Is the attractant included?
No. The bottle works with whatever liquid attractant you like, bought wherever you like: a natural or synthetic moose or deer attractant, or bear attractant in spring. You can switch products with the season — but change the wicks at the same time. The old scent stays in the wick: a moose would smell your April bear attractant under your September moose attractant. A set of wicks takes two minutes. Replacement wicks →
Does it hold up to rain and frost?
Yes. The bottle holds up to sun, frost and attractants. Every slot is sheltered by a hood and two cheeks, and the cap chimney sits under a roof, so rain stays out. For freezing weather, an overflow is built into the design: the bottle never fills to the brim. Water expands as it freezes, and it has the space to do so without cracking your RutDrift. Between seasons, empty it and store it away from frost: no bottle survives endless freeze and thaw cycles.
Is it normal for my RutDrift to seep and lose a few drops?
Yes, it is on purpose! Your RutDrift weeps: the base of the bottle has deliberate micro-cracks that let your attractant out very slowly, drop by drop. Your spot is marked twice: in the air, through the wicks and the wind, and on the ground, right where the animal walks and puts its nose.
In these photos, the paper towel under the bottle is soaked after a few hours.
Weigh your RutDrift now and then to know whether it is still full, and top it up with the funnel as needed: that is how you get the best results. Good hunting!
Why wicks instead of a sponge?
Because a store sponge smells like plastic and soap to a moose. The wicks have no sizing and no fragrance. They carry the liquid all the way to the top by capillary action.
Can the cap unscrew on its own?
The thread ends in a ratchet built into the base and the cap. You hear it click as you screw it down, and it takes the same effort to turn it back.
How long is shipping?
Every part is built to order, one at a time. Count 3 to 6 business days before it ships, plus the carrier's estimated transit time.
Why is shipping free only from $80?
Because I am not a web giant. We have all gotten used to free shipping, but it does not really exist: someone pays for it. Big online stores negotiate volume rates nobody else gets, often deliver through their own network, and fold the cost of shipping into the price of their products. You pay for it anyway, even if you live next door to the warehouse.
I am a small business. Every parcel costs me a real carrier rate, which depends on your region and the weight, and on a small order, shipping weighs heavily next to the price of the products.
Rather than inflating my prices to hide that cost, I show you the shipping price in the cart, worked out from your postal code, and I look for the best rates I can get from carriers. And from $80, I pay the shipping: an order that size lets me absorb it. You pay a fair price for your RutDrift, and you see the shipping price before you pay. Shipping, returns and warranties →
Can I choose the colour?
Black: it holds up best in the sun and it warms the most, so it diffuses the best. The colour of the wicks and of the hanging cord may vary from one lot to the next.
How do I clean the bottle?
It is built to last: you wash it and use it again, season after season. A rinse in hot tap water, that's it. Never in the dishwasher: the heat of the drying cycle can warp the cap threads. And never scented soap — the bottle and the wicks keep the soap smell, and that is what the moose would smell next. If you must use soap, pick one with no fragrance and rinse twice. The wicks are not washed: they are replaced. Replacement wicks →
Why several small bottles rather than one big one?
Because the reservoir is not what makes the scent strong. What goes into the air is what evaporates at the tips of the wicks — and that depends on the wick exposed and the wind passing over it, not on how much liquid sits below. A big bottle lasts longer; it does not smell stronger. And even if you make it stronger, scent thins out fast with distance: four times the source carries barely twice as far. Above all, a cow does not emit like a factory. One unnaturally strong point of scent is exactly what makes a mature bull swing wide. Three bottles spaced along his route are more natural, cover more ground, and if one runs dry the other two are still working. Large formats exist for people who cannot come back often — trappers most of all — not to build a scent bomb.
How is RutDrift different from everything in the stores?
