I learned the best way with a tarsal scent seems to be tying a coton soak to a boot strap.
(I use tampons, it's odd but they are a lot cheaper than the others and they always are in the house (careful, women get real mad if you use the last one!)
I walk to the area I wish to hunt and make a 40 yard circle around the area.
Then I draw a sapling in the best shot area about ten foot high and tie it as high as possible, they will get the scent but not find it.
This encourages them the time it takes to follow the scent and not find the competition.
I have had bucks circle me almost two whole revolutions and almost all of them work the area back and forth for a few.

any specific scents you use? and does it matetr when you use them?

"(careful, women get real mad if you use the last one!) " I guess you've done that.
That sounds like a great idea for a scent holder. I will try it.
----The scents you use and the different stages of the rut make a huge difference. Rattling also works best when the deer expect to hear bucks fighting.
There are 4 basic stages of the rut. I don't know what they are all called but there is a time before what I call the pre rut when the deer are basicaly in thier summer patterns and I hunt thier travel corridors between feeding and bedding areas(The only scent I use at this time is a cover scent, I use the fresh earth scent wafers). Then in the pre rut (about the 3rd and 4th week of Oct) I use a buck tarsel gland and do some rattling and buck grunts to try to lure in a buck. Then there is the peak of the rut (First week to 10-12 days of Nov.) when I do alot of aggresive grunting (use doe in heat and buck tarsel gland) and rub the trees with an antler, breck some branches, maybe throw in a couple estrus doe bleats and follow it up with some tending grunts). After that you have the post rut period. The mature does are bred and there aren't any deer in heat during this time. I cut back on making lots of noise and try to hunt food sources again for a little while. In my area this will finish out the bow season. Then when gun season opens up again (last monday in Nov and 1st Monday in Dec) I go back to using doe in heat and a buck tarsel for the opening day of gun buck season to take advantage of the time when the immature deer and all the does that didn't get bred in thier fist heat cycle will come back into heat (second rut). Then as the season progresses I use the buck tarsel gland exclusivly because now the herd is in survival mode and can't be lured in to any set up unless the they feel absulutely safe.
I attach a fresh earth wafer to my jacket, pants and tree stand (they come 3 in a pack) for cover scent and they stay there all season.
Thats a basic outline but the problem most of the time is that the deer don't know they are supposed to do that!