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Human scent

FLTENNHUNTER1

FLTENNHUNTER1

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What are your opinions on how far your scent will travel in the air. I know this is a very broad statement, but I was in my tree stand today 25 feet up in the air and started wondering how far is my scent really going in a 15 MPH constant wind? Can a deer smell me a quarter mile away? Half mile? Mile? I use scent control religiously and I know it would depend on personal hygiene in general, just wondering if anyone has read anything on the topic? BTW, good luck to everyone hunting after this storm passes, I'm thinking with the colder temperatures this weekend the action should increase dramatically.
 
Farther then you can see is all I know. My guess is at least a half mile or more depending on terrain and what the thermals are doing


Joshua 24:15
"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."


Sent from my phone sucka
 
quarter mile away isn't going to matter because deer don't see that as a threat. I've only ever noticed deer smell me within 100 yards, usually in bow range to be honest. This evening I saw a yearling buck and later a doe with two fawns on the hillside in bow range, wind coming over top of the hill and swirling our scent back down towards the deer. The buck and doe both picked up the scent quickly, but interestingly the two fawns which were a little higher up the hill stayed until dark.

I'm sure deer can smell us a good ways off, but it's not going to bother them if they know it's not close by. Think of all the houses, people outside, farmers, other hunters, that are within a mile of your stand. Deer aren't spooked unless they know you are close by.
 
Reminds me of last friday, wind was steady and blowing pretty good. I was probably 20 feet up and about 15 yards from a creek bank. Wind blew across creek and into ag field on other side. Deer bed along both sides of the creek all over. I was in the stand 25 minutes and an 8 point came across the creek to my side. Never gave indication of smelling me. I think my scent must have blown over the creek and into the open field, which is what I was hoping for. Later that evening another 8 point cruised the opposite bank, going in and out of the field, passing directly downwind...he never gave a hoot. He was probably 80 yards away.
 
Not in any order of priority but things I consider based on personal experience.
1) Optimal scenting conditions depend much on humidity; ask your favorite rabbit dog. Dry air just doesn't seem to hold scent nearly as well as heavy damp moist air.
2) Terrain and stand site. Hilly ground can cause crazy currents and swirling eddies...on flat ground at least I know where my stink is headed with a breeze. Scent from a 20ft stand on high ground and without impediment can go a long ways without causing problems.
3) 10-15mph of reliable wind in my mind (depending on stand location) is a good thing vs. bad. A a deer trusts his nose first. I hate a still, calm wind where my stink simply sinks straight down and spreads.
4) Stink management. If I can convince a deer into thinking I'm 400yds away vs. 40 yds away, my chances went up even if only a single tick mark. Hygiene is good and worthy.
 
All good info and thoughts. I am a believer in scent reduction, have had deer directly downwind from me not alert. Thanks for the input guys.
 
catman529":10pbo5cm said:
quarter mile away isn't going to matter because deer don't see that as a threat. I've only ever noticed deer smell me within 100 yards, usually in bow range to be honest. This evening I saw a yearling buck and later a doe with two fawns on the hillside in bow range, wind coming over top of the hill and swirling our scent back down towards the deer. The buck and doe both picked up the scent quickly, but interestingly the two fawns which were a little higher up the hill stayed until dark.

I'm sure deer can smell us a good ways off, but it's not going to bother them if they know it's not close by. Think of all the houses, people outside, farmers, other hunters, that are within a mile of your stand. Deer aren't spooked unless they know you are close by.
Click to expand...


2 issues I see here

1 those farmers and house are all scents they smell all the time. You are not one of those scents.

2 you are assuming a deer knows exactly how far you are based on scent. That's a pretty majic nose if he can say "not worried about that one, he is at least 500yds away"
 
REN":2cumgrok said:
catman529":2cumgrok said:
quarter mile away isn't going to matter because deer don't see that as a threat. I've only ever noticed deer smell me within 100 yards, usually in bow range to be honest. This evening I saw a yearling buck and later a doe with two fawns on the hillside in bow range, wind coming over top of the hill and swirling our scent back down towards the deer. The buck and doe both picked up the scent quickly, but interestingly the two fawns which were a little higher up the hill stayed until dark.

I'm sure deer can smell us a good ways off, but it's not going to bother them if they know it's not close by. Think of all the houses, people outside, farmers, other hunters, that are within a mile of your stand. Deer aren't spooked unless they know you are close by.
Click to expand...


2 issues I see here

1 those farmers and house are all scents they smell all the time. You are not one of those scents.

