Well, a buck might run if it sees any movement associated with your answering the call of nature, but the scent of urine itself isn’t going to have an effect. It’s a natural chemical signal out there in the animal world, and deer are no more alarmed by human urine than by that of does or raccoons. Several studies have involved placing human urine in scrapes, with observers noting that bucks didn’t spook when they returned to the site.

Certainly a human’s urine has a slightly different chemical makeup than a deer’s, but evidently it doesn’t contain any of the alarm signals that smells such as human perspiration or skin body odor contain.

• Myth No. 9: The peak of the rut is the best time to bag a trophy.

In reality, the period before peak breeding and the period afterwards are generally better. Think about it: During the peak of the rut, things can seem eerily quiet in the woods, because most dominant males are hooked up with cycling females and hanging out in a small pocket of cover somewhere; during those few days, they don’t stir much. And afterwards, as females abound in most populations, the males need shift only a slight distance to find the next mate once they’re done with the current one. Often the doe is part of a family group in a small area, and the buck merely moves to the next one close by when he finishes with the first.

Because of that, the period leading up to the rut is really the prime moment. This will vary by area, and may last for several weeks; thereafter comes the rather slow rut, followed a week or two later by another period of major movement -- the stretch after peak breeding during which bucks are searching frantically for one last doe that hasn’t been bred.

So, yes, hunt the rut -- but if you have to limit your hunting time, opt for the week or two before and a few days after the major breeding period in your hunt; you’ll find your quarry more active then.

• Myth No. 10: A spike yearling is just as likely to become a trophy as a forkhorn or spindly-racked 8-point yearling.

We’ve almost come full circle with this myth. Spikes were once customarily considered genetically inferior, and we were supposed to shoot them to improve the herd. Then, with the rise of quality deer management, the tide turned the other way. Don’t shoot the spike, we were told. Let him go so that he may grow.

Alas, the rationale for that counsel had nothing to do with a deer being a spike. For some time, too many yearling bucks were being killed, such that very few ever lived long enough to achieve their full potential. A buck at 1 1/2-years of age has developed perhaps 10 percent of its antler potential, whether that’s as a spike or as an 8-pointer. So it was good to pass up some of those young deer -- but the principle should have been: Let any yearling go.

A spike might be a spike because it was born late, lives in an overpopulated area, or simply carries genes for substandard antlers. Whatever the reason, it can develop into as good a deer as will a yearling buck in the same area that grows a better set of “first” antlers -- but it’s an uphill climb all the way.

So if you have a policy in your hunting area of letting all young bucks walk, it’s fine to include spikes in that group as well; some of them may indeed develop into nice 120- or 130-inch bucks. But if you have too many deer, and feel that some yearling bucks need to be taken, by all means settle your sights on the spikes.