip cham~er of this invention.
Fig. 8 is a fragmentary elevation of the hollow spike of the top portion of the drip chamber, illustrating the method of securing the suspending tube through the holes of the tab.
Fig. 9 is an exploded elevation of the top cap of the drip chamber, illustrating the inner workings of the hollow spike, in conjunction with the vial for co~taining the doe urine.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
A buck "scrape" is a circular or oval patch of ground, 20 made by a mature buck prior to the rut. The earth is torn up by bucks, who use their front feet to clear the piece of ground. Scrapes are from 12 inches in diameter to 3 feet. Most scrapes are made in a frenzy of pawing ? as if the animal has opened a relief valve. The tracks show that the deer pivots around while making the scrape, The scrapes are usually made in trails that are heavily used by does. Almost all scrapes are made under,low-hanging d ~!3 3 ~L ~ 3 branches. ~ mature buck'wil~ ma~ke ,these ,al~ ~v,e~,his territory. The buck'checks these at differe~t times Qf the day and night.
The scrape is marked with the scent o~ the buck.
The white-tailed deer have four exte~nal sets of glands:
preorbital ~tear duct), interdigital (between the hooves), tarsal (on the inner side of the hock) and metatarsal (on the feet). The buck will urinate in the scrape, letting the urine run down his leg. He will ,also rub the lQ preorbital glands on the over-hanging branches above the scrape. Some bucks will chew the,leaves on these b~nches to further leave his scent. A receptive doe will urinate in the scrape and browse around the area till the buck returns. If the buck that made the scrape is with a doe.
he will not leave a hot doe to find another. Often, other bucks will check scrapes that they did not make.
receptive doe will walk with her tail straight out and slightly shifted to the right or left.
The apparatus of this invention is adapted to make use 20 of existing scrapes or to simulate scrapes and to dispense a receptive estrus doe's urine, which is commercially available, into the scrape to attract the buck, The,hunter will then set up a blind or will situate himself in a tree and wait for the buck, downwind of the scrape.
Referring now to the drawing~ the apparatus consists of a vial,l, having a threaded neck 2, which contains a cap 8. A cap of this type is commercially available and ~2 ~

can be carried easily by the hunter i~ his ~ocket withoutfear of,leakage. The cap conta.ins a threaded sklrt 9 ,a,~d solid top 10 and a liner'.(not shown), However, when utilized with the apparatus of,this invention, the solid cap 8 is replaced wi,th ~ cap 3, w~ich again has a threaded skirt 4 and a top portisn 5, ha~ing an annular flange 6, defining a centr,al opening'7, A
liner, preferably made of Teflon, 11 is ~itted i~to the cap and it normally contains a hole 12 (see Fig. 9).
10 The hollow spike 15 of the top of the microdrip app,a,ratus 13, is inserted through the hole 12 of the Teflo~ liner ~1.
The hollow spike,15 is a part of the top,14. of the drip chamber and contains a fluid passage 16, which ~eads to a capillary tube 17, fixed in a support member ~8, T,h,e other hole 19, along the side of the hollow spike 15, is an air passage, leading to a carbureting de~ice 20, which contains a valve chamber 21~ containing a ball bearing 22, which seats against a valve seat 23. The.valve,chambe~ 21 is in communication with the air inlet 24. The carbureting 20 device 20 is normally covered with a carbureting device cover 25 and the hollow spike 15 of the top of the micro~
drip chamber is normally covered with a hollow spike cover 26. As illustrated, both in Fig. 1 and in Fig. 7 the top of the microdrip apparatus has two proje,cting tabs 27, each of which contains a hole 28.
As is shown, the capillary tube 17 is in c~munication with the drip chamber 31. The drip c~amber contains a .,.,, ~ .