2 you are assuming a deer knows exactly how far you are based on scent. That's a pretty majic nose if he can say "not worried about that one, he is at least 500yds away"
Click to expand...
true about the regular scents vs a hunter in the woods. However, deer definitely can tell if you are close or far. Your scent doesn't travel in a straight beam downwind, it disperses and becomes more faint. Like if you catch a whiff of a dead animal, it's somewhere nearby, but if the smell is overwhelming, you're almost on top of it. That's the whole point of scent control, besides covering your trail, it's to make the deer think you are farther away so they don't care as much.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It's a good debate for sure and good topic. I don't really buy the analogy or fully agree but neither of us can prove it either way. I've seen deer wind me at over 1000yds away across a field and I've seen them not wind me from 25 yds away dead down wind. All comes down to pressure and terrain as well as what all scents you are putting out there. I fully believe and have seen big mature bucks completely change course by just faint scents they smell. They don't spook or run off but their behavior changes and they will go around on a different path.




Joshua 24:15
"But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord."


Sent from my phone sucka
 
That high up, and with strong winds, I don't believe there's anything to wonder about. I think most deer encounter human scent, and noises on a daily basis. I believe they can detect when humans are too close for comfort by the intensity of the scent. My experience is that deer don't move much in high winds.
 
I sometimes wonder if the scent you leave behind during your journey to your stand is more detrimental than whatever scent you are giving off 25' up in a tree. Now, how "airborne" is the the scent you leave behind? I don't know. I'm definitely a firm believer in scent control and doing as much as I can to minimize my presence.
 
I learned a lot about scent teaching my lab to blood trail deer.
Half way through his training I figured out that he would quit looking for the spaced out blood drops I planted and follow my scent trail where I had moved sticks, touched brush etc..... he wasn't tracking the deer, he was tracking me!

Once I figured out the difference between "ground" scent and the actual animal scent track I was laying down, the procedure for laying a trail changed.

Deer can smell your scent on stuff you touch a LONG time. Days or even 10 days if conditions are optimal. Tracking book said bloodhounds were known to track a person as much as 14 days after passing through. Thats pretty insane.

I think pressure and amount of human activity has a LOT to do with behavior. Heavily pressured deer are going to react a lot more than deer which don't get hunted. Regardless, there is no downside to minimizing your scent.
 
No right answer 100% of the time but deer will definitely react negatively to your scent much farther away than you can normally see them! I also agree that scent left on the ground (trail) especially where you actually touched underbrush with bare skin, can and will be smelled by some deer many hours later. How much scent a particular deer will tolerate without hitting the panic button varies but is heavily dictated by how much strange human scent they live with daily. A farmer tending his cattle on a daily basis doesn't count either as the deer become accustomed to his scent and routines. The reason some have posted they have never see deer react negatively to their scent very far away, is because they never actually see the vast majority of the deer that do react negatively, they leave. Human scent is the #1 lifesaver for most deer, especially older deer that will tolerate much less of it.
 
REN said:
2 you are assuming a deer knows exactly how far you are based on scent. That's a pretty majic nose if he can say "not worried about that one, he is at least 500yds away"
Click to expand...

Their sense of smell is more acute than our vision. Given their reliance on it and the way they use it in their every day lives, I'd say the ability to pinpoint where the scent is coming from isn't so far fetched.

I have no idea how finely tuned it is. It would make sense that it's diminishing accuracy as distance grows, being pinpoint at close distance and less accurate far away. But I've seen them catch my scent and look directly at me in the tree, so I'm pretty sure they know exactly where the scent is coming from.

REN said:
I've seen deer wind me at over 1000yds away across a field
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I was test shooting a .338 Lapua with the Barret guys. It was a metal man size silhouette set at 1150yds. I could barely see the target with naked eye, and I have 20/15 vision. It was a tiny black speck. If a deer was down there and winded me, there's zero chance I'd know it. I certainly wouldn't hear it snort. 1000yds is very, very far away. If a deer winded you that far away and you saw it happen, you've got superman vision!
 
Ski said:
Their sense of smell is more acute than our vision. Given their reliance on it and the way they use it in their every day lives, I'd say the ability to pinpoint where the scent is coming from isn't so far fetched.

I have no idea how finely tuned it is. It would make sense that it's diminishing accuracy as distance grows, being pinpoint at close distance and less accurate far away. But I've seen them catch my scent and look directly at me in the tree, so I'm pretty sure they know exactly where the scent is coming from.



I was test shooting a .338 Lapua with the Barret guys. It was a metal man size silhouette set at 1150yds. I could barely see the target with naked eye, and I have 20/15 vision. It was a tiny black speck. If a deer was down there and winded me, there's zero chance I'd know it. I certainly wouldn't hear it snort. 1000yds is very, very far away. If a deer winded you that far away and you saw it happen, you've got superman vision!
Click to expand...


Wow this is a blast from the past it seems lol.

Well I shoot at a spot that's a flat ag field that's 1200yds total. I assure you I don't have superhuman vision but I do own binos that can see that far and can make out and see a deer all the sudden go on alert, start wagging its tail and then trot off all the sudden when all that's there is me and a buddy hidden in the bushes turkey hunting.


Not really sure why you want to reply to my single post from 7 years ago but I'm glad to have this conversation again :)
 

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