What you find comes in two families. On one side, devices that let the attractant fall to the ground, drop by drop: fine for a deer scrape, but the scent is on the soil, it does not carry on the wind. On the other, dip wicks — the felt in its little tube, the tampon in its container — that hold what they soaked up and are dry in a few hours. RutDrift does something else. The wick drinks from the reservoir and lifts the attractant, like a pump with no motor, up to the slots, which are sheltered from rain. The cap is open and breathes, under a hood: air passes. And when the sun warms the black bottle, the warm air rises and leaves through the cap, which draws fresh air in through the lower slots — the scent is pushed out into the wind, morning to night, for days. A reservoir, a wick that pumps, a chimney. That is the difference between a steady scent for days and a few hours of scent. Moose move at night: if your site smells of nothing by midnight, why would he stop on your ground in the morning? With RutDrift, it is still working when he comes through. See the Saint-Maurice harvest →
RutDrift is 3D printed: what does that mean, and why?
Picture a hot glue gun guided by a computer. The machine melts the material and lays it down in a thin bead, one layer on top of the other, following the plan with great precision. Each layer arrives still hot and welds to the one below: they fuse together. No glue, no screws. In the end, the part is one solid piece.
This is no gadget. Concrete houses are built this way today, one layer at a time, and rocket engines printed in metal have flown to space. The principle is the same: build the part layer by layer, where a mould cannot go.
For RutDrift, it changes everything. A factory mould has to open to let the part out. With a hood over every slot, cheeks on each side, a chimney under its roof in the cap and a ratchet in the thread, the part would stay stuck inside: you would have to make it in several pieces, then glue or assemble them. And glue smells. 3D printing builds those shapes in one piece. It also lets us improve the design from one batch to the next without remaking a mould, and build each part to order, here in Canada. It is what let a hunter with an idea turn it into a real product. Why the bottle has no smell →
The trade-off is visual. Because the part is built layer by layer, you may see fine lines on the surface, a small seam along the bottle, now and then a wisp or a speck of material, or a spot that looks more matte or more glossy. That is the signature of the process, like the grain in a board of wood. These small imperfections are visual only: they change nothing about the quality or the function of your RutDrift. A part with a real defect is another matter: write to us, your legal warranty applies. Shipping, returns and warranties →
Can I reproduce my RutDrift?
No. RutDrift is a protected invention: a patent application has been filed (patent pending). Your RutDrift is yours: you use it, lend it, give it away or resell it as you wish. What is not allowed is reproducing it: 3D scanning it, deriving files or plans from it, or printing, moulding, having made or selling more of them. It is in our terms of sale, which you accept at checkout, and RutDrift will enforce its rights. Got an idea to improve it? Write to me: that is how RutDrift moves forward. Protected invention →
Patent pending: what does it mean?
“Patent pending” means RutDrift's patent application has been filed and is being examined. The invention is protected from the filing date: that is the date that counts, and anyone who reproduces it in the meantime may have to answer for it once the patent is granted. Once granted, the patent then protects it for up to 20 years from filing.
For you, nothing changes: your RutDrift is yours. What is not allowed is reproducing it, and RutDrift will enforce its rights. Protected invention →
Is it safe to pay on RutDrift.com with Stripe?
Yes. Think of the card terminal at the corner store counter: you put your card in the bank's machine, and the clerk only sees “approved”. It's the same here. When you click “Checkout”, you land on Stripe's payment page (the address starts with checkout.stripe.com, with the little padlock). That's where you enter your card, and it travels encrypted, straight to Stripe and your bank. Your card number never goes through RutDrift.com and we keep no record of it: we just get “paid”, with at most the card type and its last 4 digits, like on a receipt.
Stripe is one of the biggest online payment platforms in the world: millions of businesses use it, from the small shop to the giants of the web. It is certified at the highest security level of the credit card industry (PCI Level 1), it screens every payment to block fraud, and your bank may ask you for an extra check. And as with any card purchase, if someone used your card without your consent, your bank protects you. Stripe's website ↗
And RutDrift? It's a small local business, started by a hunter. What we get from you — your name, email, phone and shipping address — is only used to send you your order, your invoice and your tracking number. We keep it encrypted, we never sell it, and we erase it automatically a few months after your order; only the invoice is kept, as tax law requires. A problem? Write to us at info@rutdrift.com: your legal warranty and our return policy apply. Privacy →