scribed fill line 3~ and..terminates. at its dist~ e~d with a nipple 33. ~ dis.pensi~g tube 34 is f-ixedly secured inside the nipple. The dispensing.tube is trained through clamp member 38, which ? as is shown in Fig. 3, has a beveled floor 39. and tw~ upstanding w~ls 40, each of which contains a slot 41. . The wheel membe~ 50 is journaled in the slots 41, by means of pi~ot pins 5~ so as to exert increasing pressure on the tube trained through the clamp 38. A weight 53, in the form of a 10 round fishing sinker, is located at the di.stal end of the dispensing tube 34, so as to hold the apparatus perfectly vertically over the scrape.
As is shown in Fig. 2, a simulated scrape 60 can be prepared by the hunter by use of his rattling antlers 61 or an abandoned or not-abandoned scrape can be utilized if one can be located. As previously indicated, the rut scrapes are almost always located under overhanging branches and the mature buck nibbles away on the twigs and leaves, so as to leave a scent from his saliva 20 around the branches.
In this instance, however, the apparatus is hung over the branch, by releasing the flat-headed screw 55, by twisting the flat head 56 and removing the threaded shank 57 from the interior bore of the suspending tube 54. Thus, the one end of the tube can be rernoved from the hole 28 in the tabs 27 of the top of the drip chamber and the entire apparatus hung onto the branch. Thereafter, the suspending tube 54 is trained through hole 28 and the shank.57 of the flat-headed screw 55 is reinserted so that the flat head 56 is in engagement wi,th the undersurface of the tab 27. Thereafter, a rubber band 63 is located.near the bottom end of the inverted.vial to hold the.suspe~ding tube vertically in suspension a'bove the serape 60, By setting up the scrape t'he day or evening prior to the hunt, the hunter can mask his footsteps with a masking scent, such as fox urine or skunk urine, so that the human 10 scent is not available around the site. Thereafter, on the next morning, the hunter can approach the site down-wind and set himself up in the blind, ready to take his next buck.
As previously indicated, a vial of one ounce of doe's urine will last as long as 30 hours, which will allow a hunter two days or more in which to hunt the area.
How To Assemble The scent is poured into the vial 1. Thereafter, liner l'l is placed into cap 3, flush against the annular 20 flange 6 of the top 5. Cap 3 is then screwed onto the threaded neck 2 of vial 1. The hollow spike cover 26 is removed from the hollow spike 15 of the top 14 of the microdrip apparatus 13~ The hollow spike is pushed through hole 12 of the Teflon,liner,ll and into the vial 1.
Wheel 50 is turned to close clamp 38. Thereafter, vial 1 is inverted and the carburetor cover 25.is removed. .The drip chamber 31 is squeezed until the liquid lure is at the,level.of.,the scribed fi~l ~ine 32, :,T,he. suspend,i~g tube 54 is covered with..rubber band 63 ~nd ,thexeby. anchQ~e~
to the bottom portion of.vial,l. The suspending 'tube 54 is attached to the branch above scrape. 60. :(This:may entail removal of. the fla,t-headed scre~ 55'fro~ ,t~e e~d of the suspending tube and training the free end Q~ ,the suspending,tube over the branch and thereafter reinserting the threaded shank 57 of the flat-headed screw 55 back into the bore of the suspending tube 54.) The wheel 50 10 of clamp 38 is now turned to open the clamp 38 and to regulate the flow of the lure through the dispensing tube 34. The drip chamber 31 is so regulated that four drops of the lure from the vial 1 through the capi~lary tube 17 into the drip chamber is equivale~t to one drop of the distal end of the dispensing tube 34. For this reason, one ounce of the lure can last for as long as 30 hours at the site of the scrape.
How to Remove and Disassemble'thè Apparatus At the termination of the hunt, the apparatus is 20 removed from the branch by removing the flat-headed screw 55 and the suspending. tube 54 from hole 28, as previously indicated and the entire apparatus can be inverted, so as to allow any unused lure to run back into the vial. Thereafter, the cap 3 can be removed and the regular cap 8 can be placed on the.vial,. so that the lure can be placed in the hunter's pocket without fear of leakage. The drip chamber 31 can be rinsed out with _g_ a3~

water and placed back with the,huriter's p~xapher~ia for reuse on another hunt.
While it is clear that ,this apparatus,has bee~ set up primarily for hunting deer, it can also be used .for other animals, such as bear and the,like.
Many modifications will occur to those skilled in the art from the description hereinabove giYen and such is meant to be illustrative in nature and no~limiting, except so as to be commensurate in scope with the appended 10 claims.

-lOr~

Claims (13)

1. An animal liquid lure dispenser, which comprises:
A. a vial, having an opening at one end and a threaded neck portion;
B. a cap, having 1. a threaded skirt portion and

2. a top portion, having an annular flange and a centrally-located opening;
C. a sealing disk, fitted into said cap, flush against said annular flange;
D. a microdrip chamber, comprising A. a top member, having 1. a hollow spike for piercing the sealing disk of the cap of said vial and comprising a. a capillary tube, in communication with said drip chamber and said vial and b. a carbureting device in communication with said vial and the atmosphere;
E. an elongated tube, having its proximal end in communication with the distal end of said drip chamber;
F. a flow control device in flow adjusting communi-cation with the distal end of said flow tube, between a flow stopping setting and variable flow settings for selecting a constant flow from said vial through said drip chamber and said tube to the ground.

2. An animal liquid lure dispenser, as defined in Claim 1, in which said carbureting device contains a one-way valve, allowing air to flow into the vial, but preventing flow of liquid from said vial through said carbureting device.

3. An animal liquid lure dispenser, as defined in Claim 2, in which said one-way valve includes:
A. a chamber with restricted orifices at each end and B. a ball bearing, situated within the said chamber.

4. An animal liquid lure dispenser, as defined in Claim 1, in which said flow control device is a clamp comprising:
A. a clamp body, having a rigid support surface and a beveled floor;
B. opposing walls extending from said support surfaces defining longitudinal surfaces, forming open slots:
C. a rotatable member, having pivot pins journaled in said side wall slots for progressively deforming said tube to regulate flow of liquid through said tube.

5. An animal liquid lure dispenser, as defined in Claim 1, in which:
A. said top has two projecting tabs, each tab contain-ing a hole and includes B. a suspending member, comprising:

1. an elongated tube, having each end trained through one of said holes and 2. two flat-headed screw members, one for each end of said tube, in which each of said flat-headed screws is larger in diameter than the holes of said tab.

6. An animal liquid lure dispenser, as defined in Claim 5, which includes a rubber band for anchoring said suspending member to the distal end of said vial.

7. An animal liquid lure dispenser, as defined in Claim 1, which includes a weight at the distal end of the dispensing tube.

8. A method of preparing a site for an animal lure, which comprises the steps of:
A. selecting a site populated by the animals.
B. suspending a vial of animal urine to an overhanging support at the site;
C. dispensing the liquid animal urine into a drip chamber;
D. regulating the flow of urine from said vial to said drip chamber;
E. dispensing the liquid animal urine from said drip chamber into a dispensing tube, connected at its proximal end to said drip chamber; and F. dispensing said animal urine in regulated drops onto the ground at the selected site,

9. A method of preparing a site, as defined in Claim 8, in which said step of selecting a site includes selecting an existing buck scrape.

10. A method of preparing a site, as defined in Claim 8, in which an immitation buck scrape is prepared by the hunter at the site selected.

11. A method of preparing a site, as defined in Claim 8, in which the overhead support is a branch of an adjacent tree.

12. A method of preparing a site, as defined in Claim 8, in which the liquid urine released from said vial is displaced by air through a carbureting device.

13. A method of preparing a site, as defined in Claim 8, the improvement of incrementally deforming the dispensing tube and regulating the flow of liquid urine from said vial through said drip chamber and said dispensing tube.